The Decline of the DPA: What Has Happened and Why

Abstract

For the past several years, commentators have predicted (or warned) that federal prosecutors were increasingly using deferred prosecution agreements (DPAs) and non-prosecution agreements (NPAs) when settling with companies accused of corporate wrongdoing. From 2002 (the year after Enron) through 2007, this prediction was accurate - DPAs increased by from 2 in 2001 to 20 in 2007 and NPAs increased from 1 to 18 in the same time period. Something then happened in 2008. New research demonstrates that the use of these mechanisms has markedly decreased over the past year, and may continue to do so. This article is the first to describe this phenomenon, suggests some possible reasons and poses questions for future research and analysis.