By Dionne Searcey
Update, 1/18, 5:15 EST:
Another SFO official has landed at a top American firm. Covington & Burling has announced they hired Robert Amaee in its London office. Amaee is the former head of the Anti-Corruption and Proceeds of Crime Units at the Serious Fraud Office in the United Kingdom.
Amaee's new colleagues include two former senior officials from DOJ who came to the firm in recent months − Steven Fagell, who served as deputy chief of staff and counselor to the Assistant Attorney General overseeing the Criminal Division and James Garland, who served as deputy chief of staff and counselor to the U.S. Attorney General.
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One of the biggest things on the minds of corporate counsels is just how much the U.K. Bribery Act will upend compliance programs and generally affect business overseas when the law takes effect in April.
The Act, which some people are calling the FCPA on steroids, is similar to the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act in that it bans overseas bribery but does so in less than black and white manner. Speculation over those gray areas are what keeps CEOs up at night, and has led to a burgeoning business for law firms, compliance consultants and others.
Many law firms have tried to gain an advantage for their clients by picking off former Justice Department officials. Last year Paul Weiss scored a coup by picking up Mark Mendelsohn, who presided over the FCPA crackdown for DOJ.
Today, White & Case is announcing it has hired Charlie Monteith, the number 2 official in Britain's Serious Fraud Office, which is in charge of prosecuting crimes under the new Bribery Act.
Monteith, who will work in White & Case's London office, was the key architect of the Bribery Act, according to the firm. During his tenure in the SFO Monteith participated in some of the most high-profile crime enforcements in Britain including prosecuting oil-for-food crimes and bribery cases involving BAE. He also contributed to the OECD convention guidance on how to prevent bribery.
Other luminaries at White & Case include former deputy attorney general George Terwilliger. "Charlie Monteith keeps us on the leading edge of global white collar capability for our clients," Terwilliger said.
Among Monteith's honors was one we found particularly noteworthy: last July he was invited to the Queen's Garden Party in recognition of his work on the Bribery Act. Top that, FCPA lawyers. [End of post.]
