Location: The Heritage Foundation's Lehrman Auditorium
Individuals and organizations spanning
the political spectrum are actively opposing the Justice
Department's current policies and practices for investigating and
prosecuting business organizations. These policies and
practices have created a federal law-enforcement culture in which
it is generally expected that a business organization will waive
its attorney-client privilege and work‑product protections in
order to have any hope of avoiding indictment. Based in part
on recent Judiciary Committee hearings in both the House and the
Senate, there appears to be bipartisan support for change. A
coalition of legal and business associations formed to protect the
attorney-client relationship is working with Congress to enact
reform legislation.
The existing
culture of waiver and coercive and arguably improper federal
investigative techniques did not develop solely because of the
so-called Thompson Memorandum. Merely amending the Thompson
Memorandum may not be sufficient to restore the full panoply of
protections that the attorney-client relationship formerly provided
to suspects. This event will explore how best to redress the
culture of waiver and restore the vitality of the attorney-client
relationship in investigations and prosecutions of business
organizations.
More About the Speakers
The Honorable George J. Terwilliger III
Former Deputy Attorney General of the United States
(1991-93)
The Honorable Larry D. Thompson
Former Deputy Attorney General of the United States
(2001-03)
With Introductory Remarks by
Edwin Meese III
Chairman, Center for Legal and Judicial Studies,
The Heritage Foundation