White Collar, Government Investigations & Special Matters

The White Collar Group advises financial institutions navigating AML and economic sanctions program challenges. Our attorneys have deep regulatory and investigatory experience which helps clients develop compliance, remediation and defense strategies in enforcement proceedings.  We have experience in high-profile AML and economic-sanctions related regulatory enforcements that are of global, multi-government, multi-agency scale.

The White Collar Group handles all aspects of antitrust litigation and represents major corporations and individuals. Our partners handling antitrust matters have experience across industries in civil, criminal, government enforcement, class action and business-to-business.  We combine the firm’s traditional excellence in criminal and civil litigation to deal with complex antitrust matters involving exposure reaching the billions of dollars and where parties seek substantial changes in long-standing industry practices.

Our breadth of litigation experience and our multi-disciplinary litigators give the White Collar Group superior capabilities in antitrust cases that intersect with other areas of the law, including healthcare, life sciences, commercial trade, financial services, real estate, employment and labor.

The White Collar Group advises clients on a wide variety of important banking regulatory matters. We deal at all levels with securities, commodities, banking and other regulatory and governmental agencies.

We have extensive experience with U.S. and non-U.S. financial services laws and regulations, as well as with the agencies that enforce them. The White Collar Group engages with the Treasury Department, the Office of Comptroller of the Currency, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, the Office of Foreign Assets Control, Financial Industry Regulatory Authority and other U.S. federal agencies involved with financial services, as well as with the various state banking agencies.  We routinely advise clients on the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act and related regulation developed since the 2008 financial crisis.

The White Collar Group advises U.S. broker-dealers and registered investment advisors on a complete range of regulatory, corporate and securities enforcement matters.  These include litigation related to trading, derivatives, customer protection, supervisory and reporting requirements, Securities and Exchange Commission and Financial Industry Regulatory Authority regulations, and other self-regulatory organizations.

We represent broker-dealer and advisor clients in litigation, arbitration and regulatory enforcement proceedings.  We also advise clients on regulatory inquiries and internal compliance reviews.

The White Collar Group advises clients on the full range of regulatory and litigation issues concerning the trading of commodities, futures and derivatives.  We advise clients on regulatory and compliance issues regarding derivatives, investigations of commodities and derivatives businesses, including both internal reviews and reviews led by agencies such as the Department of Justice, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, the National Futures Association, the Securities and Exchange Commission, Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and the Federal Trade Commission, among others.

The White Collar Group represents clients involved in investigations and regulatory oversight by the United States Senate and House of Representatives, including high-profile investigations of great national security importance.  These include the Senate Select Committee on Foreign Intelligence, Senate Foreign Relations Committee and Banking, Housing & Urban Affairs Committee.

Our attorneys bring insight from multi-disciplinary practices to provide guidance on how best to navigate shifting investigations by both Congress and state legislatures.  We advise clients facing legislative scrutiny causing broader impacts on client operations, in litigation and parallel investigation, and in interactions with government agency regulators.

The White Collar Group represents clients in the full array of regulatory, compliance, enforcement and litigation matters that may arise in providing financial products and services to consumers.  These include disputes concerning products and services involving traditional offerings, such as deposit-taking and mortgage, auto, credit card and other lending, or less traditional offerings, such as add-on products and alternative payment systems.

We represent clients in investigations and enforcement actions by regulatory and law enforcement agencies, including the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, the federal banking agencies, the Department of Justice,  Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, and state regulatory and law enforcement authorities.

The White Collar Group represents clients across industries confronting vast and evolving challenges in workplace culture and the sensitive entanglements of their executives and employees.  As companies around the world face increased scrutiny from stakeholders and the public to advance Environmental, Social Governance (“ESG”) initiatives, Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (“DEI”) and #MeToo, they are increasingly at risk of litigation in these novel social frontiers.  Our attorneys work with companies, boards and their executives to identify and mitigate cultural, litigation and reputational risks before they materialize.

