Legal Professionals In White Collar Crime

This work is dedicated to map the modes of thinking and acting of legal professionals who work in white-collar crime. Lawyers, whose decisions generate economic and political consequences, stand at a strategic location between the state and key segments of society. This monograph’s approach is linked to the foundations of the sociology of knowledge, that culture antecedes and anchors social action. It starts by reconstructing the worldviews that legal professionals hold about corruption and its main participants, and then advances to examine decision-making. The author is introducing an innovative dataset comprised of interviews, court records and biographical data to investigate Brazilian lawyers (1985-2021). The study’s qualitative findings show a professional cognitive pattern that is apolitical and technical, and criticizes unskilled people working in the state administration more than businesspeople. The dominant mindset understands corporate-state relations as a self-feeding system that requires qualification and awareness of international trends to counter crime. The decision-making patterns confirm: (i) that prosecutors and judges prioritize the ends, fighting corruption, and use existing legislation and organizational resources to secure verdicts; (ii) the asymmetries between how bribe-payers and bribe-payees are treated.

The first inside look at how the elite white-collar crime defense bar goes about its work. Mann's book reveals that these lawyers see their main task as controlling information about their clients, especially the flow of harmful information to government investigators. As both lawyer and sociologist, Mann was able to gain access only rarely available to scholars. His book raises important ethical and policy questions for the bar and for the administration of justice. People who think our criminal system is too soft on muggers and petty thieves can learn from Mann's book how soft things get when business-class thieves are in trouble. -- Michael Kinsley, Fortune

The role played by legal professionals in the laundering of criminal proceeds generated by others has become a priority concern for authorities at national and international levels. This ground-breaking book presents an in-depth empirical analysis of the nature of lawyers’ involvement in the facilitation of money laundering and its control through criminal justice and regulatory mechanisms. It is based on qualitative research combining analysis of cases of lawyers convicted of money laundering offences with interviews with criminal justice practitioners, members of professional and regulatory bodies and practising solicitors, and analysis of relevant national and international legislative and regulatory frameworks. The book demonstrates the complex and diverse nature of lawyers’ involvement in laundering activity, and shows that their actions and the decisions they take must be understood in relation to the specific situational contexts in which they occur. It provides significant new insights into the criminal justice and regulatory response to professional facilitation of money laundering in the UK, raising questions about the effectiveness and appropriateness of the response and the challenges involved. The book develops a framework for future research and analysis in this area, and proposes a range of potential strategies for controlling the facilitation of money laundering. Lawyers and the Proceeds of Crime is essential reading for those researching money laundering, white-collar crime or organised crime, and for practitioners and policy makers concerned with preventing the facilitation of money laundering.

Financial Crime and Knowledge Workers examines the role of lawyers in court cases involving white-collar crimes, revealing fresh insights into the relationship between a lawyer's stature and a case's potential verdict.

Managing White Collar Legal Issues is an authoritative, insiders perspective on best practices for representing corporate and individual clients in white collar cases. Featuring partners and chairs from some of the nations leading law firms, these experts guide the reader on how to respond to government investigations and audits, including managing documents, evaluating the strengths and weaknesses of the case, and helping the client determine the appropriate level of cooperation with the government. These top lawyers reveal their advice on how to work with white collar clients in cases ranging from tax fraud to securities and health care fraud, outlining strategies for interacting with in-house counsel, obtaining key information, and managing expectations. Additionally these leaders offer strategies for managing parallel criminal and civil cases, list key elements in developing effective compliance programs, and discuss recent enforcement trends and regulatory developments. The different niches represented and the breadth of perspectives presented enable readers to get inside some of the great legal minds of today, as these experienced lawyers offer up their thoughts around the keys to navigating a rapidly-changing area of law.

Insider trading. Savings and loan scandals. Enron. Corporate crimes were once thought of as victimless offenses, but now—with billions of dollars and an increasingly global economy at stake—this is understood to be far from the truth. The International Handbook of White-Collar and Corporate Crime explores the complex interplay of factors involved when corporate cultures normalize lawbreaking, and when organizational behavior is pushed to unethical (and sometimes inhumane) limits. Featuring original contributions from a panel of experts representing North America, Asia, Europe, and Australia, this timely volume presents multidisciplinary views on recent corporate wrongdoing affecting economic and social conditions worldwide. Criminal liability and intent Stock market and financial crime Bribery and extortion Computer and identity fraud Health care fraud Crime in the professions Industrial pollution Political corruption War crimes and genocide Contributors offer case studies, historical and sociopolitical analyses, theoretical and legal perspectives, and comparative studies, featuring examples as varied as NASA, Parmalat, the Italian government, and Watergate. Criminal justice responses to these phenomena, the role of the media in exposing or minimizing them, prevention, regulation, and self- policing strategies, and larger global issues emerging from economic crime are also featured. Richly diverse in its coverage, The International Handbook of White-Collar and Corporate Crime is stimulating reading for students, academics, and professionals in a wide range of fields, from criminology and criminal justice to business and economics, psychology to social policy to ethics. This powerful information is certain to change many of our deeply held views on criminal behavior.

A comprehensive and state-of the-art overview from internationally-recognized experts on white-collar crime covering a broad range of topics from many perspectives Law enforcement professionals and criminal justice scholars have debated the most appropriate definition of “white-collar crime” ever since Edwin Sutherland first coined the phrase in his speech to the American Sociological Society in 1939. The conceptual ambiguity surrounding the term has challenged efforts to construct a body of science that meaningfully informs policy and theory. The Handbook of White-Collar Crime is a unique re-framing of traditional discussions that discusses common topics of white-collar crime—who the offenders are, who the victims are, how these crimes are punished, theoretical explanations—while exploring how the choice of one definition over another affects research and scholarship on the subject. Providing a one-volume overview of research on white-collar crime, this book presents diverse perspectives from an international team of both established and newer scholars that review theory, policy, and empirical work on a broad range of topics. Chapters explore the extent and cost of white-collar crimes, individual- as well as organizational- and macro-level theories of crime, law enforcement roles in prevention and intervention, crimes in Africa and South America, the influence of technology and globalization, and more. This important resource: Explores diverse implications for future theory, policy, and research on current and emerging issues in the field Clarifies distinct characteristics of specific types of offences within the general archetype of white-collar crime Includes chapters written by researchers from countries commonly underrepresented in the field Examines the real-world impact of ambiguous definitions of white-collar crime on prevention, investigation, and punishment Offers critical examination of how definitional decisions steer the direction of criminological scholarship Accessible to readers at the undergraduate level, yet equally relevant for experienced practitioners, academics, and researchers, The Handbook of White-Collar Crime is an innovative, substantial contribution to contemporary scholarship in the field.

In the nearly twenty years since the first edition of White-Collar Crime, the fields of criminal justice and criminology have changed dramatically. Nonetheless, the revised edition, published in 1977, still holds a place on many bookshelves, a testament to the editors' ability to identify works of the highest quality. At long last, with the assistance of new co-editor Lawrence M. Salinger, White-Collar Crime has been fully revised, including the most extensive bibliography on white-collar crime that has ever been compiled.