In the Headlines
September 13, 2010
Dodd-Frank ups the ante for whistle-blowers
Daily Business Review
National Healthcare & Life Sciences Team Chair Maria Currier was quoted in a Daily Business Review article titled, "Dodd-Frank ups the ante for whistle-blowers."
Federal financial reforms passed this year carve out unprecedented protection for whistle-blowers at publicly traded companies, deputizing them as de facto agents of the Securities and Exchange Commission. In exchange, whistle-blowers are in line for a substantial portion of money from resulting SEC enforcement actions. Already, many attorneys are seeing clients coming to them to make sure they are in compliance and ready to deal with what they expect will be a deluge of whistle-blower claims. Ms. Currier reported a significant uptick in business on the whistle-blower side. "We've definitely seen it already," she said. "The ease of bringing a whistle-blower suit coupled with the increased enforcement activity that we're seeing from this new administration" has encouraged clients to ask for compliance audits "to make sure everything is in order and to identify any risk areas we might see."
Federal financial reforms passed this year carve out unprecedented protection for whistle-blowers at publicly traded companies, deputizing them as de facto agents of the Securities and Exchange Commission. In exchange, whistle-blowers are in line for a substantial portion of money from resulting SEC enforcement actions. Already, many attorneys are seeing clients coming to them to make sure they are in compliance and ready to deal with what they expect will be a deluge of whistle-blower claims. Ms. Currier reported a significant uptick in business on the whistle-blower side. "We've definitely seen it already," she said. "The ease of bringing a whistle-blower suit coupled with the increased enforcement activity that we're seeing from this new administration" has encouraged clients to ask for compliance audits "to make sure everything is in order and to identify any risk areas we might see."