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White collar attorneys from the public and private sectors will gather in Braselton, Ga. Sept. 3-5 for the American Bar Association’s 11th Annual Southeastern White Collar Crime Institute. The conference is presented by the ABA’s Criminal Justice Section.

Womble Bond Dickinson will be heavily involved in this year’s event. Joe Whitley, the Chair of the firm’s White Collar Defense and Criminal Investigations practice, serves as Co-Chair of this annual program, and Womble is a sponsor. Womble attorney Matt Hickman is assisting Whitley in organizing the program.

Joe Whitley also will moderate a panel discussion on “Trends in Fraud Enforcement”. Fraud enforcement by the Trump Administration and the Bondi DOJ as set out in Executive Orders and Bondi memoranda and in the speeches and memos of key DOJ personnel like Acting Criminal Division head Matthew Galeotti is charting a new course for white collar enforcement in the United States and around the world. For example, traditional leadership by the DOJ in the enforcement of the FCPA has been deferred to other countries, international bodies, and some activist State Attorney General Offices. What is the short- and long-term impact of these changes on corporate America and its allocation of time and money to compliance as contemplated by the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines? What impact do these changes have on voluntary disclosures and the role of whistleblowers and the qui tam relators bar? Will there be more utilization of the False Claims Act against fraud in government contracts and in health care?

In addition, several Womble attorneys will serve as speakers at this year’s program:

Chukwukpee Nzegwu will take part in the kickoff plenary session, a young lawyers’ roundtable discussion on “Advancing to the Next Level.” This Q&A session will share best practices that young lawyers can tap into to advance to the next level. This open dialogue will include the “do’s” and “don’ts” that need to be observed to make the elite levels of law practice. The panelists also will discuss ethical and professionalism considerations for young lawyers.

Luke Cass will moderate a breakout session on “Navigating New Boundaries: Recent Supreme Court and Appellate Court Decisions Shaping White-Collar Crime”. This panel will explore the evolving landscape of white-collar crime through the lens of recent U.S. Supreme Court and federal appellate court decisions. Focusing on landmark cases from 2023 to 2025, including Kousisis v. United States, Ciminelli v. United States, Percoco v. United States, and others, the discussion will examine how these rulings have redefined the scope of federal fraud statutes, such as wire fraud and honest-services fraud, and their implications for prosecutorial discretion and defense strategies. Key topics include the rejection of the “right to control” theory, limitations on honest-services fraud, and the impact of decisions like United States v. Snyder on bribery statutes. The panel will also address emerging trends, such as the Supreme Court’s affirmation of the fraudulent inducement theory in 2025 and its emphasis on materiality as a limiting factor in fraud prosecutions. This session will provide critical insights into how these judicial developments affect white-collar crime enforcement, sentencing, and compliance.

Michael Clark will take part in a panel discussion on “The False Claims Act (FCA): What to Watch for in the New Administration.” The Trump Administration’s approach to False Claims Act cases is impacting all business entities which are involved with claims submitted to and paid by the government. The Department of Justice has made clear that it intends to make aggressive use of the FCA, heightening risks for both domestic and international businesses. This panel of experts will explore both new and continuing areas of FCA priority being pursued by DOJ, as well as its increased focus on use of the false certification theory of liability. Some of the areas 
the panel will discuss include the evasion of tariff requirements, non-compliance with customs rules, the Buy American Act, and the “Civil Rights Fraud Initiative,” as well as the continuing priority of Medicare fraud. The panel will also discuss the evolving interpretation of FCA scienter following the Supervalu opinion, as well as the pending challenges to the constitutionality of the qui tam provisions.

Click here to register for the ABA’s 11th Annual Southeastern White Collar Crime Institute.
 

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