D08 - Antitrust Violations and the DOJ Antitrust Leniency Program (2023CLC-D08)

Monday, June 5, 2023

4:45 PM to 5:45 PM

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Antitrust/Regulation Track

Presented by the Antitrust and Trade Regulation Section

About the Program

What do you do when you learn that one of your client’s employees might have violated the antitrust laws?  The Department of Justice’s (DOJ) antitrust leniency program might be the answer. In April 2022, the DOJ announced significant changes to its 30-year-old corporate leniency program, a set of policies that the DOJ calls its foremost important investigative tool in detecting cartel activity. The leniency program still allows a company to avoid criminal prosecution for antitrust violations by confessing its role in the criminal activity, pledging full cooperation, and meeting other specified conditions. But the DOJ has now raised the bar for cooperators, emphasizing the importance of prompt reporting and early efforts to make restitution to victims.  It has doubled down on the significance of implementing corporate antitrust compliance programs; not only will compliance programs factor into the DOJ’s charging decisions, but the DOJ will also examine the sufficiency of the compliance programs in determining whether the company is eligible for leniency in the first place. 

In this hour-long discussion, our panel will examine the DOJ’s corporate leniency program. We will discuss why the program was created, how it works, what changes have been made, the impact of those changes, and what to expect moving forward. Our seasoned practitioners and recent DOJ alums will also evaluate the risks and benefits of a leniency application from both a criminal and civil perspective.

You Will Learn

An understanding of the DOJ’s Corporate Leniency Program, including the reasons it was created, the benefits it provides to DOJ and to leniency applicants, and the requirements to perfect a leniency application
About changes that have been made to and proposed for the leniency program, and they will hear from experienced practitioners about the risks and benefits of seeking leniency for a company today
How to advise clients who know or suspect anticompetitive conduct in their organizations

Who Should Attend

Attorneys interested in or practicing antitrust law.

CLE Credit

CT: 1.0 CLE Credit (General)
NY: 1.0 CLE Credit (AOP)

The Connecticut Bar Association/CT Bar Institute is an accredited provider of New York State CLE. This program qualifies for newly admitted and experienced attorneys CLE credits. 

Attorneys seeking NY CLE credit who have been admitted to the New York State Bar for two years or less must attend the live seminar for skills or ethics credit, a fully interactive videoconference, or simultaneous transmission with synchronous interactivity. Diversity, Inclusion and Elimination of Bias CLE credits are only available as non-transitional credits. For further information please see the NYCourts.gov page on CLE: http://ww2.nycourts.gov/attorneys/cle/index.shtml.

Speakers

KAD Headshot1 Hon. Kari A. Dooley
United States District Court, District of Connecticut, Bridgeport

Attridge_James_Headshot1 James W. Attridge
Axinn Veltrop & Harkrider LLP, Washington, DC

Tee StMatthewDaniel_headshot1 Eyitayo St. Matthew-Daniel
Paul Weiss Rifkind Wharton & Garrison LLP, New York, NY