Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt LLP lecture debates corporate crime liability

Photo by Aimee Burtch

Professor Jennifer Arlen of New York University presents 2010's first Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt LLP Distinguished Lecture in Business Law on "Structuring Corporate Criminal Enforcement to Deter Corporate Crime" in Macdonald Hall on February 1.

Queen's Law students and faculty packed the Agnes Etherington Art Centre for the first Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt LLP Distinguished Lecture in Business Law of 2010 on February 5. Professor Jennifer Arlen of New York University presented "Structuring Corporate Criminal Enforcement to Deter Corporate Crime," a law and economics perspective on corporate criminal liability.

"I'm going to be looking at how we can use liability -- in particular criminal liability -- to deter corporate crime," Arlen said. "This is a very pressing issue in the [United States], where there has been really quite a lot of corporate crime."

Arlen began with a brief history of the dramatic changes in American corporate criminal liability. This area of American law has undergone dramatic changes since the 1980s, she explained, with an overall shift from strict liability for entire firms to prosecuting specific individuals. In addition, there was a substantial increase in the size of the fines handed out to offenders.

Arlen also focused on potential reforms. In particular, she recommended regulators and prosecutors take a different approach than the one they currently employ, focusing more on structural reform rather than involving themselves in the day-to-day affairs of firms.

Laura Fric, a partner at Osler Hoskin & Harcourt LLP specializing in corporate litigation, provided commentary and a Canadian perspective. She discussed the differences between the American and Canadian approaches to corporate criminal liability. In particular, she noted the dramatic difference between the small number of corporate criminal prosecutions in Canada and the much higher number in the United States, giving Arlen some food for thought in the process.

"Canada takes a very different approach to corporate crime than the U.S," Arlen said. "Thinking about the differences in the two approaches will help me see ways to improve the U.S. approach that I might not otherwise see."

Following the lecture, a number of students posed questions about subjects such as comparisons between the Canadian and American systems, the roles of private citizens in policing and deterring corporate crime, and the law in light of large conglomerates.

"The lecture was great," said Igor Poroger, Law '11. "Professor Arlen gave some interesting ideas about changing the current corporate criminal liability regime -- it really got me excited for the other Osler lectures."

In the distinguished business law lecture series generously sponsored by Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt LLP and directed by Professor Paul Miller, five internationally renowned academics will deliver lectures on contemporary topics in 2010.

For more information on the upcoming lectures, and to watch a recording and see more pictures of Professor Arlen's lecture, see http://law.queensu.ca/events/oslerDistinguishedLecturesInBusinessLaw.html .