Welcome to Compliance Hot Spots, our snapshot on white-collar, regulatory and compliance news and trends. The US Justice Department's published its first-ever list of active corporate compliance monitors. Plus: Cozen O'Connor's Biz Van Gelder offers some early observations on the new normal for white-collar defenders. Scroll down for major headlines, Who Got the Work and all the notable moves.

We hope you, colleagues, family and friends are staying safe and healthy. Thanks for reading, and we'd love your feedback. Contact C. Ryan Barber in Washington at [email protected] and at 202-828-0315. Follow @cryanbarber.

DOJ Publishes List of Active Compliance Monitors

For the first time, the U.S. Justice has posted a list of the active compliance monitors overseeing companies that have reached settlements in recent years resolving allegations of fraud.

The list features a who's-who of the white-collar defense bar, including Paul Hastings partner Kwame Manley, a former federal prosecutor who was appointed as the independent monitor for Panasonic Avionics Corp. following its 2018 settlement resolving a foreign bribery investigation. Former FBI Director Louis Freeh is overseeing Walmart's compliance with the terms of a settlement reached last year over claims the company paid bribes overseas. And Morrison & Foerster partner Charles Duross, a former head of the Justice Department unit tasked with enforcing the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, is listed as the monitor for Odebrecht, the Brazil-based construction conglomerate that paid $3.5 billion as part of a global settlement over allegations it paid bribes to government officials around the world.

Among the other listed lawyers were Kathryn Atkinson (Miller & Chevalier) for Zimmer Biomet and John Buretta (Cravath, Swaine & Moore) for Takata Corp.

"The move continues DOJ's trend toward increased transparency into corporate criminal enforcement while also signaling that corporate monitorships are now a mainstay of DOJ's corporate enforcement policy," lawyers at Vinson & Elkins said in a client advisory. "While the decision to publish the information is a welcome development and may help identify trends in the Criminal Fraud Section's use of corporate monitors, DOJ should consider expanding the publication to other components within the Criminal Division and to other Divisions within the Department that prosecute corporate cases."

The list's public posting comes two years after the DOJ's criminal division, under Assistant Attorney General Brian Benczkowski (above), issued guidance urging prosecutors to show restraint in imposing monitors and consider the "projected costs and burdens" on companies.

"It is noteworthy, however, that almost half of the criminal fraud section's corporate Foreign Corrupt Practices Act resolutions since the Benczkowski Memo involve compliance monitors," the Vinson & Elkins team said.

Cozen's Biz Van Gelder Has Made Some Discoveries In the 'Uncharted Waters' of the Virus Era

Barbara "Biz" Van Gelder (above), a senior counsel at Cozen O'Connor in Washington, has grappled with the newly socially distanced world and the many questions it has raised for white-collar defense lawyers.

Among the weightier considerations: Does a videoconference with the Justice Department, with the defense lawyer and client miles apart, run the risk of denying the Sixth Amendment right to adequate counsel? (She has so far rejected prosecutors' requests for virtual "proffer" sessions.)

Van Gelder spoke with me recently about how the coronavirus outbreak has impacted her practice, and how she is finding ways to relax. How has Cozen made the transition to remote work?

"The office has been, actually, really good. I don't know if they've been planning this for a while, but between electronic timekeeping and electronic billing, everyone has been doing it. We get daily updates from Philly, from the mothership," Van Gelder said. "And today, for instance, the white-collar group had a Zoom meeting. At the end of every Zoom meeting, they say, 'OK, tell us something new.'"

Read our full report here.

Who Got the Work

>> Morgan, Lewis & Bockius partner Ivan Harris represented Merrill Lynch in a settlement with the Securities and Exchange Commission resolving claims that the firm failed to adequately disclose conflicts of interests to advisory clients. Merrill Lynch agreed to pay $325,000 after taking part in a self-disclosure initiative by the SEC. Another firm, Eagle Strategies LLC, was represented by Willkie Farr & Gallagher partner Barry Barbash in a $100,000 settlement resolving similar SEC claims.

>> King & Spalding's Norman Armstrong Jr. was counsel to Progressive Leasing in a settlement with the FTC. "Progressive Leasing, which offers rent-to-own programs at major retailers like Best Buy and Lowe's, has agreed to pay $175 million to settle allegations it misled consumers, the Federal Trade Commission said Monday," The Washington Post reported. Read the settlement here in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia.

>> Ten California businesses, including two law firms, filed class actions alleging major banks such as Wells Fargo & Co. and Bank of America prioritized larger loan applicants as part of the federal $349 billion COVID-19 emergency relief program, my colleague Amanda Bronstad reports at Law.com. The Stalwart Law Group in Los Angeles brought the complaints. Politico has more here, and USA Today here.

>> Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld has registered to lobby on coronavirus assistance for the National Independent Venues Association, a newly formed group representing some of the nation's top music venues and promoters. The Akin Gump team includes Ed Pagano, who served as a Senate liaison for former President Barack Obama; Clete Willems, a former Trump economic adviser; and partners Arshi Siddiqui and Zach Rudisill.

