Keynote Interview with U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton, Southern District of NY | MFA L&C 2026

Why It Matters

Clayton’s push to marry AI tools with a faster, clearer self-disclosure policy signals a potential acceleration in enforcement timelines and greater leverage for prosecutors, raising the stakes for companies and law firms on compliance and evidence production. This shift could materially change settlement dynamics and increase exposure for firms that delay cooperation.

Summary

U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton told an MFA audience that his long private-practice and SEC background — including capital markets work and complex internal investigations — helped prepare him to lead the Southern District of New York. He said the office is aggressively pursuing technological upgrades, notably AI-driven document review provided by private vendors, to shorten investigations and detect hard-to-find public-sector fraud. Clayton criticized the slow pace of evidence production in probes and urged better pretrial cooperation from targets and their counsel. He also highlighted SDNY’s new voluntary self‑disclosure policy, which can provide companies conditional declinations within weeks if they meet strict cooperation and disclosure criteria.

Original Description

Watch a keynote interview with U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton, Southern District of New York, live from New York at MFA Legal & Compliance 2025 on Wednesday, May 13 at 8:40 AM ET. The discussion is moderated by Andrea Griswold, Partner, White Collar Defense and Investigations, Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom.