Attorney General Merrick Garland’s Department of Justice promises to make life trickier for companies in its crosshairs for alleged criminal violations—both by bringing more white-collar cases and taking the relatively unusual step of targeting individuals.
The stepped-up criminal enforcement—if it proves to be more than rhetoric—is sure to make decision-making even tougher for corporate legal teams. When government investigators come calling, they’re highly incentivized to cooperate, with the reward often being a deferred or non-prosecution agreement.
