On September 25, 2025, the Department of Justice announced a new office within the Civil Division—the Enforcement & Affirmative Litigation Branch—“dedicated to safeguarding public health and safety through proactive enforcement and high-impact affirmative litigation.” The creation of this new office restructures and consolidates affirmative litigation into a specialized branch to “hold powerful actors accountable, protect public health and safety, and enforce critical national policies.”
Building on attempts in recent years to strengthen the Department of Justice’s (DOJ’s) white collar criminal enforcement, on September 15, 2022, Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco announced revisions to DOJ’s corporate criminal enforcement policies. The new policies, and those that are in development, further attempt to put pressure on companies to implement effective compliance policies and to self-report if there are problems. Notably, the new DOJ policies set forth changes to existing DOJ policies through a “combination of carrots and sticks – with a mix of incentives and deterrence,” with the goal of “giving general counsels and chief compliance officers the tools they need to make a business case for responsible corporate behavior” through seven key areas:
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Recent Updates
- DOJ’s Final Rule on Bulk Data Transfers: The First 180 Days
- California Governor Signs SB 351, Strengthening the State’s Corporate Practice of Medicine Doctrine
- No Remuneration Plus No "But-For" Causation (Between an Alleged Kickback and Claims Submitted to the Government) Means No FCA Violation, District Court Says
- Novel Lawsuits Allege AI Chatbots Encouraged Minors’ Suicides, Mental Health Trauma: Considerations for Stakeholders
- DOJ Creates Civil Division Enforcement & Affirmative Litigation Branch: Implications for Health Care and Beyond