We have extensive experience in conducting clients’ most sensitive and complex corporate culture and workplace internal investigations, including those stemming from allegations of discrimination and racial bias, sexual harassment, and other forms of alleged misconduct. Our attorneys understand the external and internal business implications of this type of investigation, including its potential to disrupt employee productivity and morale, as well as its import to the company’s reputation with corporate partners, customers and shareholders. We take a multidisciplinary approach to all matters, tapping into the expertise of our lawyers in the firm’s dozens of practice groups, with experience across industries.

The White Collar Group regularly investigates, reports on and resolves whistleblower claims and retaliation allegations brought against senior executives and corporations in a variety of industries.  Our attorneys work with clients to create policies and procedures to address potential legal risks.

We specifically advise clients on:

• Employee complaints of co-worker misconduct, including harassment, financial misconduct or other violations of corporate policy, as well as complaints of a toxic workplace.
• Federal and state False Claims Act claims
• IT and compliance concerns
• Potential violations of federal and state law

The White Collar Group advises clients on human resources best practices, including the implementation of policies relating to whistleblowers, employee relations, termination, harassment and conflict resolution.

Corporate governance represents complex and critical area of focus for companies. As boards of directors and management teams consider governance policies, they must also ensure that they protect long-term shareholder value and retain the flexibility to deal with takeover attempts and activist campaigns.

The White Collar Group includes cross-disciplinary teams of lawyers to assist clients in effectively achieving these goals. Our attorneys have extensive experience with crisis management and navigating the rapidly-shifting complexities from intense traditional and social media scrutiny that can arise.

Businesses and individuals are subject to increased scrutiny by government and regulatory agencies. Issues can arise in the normal course of operations that lead to fraud and abuse allegations and require experienced counsel who understand the resulting implications and can seek resolutions consistent with the client’s business objectives.

The White Collar Group has extensive experience advising companies, boards of directors, senior executives, and individuals facing criminal government investigations, congressional inquiries, whistleblower accusations, and self-discovered misconduct. We recognize the best defense for our clients requires skilled investigative tactics, elite litigation skills, savvy media relations, and effective negotiating strategies to mitigate damage to your liberty, reputation and business.

Our attorneys also help our corporate clients design and implement effective corporate compliance programs. We routinely conduct internal investigations, compliance checks, and internal-controls reviews and audits carefully tailored to the client’s business.  We handle these matters with impartiality, credibility, efficiency, and discretion. With precision both in strategy and scope, our attorneys keep investigations focused, ensuring minimal disruption to business operations, while being both cost and time efficient.

We counsel boards of directors and special committees as independent advisers involving a wide array of corporate compliance and governance issues related to the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, Dodd Frank Act, Sherman Antitrust Act, False Claims Act, SEC regulations, and FCPA.

We have experience representing clients in the following types of investigations and prosecutions:

• Anti-Money Laundering
• Anti-Money Laundering Act (AMLA) Whistleblower Program
• Antiterrorism
• Antitrust
• Act to Prevent Pollution from Ships (APPS)
• Bank Secrecy Act
• Campaign Finance
• Civil Investigative Demands (CIDs)
• Class Actions
• Commodities Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) Regulation
• Congressional & State Legislature Investigations
• Corporate Internal Investigations
• Cross-Border Investigations & Prosecutions
• Cryptocurrency Regulation
• Customs and Border Protection Investigations
• Directors & Officers Liability
• Dodd Frank Act
• Economic Espionage
• Economic Sanctions
• Election Fraud
• Employment Misconduct
• Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Regulation & Enforcement
• False Claims Act (FCA)
• Federal Election Commission (FEC) Investigations
• Federal Trade Commission (FTC) Investigations
• Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN)
• FINRA
• Food & Drug Administration (FDA) & Life Sciences Regulation
• Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA)
• Grand Jury Subpoenas
• Health Care Fraud
• Homeland Security Investigations
• Insider Trading
• Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Investigations & Tax Enforcement
• Kleptocratic Enforcement / Task Force KleptoCapture
• Law Firm Defense
• Mail Fraud
• Maritime Environmental Enforcement
• International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships (MARPOL)
• #MeToo Misconduct
• Money Laundering
• Multidistrict Litigation
• Obstruction of Justice
• Office of Foreign Asset Control (OFAC)
• Patriot Act
• Port State Control Inspections
• Public Corruption
• Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB)
• Qui Tam Relators & Whistleblowers
• Racketeering and Organized Crime Conspiracies (RICO)
• Sarbanes Oxley Act (SOX)
• Sexual Misconduct
• Sherman Act
• Stark Law / Anti-Kickback (AKS)
• State Attorneys General Investigations
• Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Regulation & Securities Enforcement
• SEC Office of the Whistleblower
• Tax Enforcement
• United States Housing and Urban Development Department
• United States Postal Service Investigations (USPS)
• United States Treasury Department Enforcement
• Unregistered Securities Fraud
• Wire Fraud

