Simon Quoted on 'Foreign Official' Decision

Partner David Simon was quoted in an article in The FCPA Report titled, “Supreme Court Asked to Review Landmark ‘Foreign Official’ Decision,” on August 20, 2014. The article examined the first-ever petition asking the Supreme Court to review the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit decision in U.S. v. Esquenazi on the definition of “foreign official” under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.

Simon, who represented defendant Carlos Rodriguez in the case, was quoted saying, “We are hopeful that the Supreme Court will take this case to provide clarity on this critically important issue. The Eleventh Circuit’s test for who will be deemed a ‘foreign official’ is nearly impossible to meaningfully apply in the real world. In the criminal law, when the government is putting people in prison for stepping over the line, the line should be clear.”