Case Study - Automation Company

The Client:

Automation Company

The Challenge

With technology companies facing heightened scrutiny from both the DOJ and SEC, our client realized they might be at significant risk. They had no internal legal resource with the skills and experience to assess their bribery/corruption risk, to design controls to mitigate this risk and to develop a company anti-corruption/ anti-bribery policy going forward. They were looking for a compliance expert who could develop and implement a robust and sophisticated compliance program required to handle such issues, if they arose.

The Solution

Our client’s Chief Compliance Officer had previously been introduced to MLA Interim Legal Talent but at the time did not need our services. When news broke of Microsoft’s settlement for bribing government officials in Hungary, our client took a serious look at their compliance program and reached out to MLA Interim Legal Talent. Our tech client explained that they needed a compliance/risk attorney with significant in-house experience assessing and evaluating risk and implementing procedures to capture potential violations as early as possible. With the full picture of the candidate profile needed, the MLA Interim team immediately identified expert talent with this niche legal skill set. We presented several experienced attorneys with significant experience in both evaluating a company’s current risk and establishing a risk compliance program that could be implemented immediately. A candidate was selected and onboarded within a matter of a few weeks.

The Results

The talented interim attorney was able to help our client achieve their goals in a matter of months. Our consulting attorney investigated how the company functioned to better understand its exposure to potential violations; conducted a robust due diligence of all third parties with whom the client did business; and reviewed all client’s agreements with vendors and subcontractors and terminated those agreements that may have violated anti-corruption and anti-bribery laws. After taking those steps, the consulting attorney worked with the C-suite to develop an official company policy and statement, set guidelines for hiring and recruiting as well as on giving and receiving gifts, and implemented internal control measures. 

Thanks to the support of our consulting attorney, the client has potentially saved millions in possible FCPA violations, as the company was at great risk due to its sales operations in many foreign countries.