FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Shaw Pittman Partner Renews Whistleblower Warning to Executives as Accelerated March Deadline for SEC Filings Approaches

National Authority Interprets Whistleblower Requirements Affecting
Public and Private Companies

Washington, DC---(BUSINESS WIRE) -- February 28, 2005 --- Public companies with a 12/31 year end will be rushing to meet the accelerated mid-March filing deadline for 2004 financial reporting to the SEC against the backdrop of Sarbanes-Oxley, the far-reaching act of 2002 regulating financial reporting requirements and imparting detailed protections for corporate whistleblowers. CEOs and CFOs must pay strict attention to the whistleblower provision of Sarbanes-Oxley before taking pen in hand to attest to the veracity of company financial information, cautions Daniel P. Westman, J.D., a partner at Washington, DC-based Shaw Pittman LLP and co-author of the recently updated Whistleblowing: The Law of Retaliatory Discharge, Second Edition (BNA Books, 2004).

Westman reminds public company executives that failure to comply could result in criminal penalties including fines of up to $1 million, imprisonment of up to ten years, or both, according to the statute.

“Now, more than ever, CEOs and CFOs need to create a culture of integrity and openness, encouraging employees to speak up regarding improper practices or financial dealings that put the company, and ultimately its leadership, at risk,” counsels Westman, one of the nation’s pre-eminent whistleblower authorities. “Honest disclosure of wrongdoing by employees, as well as vendors and strategic partners, needs to be encouraged and facilitated.”

Westman, who has represented corporate clients in whistleblower cases since 1982, says the climate for whistleblowers has changed dramatically in the post-Enron era and corporate leaders need to heed the transformation.

“From a historical perspective, the whistleblower has evolved from snitch to corporate hero. Within that context, and because it’s simply the right thing to do, executives must take painstaking efforts to comply with the whistleblower regulations of Sarbanes-Oxley,” warns Westman.

“Otherwise, employees who feel ignored or stifled in their attempts to report wrongdoing will go directly outside rather than using the proper internal channels first. Conversely, companies must also protect themselves against false and malicious allegations.”

While the regulations are extensive (for NYSE companies, see section 303A of the Listed Company Manual at http://www.nyse.com; for NASDAQ companies, see http://www.nasdaq.com/about/codesofconduct.stm), Westman details the following basic, critical steps to compliance by public companies:

• Establish a mechanism for employees to submit anonymous concerns about financial improprieties to Audit Committees;
• Adopt a Code of Conduct which includes provisions stating that employees who raise concerns about violations will not be subject to retaliation;
• Implement policies and practices that effectively communicate to employees that retaliation will not be allowed against employees for raising concerns about illegal conduct.

Adding that private companies are also at risk if they provide services to public companies, or if they retaliate against employees who report potential federal crimes to law enforcement, Westman states that whistleblowing issues are altering the landscape of American business.

“As the ongoing trials of WorldCom and Tyco former executives show, the relatively freewheeling days of the American boardroom are over, replaced by a heightened awareness of accountability at the highest levels of the organization,” affirms Westman.

Moreover, Westman cites an administrative law judge’s ruling earlier this month ordering that the first whistleblower to gain protection under SOX be reinstated to his position as CFO of a small Virginia bank as proof that whistleblower protections are not just on paper.

“If 2002 ushered in the age of the whistleblower, then 2005 is poised to be the age of judicially-supported whistleblower protections. Companies would do well to recognize this changed climate and put practices in place to protect themselves,” comments Westman.

ABOUT SHAW PITTMAN LLP

Based in Washington, D.C., Shaw Pittman is recognized for its leading global, national and regional practices. The law firm counsels a wide range of clients from emerging businesses to Fortune 500 companies, government entities and not-for-profit organizations. Founded in 1954, the firm celebrated its 50th Anniversary in 2004. Shaw Pittman has 380 lawyers and non-lawyer professionals and serves clients from its offices in Washington, DC, Northern Virginia, New York, London and most recently, Taipei and Northern California. For information about Shaw Pittman, please contact Diane Helyne Zyats at 202.663.8331 or diane.zyats@shawpittman.com.

For a copy of Whistleblowing: The Law of Retaliatory Discharge, by Daniel P. Westman and Nancy M. Modesitt, visit
http://storefront.bnabooks.com/epages/bnabooks.storefront/en/product/1477.

Contact: Barbara M. Fornasiero
EAFocus, Inc. Communications
248.651.7536; cell: 586.817.8414
eafocus@bignet.net