The Antitrust Division of the U.S. Department of Justice contends that reporting a price-fixing conspiracy to a law enforcement agency preferably the Antitrust Division is the only effective way to disavow or defeat the objectives of the conspiracy . The Antitrust Division has adopted a corporate leniency program specifically designed to encourage members of criminal antitrust conspiracies to report the illegal activity and to cooperate with any resulting investigation and prosecutions of other participants . The benefit of self-reporting and cooperation is immunity from criminal prosecution for the corporation and cooperating employees . Immunity from criminal prosecution does not extend to liability in civil treble damages lawsuits by private plaintiffs.
Before an attorney can competently advise a client to self-report, the attorney must have complete knowledge of the conduct of the client to be reported . An attorney who approaches prosecutors to disclose a clients wrongdoing without fully understanding the extent and implications of the clients wrongdoing creates huge risks for the client and for the attorney as the inevitable investigation unfolds. Thus, the attorney cannot safely accept the clients version of relevant facts. Only a comprehensive independent investigation will suffice to ascertain the facts.