Monitoring
Federal and state prosecutors and regulatory officials – including the Department of Justice, the SEC, among others – frequently pursue cases in which the resolution includes future oversight over the company or organization by an independent monitor or compliance monitor. Government officials view such oversight as an important element in providing the public with assurances that the organizational behavior that gave rise to the investigation or prosecution has ended, and that the institutional factors that gave rise to the behavior have been modified to reduce the risks of its recurrence.
We have oversight and monitoring experience second to none. In addition to Mr. Bromwich’s five years serving as the Inspector General of the Department of Justice, our oversight experience includes current assignments monitoring two of the largest and best-known companies in the world, one in the tech sector and one in the retail sector. In addition, Mr. Bromwich has served as counsel to entities subject to monitorships, providing guidance on how to establish relationships with the monitor most conducive to an effective and conflict-free relationship.
Examples of Experience in the Field
- The Bromwich Group currently serves as the antitrust External Compliance Monitor of Apple Inc. in United States v. Apple, Inc., et al., and The State of Texas, et al. v. Penguin Group (USA) Inc., et al. In this matter, Mr. Bromwich was selected by the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York. The Court requires the submission of semi-annual reports that include an assessment of Apple’s internal antitrust compliance policies, procedures, and training and recommendations for improvement:
– October 2014 report: http://www.justice.
– April 2014 report: http://www.justice.
- The Bromwich Group currently serves as an independent monitor to one of the largest retailers in the world. In this matter, Mr. Bromwich was selected by the company being monitored.
- From 2005-2007, Mr. Bromwich served as the Independent Investigator for the Houston Police Department Crime Lab. When he was selected by an outside Stakeholders Committee appointed by the Mayor, which included representatives of Latino and African-American civil rights organizations, Houston was in crisis as a result of highly-publicized problems with the work of its Crime Lab. The reports produced by that investigation, including recommendations for reform, are available at: www.hpdlabinvestigation.org. In 2014, the newly created Houston Forensic Science Center, a local government corporation created based on Mr. Bromwich’s team recommendations to provide independent forensic services to the Houston Police Department, other law enforcement organizations and others engaged in the justice system, asked Mr. Bromwich to conduct a lookback to evaluate what reforms had been undertaken, their rate of success, and what remained to be done. That review is available here.
- From 2006-2010, Mr. Bromwich represented the Delaware Department of Correction in connection with an investigation conducted by the Civil Rights Division of DOJ into whether the Department of Correction was providing constitutionally adequate levels of care to its male and female inmates. The matter was settled within a few months of the commencement of the investigation.
- From 2002-2008, Mr. Bromwich served as the Independent Monitor for the District of Columbia Metropolitan Police Department (MPD), pursuant to an agreement among DOJ, the District of Columbia, and MPD. The monitorship grew out of a pattern and practice investigation conducted by the Civil Rights Division of the Department of Justice. The quarterly reports prepared and submitted during the monitorship are available at: www.policemonitor.org.
