In this article, James Tillen and Lauren Torbett describe the increase in parallel civil litigation for companies involved in FCPA investigations. While companies once may have breathed a sigh of relief at a Non-Prosecution Agreement with the DOJ, they increasingly face the risk of civil litigation once the criminal investigation is completed, if not before. Parallel civil litigation related to FCPA issues can include suits by competitors, victims of the bribery, or shareholders. In particular, shareholder suits have increased significantly in the past several years. Announcements of shareholder suits now closely follow companies' disclosure of FCPA investigations, as evidenced by recent suits against Weatherford International, Avon Products, Pride International, SciClone Pharmaceuticals, and many others. Such litigation based on alleged FCPA violations has become a burgeoning field for plaintiffs' attorneys, who need only to monitor SEC filings to identify defendants and gather information for complaints.

This article also appeared in Bloomberg's White Collar Crime Law Report and was mentioned by Thomson Reuters News & Insights ("Can Avon FCPA follow-on suit break anti-plaintiffs trend?" July 7, 2011).