This paper is intended to promote discussion regarding the use of criminal statutes in the commercial area. The paper has been prepared with assistance from government prosecutors, private practitioners and academics, and was originally presented at a meeting of opinion leaders in July 2002.
A client in the midst of a nasty contract dispute braces herself for litigation, and litigation she gets, but not exactly in the form she expected. Instead of a summons and complaint, the client is arrested on an indictment brought by federal prosecutors who accuse her of mail and wire fraud for breaching the honest services she owed under the contract.