We assist in all stages of criminal and administrative enforcement proceedings, including:

• Criminal appeals
• Federal and State trials
• Grand jury investigations and subpoenas
• Internal Investigations
• Parallel proceedings
• State and federal regulatory agency investigations enforcement actions
• S. congressional oversight hearings and investigations
• Whistleblower internal investigations

The White Collar Group advises boards and companies dealing with complex, high-profile problems. Our attorneys help clients anticipate, manage and resolve corporate crises of every nature. Crises, investigations and litigation with potentially devastating consequences routinely implicate legal issues beyond the initial subject matter and require multidisciplinary expertise to resolve effectively and efficiently. We recognize that business reputations can be lost in an instant, and defending against high-profile public allegations creates parallel challenges beyond those which exist solely in courtroom proceedings.

Our experience deploying cross-disciplinary teams’ business acumen, experience in developing transactional and litigation strategies and history of working effectively with the full range of government authorities sets our services apart.

The White Collar Group advises clients on their most significant blockchain, digital asset and cryptocurrency, and related legal and business issues. Our multidisciplinary team is comprised of lawyers across several practice groups who collaborate seamlessly to solve the novel issues encountered by our clients operating in this area, which is the subject of rapidly developing regulation, both domestically and abroad.

Our clients range from startups seeking to innovate in new financial industry frontiers, regulated financial institutions expanding their products and services using new technology, to consumer businesses hoping to integrate innovative technologies. We offer regulatory and compliance advice, development of the legal and contractual framework for new products, corporate structuring and governance guidance, investigations and enforcement matters (including DOJ, the Securities and Exchange Commission and state counterparts), anti-money laundering and sanctions compliance and intellectual property.

The White Collar Group has extensive experience investigating cybercrimes and security threats.  We advise clients to help tailor cybersecurity strategies that integrate our attorneys’ governance, regulatory, technology, investigations, risk management and communications expertise.

We advise companies on cybersecurity preparedness, incident response, post-breach investigation, complex litigation, related corporate governance issues and data privacy matters, including U.S. and international   privacy laws. We act as outside cybersecurity counsel to a range of institutional clients. Our attorneys help clients on cutting-edge matters, including those involving national security, theft of confidential and proprietary information, unauthorized access to personal data, loss of funds and business disruption.

The White Collar Group represents directors and officers facing civil litigation and government investigations of all types, including by federal agencies and congressional committees. These government actions brought against directors and officers vary widely — from administrative proceedings to lawsuits brought by federal agencies such as the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Department of Justice.

We have experience defending directors and officers against actions resulting from allegedly-misleading financial disclosures, professional malpractice, alleged unsafe and unsound practices, and actions involving claims of breach of fiduciary duty.  We have represented directors and officers in derivative suits and related litigation.

The White Collar Group has extensive experience representing schools and institutions of higher learning in complex, sensitive regulatory.  Our attorneys advise and litigate in enforcement proceedings concerning Title IX, #MeToo and other developing social frontiers which administrations and their governing boards face on campus and in the community.

The White Collar Group has extensive experience representing institutions and individuals in criminal and regulatory proceedings concerning environmental protection and anti-pollution statutes.  We have represented clients in a wide range of industries involving issues from chemical manufacturing, agricultural waste and commercial maritime shipping.  The cases have involved situations where the client was the source of illegal releases or has a regulatory duty to ensure against illicit discharges.  Our lawyers also have extensive experience in multi-district litigation and disputes concerning regulatory oversight of emerging contaminants including PFAS/PFOA, 1,-4 dioxane and their alleged impact on health, safety and the environment.

