New U.S. Attorney Eyes Tougher Enforcement in Silicon Valley

The message to a roomful of corporate attorneys representing a who’s who of tech companies was clear: The once-sleepy U.S. Attorney’s office in San Francisco has awoken.

New U.S. Attorney David Anderson, who recently took over the office responsible for federal criminal prosecutions in the Bay Area, outlined his plan to ramp up the volume of cases during a panel discussion last week at the federal courthouse in San Francisco. The question on the minds of the dozens of prominent white collar defense attorneys in the room was what they should be telling their corporate clients, who historically have had little reason to fear the office.