White Collar Defense and Investigations

The U.S. government continues to increase its efforts to uncover and prosecute white collar crimes. And after the recent financial meltdown revealed systemic fraud and irregular business practices in U.S. financial institutions, the government is even quicker to enforce violations of law and regulations through the investigation and prosecution of cases, exposing the company and its employees to catastrophic penalties—ranging from steep fines to debarment and even jail time.

Collectively, our attorneys have tried hundreds of business fraud cases, both as federal and state prosecutors and as counsel for the defense. Many have served in senior positions in U.S. Attorney’s offices, the offices of state Attorneys General and at federal regulatory and law enforcement agencies, including the Department of Justice, Securities and Exchange Commission and the Federal Trade Commission. This experience means we are better able to anticipate the government’s actions and know what facts will be persuasive to prosecutors and regulators who have the discretion to move against our client’s interest. In numerous cases, we secured outcomes in which our clients were neither fined nor prosecuted.

The breadth of our white collar defense experience includes a comprehensive understanding of the areas of law that give rise to many enforcement actions and inquiries—antitrust, False Claims Act, Sarbanes-Oxley, securities fraud, bank fraud, criminal tax enforcement, health care fraud, government contract fraud, bankruptcy fraud and environmental matters.

We have found that the best defense begins with compliance and corporate governance. An effective compliance program is a powerful tool in helping our corporate clients avoid the tangible and intangible costs of responding to a government inquiry. We work closely with our client’s officers and key employees to establish a program that identifies practices that expose the company to civil and criminal liability. Because we have long-standing professional relationships with decision makers in law enforcement agencies throughout the country, we can create rigorous compliance programs that withstand government scrutiny.

Corporations also regularly turn to our attorneys to conduct independent internal investigations. We have performed more than 100 investigations, from complex, months-long global efforts to discrete matters that are disposed of quickly.

Partners: Ankney, Gordon L.; Cohen, Edward A.; Cox, Daniel C.; Higgins, Stephen B.; Miller, Jan Paul; Noelker, Timothy F.; Rogers, John W.; Sherman, Steven M.

Telecommunications Industry: Defense against SEC and DOJ Investigations
We collaborated with our client’s senior executives and management staff during a two-year investigation by the U.S. Department of Justice and the Securities Exchange Commission regarding our client’s business and accounting practices. Through our efforts, the client avoided a near-certain indictment, and the U.S. Deputy Attorney General commended our client for its cooperation with the government’s investigation.

We also achieved an extraordinary result in the SEC investigation, which was concluded without the imposition of any fine or censure upon our client.

Chemical Industry: Significant Whistleblower Decisions
We were successful in obtaining the dismissal of two Sarbanes-Oxley whistleblower complaints for a client with global operations. One case is potentially precedent-setting, as the decision was the first to declare that SOX does not provide protections to whistleblowers who report conduct to agencies for personal financial gain.; Major Investigation into Sale of Embargoed Products
We secured a highly favorable disposition of an extensive, nine-month international trade embargo investigation directed to the U.S. Departments of Trade and Commerce. Our client avoided significant regulatory consequences stemming from the investigation, including all fines, penalties or other sanctions.

Transportation Industry: Bid Rigging and Extortion Trial
Our attorneys successfully defended a government contractor client against a nine-count indictment for bid rigging, mail fraud and extortion after a 2 ½-week trial.

Energy Industry: Defense Win in a Complex Trial
A manufacturer of fire barrier materials, including a product used to protect various systems in nuclear power plants, and its president were indicted by a federal grand jury on four federal felonies. A four-month trial resulted in acquittals of both defendants on all counts. Our lawyers were successful in condensing the length of the trial by using cutting-edge technology to manage and present nearly a million documents, including detailed testing reports and a wide range of scientific documents.

Services > Litigation > White Collar Defense and Investigations

White Collar Defense and Investigations

Gordon L. Ankney

Stephen B. Higgins

Jan Paul Miller