What do the red grouper (game fish), Tom Brady, and a business executive targeted in a corporate investigation have in common?

A. All are targets in a “fishing expedition”; B. all have a fear of being gutted and filleted; C. all fear the business end of a barbed hook. Answer: C. In this case, the “hook” was, at least prior to the Yates decision, the favorite investigative snare for federal prosecutors. This would be the infamous Section 1519 of SOX, commonly referred to as the “Arthur Anderson document shredding statute”

As a result of this year's U.S. Supreme Court decision in Yates v. United States, the red grouper (or, more precisely, the fisherman who catch it) and also Tom Brady likely are “off the hook,” at least as far as that statute is concerned. Not so for the typical business executive that finds himself dealing with company investigators, the new Inspector Javerts of the business world.