In an opinion release, the Department of Justice ruled that a law firm partner could pay the medical expenses of a foreign official's daughter, and still be in compliance with the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.

The FCPA opinion procedures allow issuers and domestic concerns to get the Attorney General's opinion on whether certain conduct is in line with the Department's enforcement policy regarding the statute's anti-bribery provisions. Opinion Releases can only be relied upon by the requestor and have no binding application to any other companies, although they do shed light on the latest views of regulators.

In the latest opinion, dated Dec. 19, the requestor is a partner with a U.S. law firm. The requestor and other attorneys with the law firm have represented the foreign country at issue in various international arbitrations.

According to the Justice Department, the law firm has billed over $2 million in fees to the foreign country in the past 18 months, and expects to bill the same amount in 2014.

The lawyer involved, however, isn't the primary partner responsible for the firm's relationship with the foreign country's government, and the foreign official involved works in the country's attorney general's office.

According to the facts of the case, the lawyer became a personal friend of the foreign official, who lacks the financial means to pay for medical treatment for his daughter, who cannot be treated in her country or in the region in which she lives. The treatment will cost between $13,500 and $20,500, the Justice Department said.

The lawyer also represented to the Justice Department that:

The payment for medical treatment is purely humanitarian, with no intent to influence the decision of any foreign official in the foreign country with regard to engaging the services of the law firm.

The funds used to pay for the medical treatment will be the lawyer's own personal funds.

The payments will go directly to the medical facility where foreign official's daughter will receive treatment, and the foreign official will pay for the costs of his daughter's related travel to the third country where she'll receive treatment.

Hiring lawyers in the foreign country is a pubic tender process, backed by a published ‘reasoned decision' for the hiring.

The attorney general of the foreign country said the payment of the medical expenses wouldn't be illegal under local law and won't influence the decision to award or withhold work to the law firm.

In this case, the Justice Department concluded, “the facts represented suggest an absence of corrupt intent,” and provide “adequate assurances” that the proposed benefit to the foreign official's daughter will not affect the requestor's, or the requestor's law firm's, present or future business with the foreign country.