Our attorneys defend corporations and executives in criminal investigations involving the Clean Water Act, the Clean Air Act, the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (“RCRA”), and the Toxic Substances and Control Act, MARPOL, the Anti Pollution Prevention from Ships Act, as well as various state environmental statutes.

We service clients in a broad range of industries, including manufacturing, chemical, real estate, pharmaceutical, consumer products, oil and gas, mining, energy, transportation and commercial trade.

The White Collar Group advises and defends public and private companies, their officers and directors, and individuals in all aspects of civil and criminal False Claims Act proceedings brought by the Department of Justice and its state counterparts. Our attorneys have experience in proceedings which often require the analysis of complex factual allegations arising in the context of highly-regulated federal and state programs and intricate government contract requirements.  We service a variety of clients in a range of industries, including healthcare, military and defense contracting, accounting, pharmaceutical manufacturers, hospitals, banks and other financial institutions, telecommunications companies, specialty retail, industrial supply and engineering contractors.

The White Collar Group also represents select qui tam relators under the False Claims Act and other government whistleblowers with referrals through the Securities and Exchange Commission Office of the Whistleblower, the Anti-Money Laundering Act Whistleblower Program, the IRS Whistleblower Program, and before various Offices of Inspectors General.

The White Collar Group handles a broad range of Food & Drug Administration issues. These include advising on regulatory matters—e.g., citizen petitions, meetings with agency personnel, advisory committee meetings, general regulatory strategy—and compliance and enforcement, including counseling clients dealing with inspections, warning letters, disqualification and other administrative sanctions, injunction proceedings and criminal proceedings.

The White Collar Group represents corporations and individuals in FCPA-related matters before the Department of Justice, Securities and Exchange Commission and other U.S. regulators. Our lawyers supervise and conduct large, complex investigations that are global in scope and involve a range of FCPA-related issues. We advise corporations on compliance with FCPA requirements, formal FCPA compliance programs, and due diligence issues to ensure compliance of their activities abroad.

Because of its litigation background, the focus of the firm’s FCPA practice is conducting internal investigations for corporations when FCPA-related issues are discovered, and, when appropriate, further advising on the self-disclosure to, and possible enforcement actions brought by, U.S. and foreign regulators. Our experience and strong litigation background affords a unique experience with such issues as deciding upon the appropriate scope of an FCPA-related investigation and when it is necessary and appropriate to interact with enforcement authorities.  We represent individuals faced with Department of Justice and Securities and Exchange Commission enforcement proceedings arising out of FCPA investigations.

Our FCPA services include:

• Advising principals, financial advisers and underwriters on FCPA and anti-corruption issues and compliance enhancements in connection with mergers and acquisitions and corporate finance transactions
• Advising companies in the midst of FCPA investigations on potential corporate transactions, including divestitures or acquisitions
• Conducting internal investigations into possible FCPA violations around the world
• Conducting reviews of companies’ worldwide anti-bribery compliance
• Designing and advising on the implementation of compliance policies and programs
• Representing companies and individuals—based both within and outside the United States—in investigations by the Department of Justice and the Securities and Exchange Commission

The White Collar Group represents financial institutions, including federally-insured banks and their officers and directors, in securities litigation, derivative actions, civil litigation, arbitrations, lawsuits brought by regulators and criminal investigations. We handle internal investigations as well as investigations and administrative proceedings initiated by the Securities and Exchange Commission, Department of Justice and other federal and state regulators.

Many lawyers at the firm have extensive experience in financial services litigation. Our attorneys’ combination of finance and general litigation experience enables them to simplify complex financial transactions or regulations and explain them to judges and juries.  We work on matters involving the full spectrum of our clients’ disputes such as bank regulation, capital markets, digital assets, fintech, economic sanctions and financial crime, commodities, futures and derivatives, consumer finance, and investigations and litigation.