Compliance Reading Corner

Covid-19

Big Law Tech Heavy Hitters Call on SEC to Allow E-Signatures. Lawyers at Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati, Fenwick & West and Cooley have submitted a petition asking the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to amend its rules to allow electronic signatures in addition to manual signatures on documents filed with the agency, my colleague Cheryl Miller in Sacramento reports. Lawyers from the firms wrote that clients already use electronic signatures to execute multibillion-dollar merger deals, underwriting agreements and legal opinions. [Law.com]

Coronavirus-Related Production Shifts Bring Liability, Compliance Risks. "Companies that are shifting operations to make masks, ventilators and other medical equipment are taking on compliance and liability risks as they work to fight the new coronavirus, legal experts say. Many companies have retooled manufacturing processes and supply chains to survive the market fallout from the pandemic. Others are doing so in response to government orders and appeals for help." [WSJ]

Corporate America Seeks Legal Protection for When Coronavirus Lockdowns Lift. "Major U.S. business lobbying groups are asking Congress to pass measures that would protect companies large and small from coronavirus-related lawsuits when states start to lift pandemic restrictions and businesses begin to reopen." [Reuters]

Coronavirus Drives Barrage of New Lobbying Activity. "Lobbying firms registered activity for over 140 new clients on issues related to COVID-19 over the last month. More than two-thirds of those clients have never lobbied at the federal level or had not hired lobbyists in recent years." [Open Secrets]

K Street Is Booming. But There's a Sense of Dread. "Business is booming on K Street, but lobbyists are also dreading what might be on the horizon if the economy slumps into a protracted recession, according to interviews with more than a dozen lobbyists for this story. Several privately expressed worry that business could dry up if the companies with falling revenue move to cut expenses. Some lobbying firms could even go under." [Politico]

Leadership

Husch Blackwell's Next Chair Is Not Your Typical Big Law Leader. Catherine Hanaway (at left), newly chosen as Husch Blackwell's chair-elect, will join a small cadre of women leading Am Law 200 firms. But that's not the only way she stands out from the crowd. Hanaway brings a background in government and politics to a job typically held by a Big Law veteran. [The American Lawyer]

3M's Ivan Fong From the COVID-19 Bunker: Trump's Tweet, Masks and Bundt Cake. Ivan Fong—3M's general counsel, senior vice president and secretary—helped steer the company through that recent storm, negotiating with the Trump administration to reach an agreement on production of the N95s. [Law.com]

Financial services

Are Recent Stock Sales by Members of Congress the Tip of the Insider Trading Iceberg? "Ultimately, what is the message for executives at public companies? The need for prudence is greatest when the temptation is highest," Snell & Wilmer lawyers Ivan Knauer, Matthew Lalli and Tanya Lewis write. [NLJ]

How Goldman Sachs' Compliance Team Saved the Bank From Bribery Charges. "The firm's compliance personnel took appropriate steps to prevent the firm from participating in the transaction and it is not being charged," the SEC said. [Law.com]

Wells Fargo Adds New Top Lobbyist to Help Revive Image in D.C. "Wells Fargo & Co. has hired a new lead lobbyist in Washington, as the bank works to restore its standing after a series of consumer-abuse scandals that have tarnished its brand and infuriated lawmakers. Brian Smith, 52, will joins Wells next month, according to a memo sent out by William Daley, the bank's chairman of public affairs. Smith, who spend the past decade with Regions Financial Corp., will be in charge of the government relations and public policy team for Wells, the memo said." [Bloomberg]

Courts and cases

Tribes Sue Treasury Over Recovery Money for For-profit Corporations. "Six Native American tribes are suing the Trump administration over plans to give for-profit Alaska Native corporations access to an $8 billion coronavirus aid fund earmarked for tribal governments. The lawsuit filed Friday morning argues that the Treasury Department's decision risks diverting billions of dollars away from hard-hit tribes and toward Alaska Native corporations—some of which represent the largest businesses in the state." [Politico]

Judge Grants Pentagon's Request to Revisit JEDI Contract Pricing. "A U.S. judge granted a Pentagon request to reconsider parts of its decision to award Microsoft Corp. a controversial $10 billion cloud-computing contract that's under a legal challenge from rival Amazon.com Inc. In a sealed filing on Friday, Judge Patricia Campbell-Smith of the U.S. Court of Federal Claims paused court proceedings on Amazon's lawsuit while the Defense Department revisits the JEDI contract for 120 days. She left open the door for the Pentagon to ask for more time." [Bloomberg]

U.S. judge blocks Twitter's bid to reveal government surveillance requests. "Twitter Inc will not be able to reveal surveillance requests it received from the U.S. government after a federal judge accepted government arguments that this was likely to harm national security after a near six-year long legal battle." [Reuters]

Notable Moves and More

>> Duane Morris has brought on Mary Hansen, a Philadelphia-based former SEC lawyer, from Faegre Drinker Biddle & Reath. Hansen, who joined Duane Morris last week, is a partner in the firm's trial practice group. Prior to the move, she was co-head of Faegre Drinker's white-collar defense and investigations practice. She spent seven years as a partner at Drinker Biddle & Reath, which merged with Minneapolis-based Faegre Baker Daniels in February. Before that she was assistant director of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's Division of Enforcement.

>> Jonathan Kravis, the former federal prosecutor who resigned in apparent protest of the Justice Department leadership's intervention in the Roger Stone case, has joined the office of Washington D.C.'s attorney general. As special counsel for public corruption, Kravis will advise the district's attorney general, Karl Racine, on how to structure the new division and on any legislation necessary for empowering the unit.