Relating to the subject matter jurisdiction of the criminal trial courts of this state.

Contracts

• Indemnification Clauses: Amend Master Service Agreements (MSAs) with vendors and subcontractors. Standard clauses covering "fines and penalties" are insufficient. You must explicitly include "criminal defense costs and legal fees" arising from a vendor’s regulatory negligence.
• Executive Agreements: C-Suite employment contracts should be reviewed to clarify the company's obligation to advance legal fees for criminal charges arising from regulatory duties.

Hiring/Training

• Inspector Interaction Protocols: Retrain EHS and Compliance staff immediately. The standard practice of "full transparency to mitigate fines" is now dangerous. Staff must know when to invoke Fifth Amendment rights during administrative inspections, as admissions to an agency inspector are now immediately admissible evidence for prosecutors.
• Unified Counsel Strategy: Establish a protocol requiring immediate coordination between administrative counsel and criminal defense counsel upon receipt of a Notice of Violation (NOV).

Reporting & Record-Keeping

• Privilege Segregation: Restructure internal investigation protocols. Incident reports and compliance failure analyses must be generated under strict Attorney-Client Privilege and Work Product Doctrine. If maintained solely as "business records," they are subject to immediate seizure by prosecutors.
• Evidentiary Standards: Maintain compliance logs (e.g., waste manifests, billing records) to criminal evidentiary standards, anticipating they may be scrutinized by a Grand Jury, not just an agency auditor.

Fees & Costs

• Legal Defense Budget: No new statutory fees exist, but you must budget for "Parallel Proceeding" costs. You may need to retain separate administrative and criminal counsel simultaneously to avoid conflicts of interest.
• Insurance Review: Review Directors & Officers (D&O) policies. Confirm coverage for the advancement of defense costs for criminal proceedings prior to final adjudication.