DPAs & NPAs

Deferred Prosecution Agreements (“DPAs”) and Non-Prosecution Agreements (“NPAs”) are pre-trial diversion contracts entered into by the government—usually the Department of Justice—and a potential corporate defendant. Under the terms of a DPA, the government files criminal charges against a company, but holds prosecution of the charges in abeyance until the company satisfies the terms of the DPA. Unlike with DPAs, no charges are filed against companies that enter NPAs so long as they comply with specified sanctions.