Victims of federal crimes have substantial rights under the Crime Victims Rights Act (“CVRA”). Under certain circumstances, the CVRA allows crime victims to obtain judgments for restitution against convicted defendants as well as influence the plea bargain process.
We were the first law firm to use the CVRA to protect consumers who were the victims of antitrust crimes. Through our efforts, we were able to persuade the government to demand probation for two financially shaky corporate defendants. As a result, these defendants have significant limitations on how they can spend their income, and they cannot transfer assets without court-approval. Through an expedited process in the criminal prosecution, we were thus able to preserve the defendants’ assets when such relief might not even have been available in the civil litigation. The government attorney noted our value:
“We did listen to what they had to say. As a result of what they had to say, we ensured — and we took great order of time, of the Court’s time, … — to ensure that probation was a portion of the plea agreement, which as Your Honor indicated at the time of the hearing, you did not believe was a part of it. That was a critical issue on the part of the petitioners in this case: to ensure that probation was established.”
We employ all tools available that allow us to maximize recovery for our clients in the least amount of time and with the least amount of expense.