The White Collar Group handles matters involving international trade issues, including the defense of organizations and officers of companies accused of FCPA violations or facing anti-money laundering investigations.

The White Collar routinely assists clients served with criminal, civil and other agency demands for records and testimony.  We have extensive experience managing burdensome volumes of data and e-discovery to ensure a targeted and timely responses within defined budgets.

The White Collar Group represents providers, companies and individuals in internal investigations, grand jury probes and other criminal investigations, agency investigations and civil False Claims Act litigation.  We assist a broad range of clients and industries including pharmaceutical companies, hospitals, nursing homes, benefit management companies, insurance companies, retailers, clinics, doctors, dietary supplement manufacturers and high-level corporate executives, among others. These matters have covered a range of issues and statutes, including anti-kickback statutes, the Food Drug and Cosmetic Act, federal and state False Claims Acts, Medicare and Medicaid fraud and a variety of other state and federal statutes.

The White Collar Group represents clients in a broad range of industries in investigations and enforcement proceedings initiated by the U.S. Coast Guard, Maritime Administration, Federal Maritime Commission, Environmental Protection Agency (and state counterparts), U.S. Customs and Border Protection, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Internal Revenue Service, Office of Foreign Assets Control, Departments of Homeland Security, Transportation, and State, the International Maritime Organization, and regional port authorities and various trade associations around the world.

Our attorneys work with the Admiralty & Maritime Practice Group to advise vessel owners and operators, managers, charterers, and shippers on the complex regime of U.S. federal, state, and local environmental regulations—as well as international conventions—that govern marine transportation.

Our attorneys have extensive experience in a full range of services in defending vessel owners, operators, and managers in criminal cases arising under MARPOL involving “oily water separators.” In addition to defending against criminal and regulatory enforcement proceedings, we advise clients on audits, trainings, and prophylactic measures to reduce the risk of a MARPOL violation.  We work with both underwriters and claimants, including P&I Clubs, handling litigation involving various environmental and border patrol issues.

The White Collar Group represents individuals and entities in public corruption investigations and prosecutions, involving allegations of bribery, illegal gratuities, honest service fraud and election law offenses. We handle matters before the Federal Election Commission as well as state campaign finance authorities.

The White Collar Group represents select qui tam relators under the federal False Claims Act and its state counterparts.  We represent other government whistleblowers with referrals through the Securities and Exchange Commission Office of the Whistleblower, the Anti-Money Laundering Act Whistleblower Program, the IRS Whistleblower Program, and before various Offices of Inspectors General.

The White Collar Group has extensive experience defending companies, audit firms, financial institutions, senior executives, officers and directors, lawyers and various other entities and individuals in investigations and prosecutions involving a wide range of securities, bank, financial and accounting fraud matters. We represent clients in investigations initiated by the Department of Justice, the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, the Federal Trade Commission, the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board, state attorneys general, and various self-regulatory authorities, among others.  We represent clients in allegations and charges of insider trading, securities fraud, stock option backdating, money laundering, bank fraud, mail and wire fraud, and books and records violations.

The White Collar Group handles investigations brought by state attorneys general and local district attorneys offices. These matters include single jurisdiction and multi-state investigations and involve virtually every aspect of government oversight that companies may face.  These investigations often include Department of Justice and Securities and Exchange Commission involvement.

The White Collar Group handles every phase of litigation. Our attorneys’ broad experience gives them a valuable perspective from which to develop more effective arguments based on their experience in those other contexts, and enables them to blend expertise from our trials and practice teams to present persuasive arguments at every stage of a case. Clients appreciate that this structure allows the same teams to handle motions, trials and appeals.  We represent clients on appeal even in matters where we did not handle the underlying litigation.

The White Collar Group defends individuals and corporations in investigations and litigations involving allegations of tax fraud, tax evasion and related offenses. Our lawyers have defended numerous criminal cases initiated by the Internal Revenue Service, including prosecutions under Chapter 75 of the Internal Revenue Code; currency reporting cases under Title 31 of the United States Code; money laundering prosecutions and related asset forfeitures; and related federal criminal prosecutions.