On September 9, 2015, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) released a memorandum to prosecutors nationwide regarding “Individual Accountability for Corporate Wrongdoing,” authored by Deputy Attorney General Sally Q. Yates.  Dubbed the “Yates Memorandum,” this missive consolidates both long-standing DOJ policy and newly minted guidance for prosecutors and civil enforcement attorneys that could significantly alter the course of both criminal and civil investigations under the False Claims Act (FCA) particularly for health care entities.  The day after releasing the memo, Yates spoke at NYU School of Law, where she noted that DOJ’s mission is “not to recover the largest amount of money from the greatest number of corporations,” but rather, “to seek accountability from those who break our laws and victimize our citizens.”

At its core, the Yates Memorandum calls for a substantially increased focus on individual accountability for corporate wrongdoing and amendment of prior Department policies that have become standard operating procedures in both criminal and civil investigations.  While this is nothing new for FCA defendants, the renewed focus on individuals – and the corresponding guidance in the Yates Memorandum – will have an immediate and lasting impact on internal investigations, pre-intervention negotiations, litigation and any extra-judicial resolution of the case.

Leaving aside the policy statements that deal solely with internal DOJ operations, the Yates Memorandum outlines three key areas of focus that will be relevant for FCA defendants facing exposure from an investigation or qui tam litigation:

Increased Focus on Individuals

As part of this increased focus, corporations will be incentivized to tailor internal investigations to include a hard look at individuals.  First, the DOJ will limit or decline to provide “cooperation credit” unless the corporation “completely disclose[s] to the Department all relevant facts about individual misconduct.”  While the application of cooperation credit in criminal cases is more commonplace, the Yates Memorandum makes clear that this principle will apply equally in the civil context.  Citing the FCA, the Department’s position on “full cooperation” under 31 U.S.C. 3729(a)(2) will be “at minimum, all relevant facts about responsible individuals must be provided.”  The Yates Memorandum also directs prosecutors and civil attorneys to proactively investigate individuals “at every step of the process – before, during, and after any corporate cooperation.”  By focusing on individuals from the inception of the investigation, the DOJ hopes to “increase the likelihood that individuals with knowledge of the corporate misconduct will cooperate with the investigation and provide information against individuals higher up the corporate hierarchy.”

The implications of these directives will impact all stages of the corporate response to an FCA investigation.  While the DOJ recognizes that investigations must be “tailored to the scope of the wrongdoing,” corporations should anticipate a need to expand internal investigations to gather facts and potentially assess the roles played by individuals in the overarching corporate wrongdoing at issue.  As the corporation seeks to resolve the corporate liability, the Yates Memorandum suggests that defense attorneys will be under increased pressure to focus attention [...]

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