Corporate Criminal Liability in the United States: Recent Expanded Focus on Individual Accountability

In 2015, the Department of Justice (DOJ) issued new guidance regarding individual accountability for corporate wrongdoing, commonly referred to as the Yates Memo, which identifies various key steps the DOJ will take in its prosecutions. Concurrently, federal prosecutors have threatened to revive the Responsible Corporate Officer (RCO) Doctrine, often referred to as the Park Doctrine, a form of criminal liability that can be used to convict corporate employees for the criminal acts or omissions of others when that employee is in a position of authority to prevent or correct regulatory violations, but fails to do so. Both the Yates Memo and the revitalization of the Park Doctrine reflect the public's outrage in the lack of white-collar prosecutions following the financial crisis of 2008. This Article seeks to analyze the historical development of corporate criminal liability in the United States and the potential implications of the Yates Memo and Park Doctrine on prosecutions of high-level executives. Part II provides an in-depth survey of the development of corporate criminal liability in the United States during the 19th and 20th centuries. Part III discusses a prosecutorial shift in focus away from criminal prosecutions for corporate malfeasance to settlement agreements between the DOJ and corporations. Finally, Part IV introduces and analyzes the Yates Memorandum, and discusses its potential implications on the future prosecution of corporate crime in the US.