Study Asks: Is the SEC Rewarding Attorneys for Blowing the Whistle on Clients?

Editor’s Note: A version of this article also appears in BNA’s Corporate Counsel Weekly.

By YinWilczek

Should attorneys who blow the whistle on their current or former clients receive monetary awards from the Securities and Exchange Commission?

A new study, slated for November publication in the Boston College of Law Review, raises that question, noting that it is a “cause for concern.” The SEC may be deciding whether to reward whistle-blower attorneys “through a secret proceeding that lacks an adversary presentation of issues and is largely insulated from judicial scrutiny.”

“Thus, a company that might view itself as harmed by ...