Menendez Corruption Ruling Highlights Attorney Proffer Risks

Carrie H. Cohen and Savanna Leak wrote an article in Law360 that explores how the criminal trial of U.S. Sen. Bob Menendez on federal corruption charges in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York put a spotlight on the risks of using visual aids in attorney proffers.

Attorney proffers to the government are a common practice in criminal and regulatory matters. Proffers can be offered for a number of reasons including as part of an attempt to cooperate with prosecutors in preindictment investigations, in order to share with prosecutors another way to view the facts, and to try to demonstrate to prosecutors why charges should not be brought against a client.

In this case, the slides contained descriptions of certain payments made to Menendez's wife, Nadine Menendez, and details regarding Menendez's knowledge of certain of those payments. Ultimately the proffer did not succeed in convincing the U.S. Attorney's Office not to seek charges against Menendez.

The article discusses how the decisions in the Menendez case and other cases should lead defense attorneys to carefully assess whether using visual aids in an attorney proffer is worth the risk that those materials become admissible at trial should the government decide to pursue charges against their client.

Read the full article.