Brandon Essig Quoted in Forbes About SCOTUS Decision on Plea Agreements

April 4, 2018

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (April 5, 2018) — Lightfoot, Franklin & White LLC partner Brandon K. Essig was interviewed for a recent post on Forbes.com.

The article, “SCOTUS Decision On Plea Agreements: Less Wiggle Room Than Before,” discusses the February 21 U.S. Supreme Court decision regarding whether someone who pleads guilty can later withdraw that plea and appeal their case. Essig provided insight on the broader implications of the ruling, particularly in white collar criminal cases.

"Most of the language in plea agreements is boilerplate, stuff that has to be in there. So I am confident that prosecutors across the country looked at this case and are revising those agreements to account for this type of scenario,” said Essig. “My expectation is that the Department of Justice will actually draft language to address this specific issue and require it in all plea agreements where the United States is a party."

Essig is a member of the firm’s White Collar Criminal Defense and Corporate Investigations practice group. He joined Lightfoot after nearly eight years as an Assistant U.S. Attorney in the Middle District of Alabama where he tried multiple felony jury trials a year, including public corruption, money laundering and various fraud cases. Prior to his time at the Department of Justice, Essig served as a captain in the U.S. Marine Corps. His experience also includes serving in the legal department of a major defense contractor.