Attorneys representing former Cognizant Technology executives are taking significant steps to attempt a dismissal of pending charges, following President Donald Trump’s directive to pause foreign bribery enforcement. The legal representatives, from the law firms Jones Day and Paul Weiss, approached the Justice Department’s second-in-command the day after Trump’s order, which has raised questions concerning the continuation of cases under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) enforcement. Cognizant’s former president and chief legal officer are accused of approving a $2 million bribe to expand operations in India, as mentioned in previous reports.
The move by Cognizant’s defense attorneys is mirrored in several other instances as corporate legal teams press for dismissals, capitalizing on the prevailing sentiment within the Justice Department leadership. Prior to Trump’s February 10 directive, a memo from Attorney General Pam Bondi had already prompted attempts to downscale enforcement activities, information provided by lawyers involved in the dialog suggests.
Corporate defense attorneys are leveraging connections within the Justice Department in the wake of the Trump administration’s rapid shifts away from white-collar criminal prosecutions. Brian Klein, a former prosecutor now with Waymaker, suggested that any competent defense lawyer would likely be strategizing approaches to convince DOJ leadership to drop the cases they are involved in.
Jones Day stands as a noteworthy player in this environment, heralding its influence in Washington and bolstered by former Justice Department officials among its ranks, such as Noel Francisco and Eric Dreiband. Their strategy, as gathered from legal insiders, includes approaching newly settled cases to renegotiate terms that were established under the Biden administration, potentially removing costly compliance burdens.
Meanwhile, the trial of Cognizant’s former executives, Gordon Coburn and Steven Schwartz, remains scheduled for March 3, providing prosecutors a potential platform to uphold the accountability pledges made during both Biden and Trump’s previous administration. However, with Trump’s executive order declaring that FCPA enforcement has been “overexpansive and unpredictable,” many similar cases face uncertainty. The directive halts new legal actions and requires review of existing cases under the 1977 law. A New Jersey federal judge has set a February 18 deadline for the DOJ to address how the order impacts this specific trial.
The distinction between prioritizing cartel and transnational organization bribery cases over others comes amid Bondi’s adjustments as outlined in her early directives.