Throughout the United States and global jurisdictions, our white collar crime lawyers provide responsive, practical representation for individuals and corporations across diverse industry sectors, including technology and financial services. We conduct internal and follow-on government investigations and defend criminal prosecutions, regulatory enforcement, and related civil actions.
Drawing from decades of first-hand experience navigating the adverse effects of legal and media exposure, our first priority is to efficiently address pre-litigation allegations and reduce the likelihood of formal charges being made public. In cases where litigation is unavoidable, we employ successful techniques and courtroom experience to litigate indicted cases, aggressively.
Investigations
Our lawyers use their substantive industry involvement—and credibility among government agencies—to craft workable investigative strategies that offer significant advantages.
From investigations and enforcement actions brought by the Department of Justice (DOJ), the Securities & Exchange Commission (SEC), the Office of the Comptroller of Currency (OCC), and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) to the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA), we provide clarity and confidence for executives, general counsels, directors, and employees through what are often tense, formidable, and high-risk investigatory processes. In growing areas of public and regulatory concern, such as cyber incursion, trade secret theft, crypto-currency, health care fraud, antitrust, breach of fiduciary duty, and public corruption, our practitioners maintain and apply specific knowledge and proven tactics.
Clients appreciate our thoughtful guidance and surgical precision in conducting defense-minded internal investigations that minimize disruptions and maintain normal operations.
- We take all necessary steps to ensure that the information gathered and testimonies provided are accurate. We safeguard applicable privileges to the maximum extent and explore all avenues of response.
- We bolster trust in the investigation and establish that corporate leadership has achieved the best possible outcome for the company and its shareholders.
- We advise on and assist in disclosing investigation results when appropriate.
Pool Counsel
On the other side of the same coin, we prepare, protect, and defend groups of executives and employees in our role as “pool counsel” in investigations. We guide those persons at the center of the crisis, most of whom have had no prior involvement in white collar crime investigations, and provide support to preserve interests and reputations.
Parallel Investigations and Filings
We develop defenses for criminal matters and civil and administrative proceedings where strategies and tactics used in one action can have severe and unalterable repercussions on the direction and outcome of parallel investigations and filings. Among recent examples, we helped numerous corporate and individual clients successfully navigate securities fraud cases where SEC investigations led to civil enforcement, civil class actions, derivative actions, and grand jury investigations leading to criminal charges.
Diversity and Communication
Our team quickly gets to the heart of the complex substantive issues and important human dynamics at the center of all white collar matters. We do this through building or rebuilding trust—an essential element for conducting and defending investigations into alleged white collar criminal activity and misconduct. The Farella white collar crime team’s ethnic and gender diversity mirrors our clients’ workforces, which increases rapport and facilitates open communication.
Our lawyers are approachable and sensitive to the anxieties, stressors, and challenges facing witnesses to and individuals accused of corporate misconduct. As counselors and defenders, we help clients articulate their understanding of events and provide peace of mind and confidence that everything possible is being done to assist and defend them.
Full-Service Firm
Few areas of the law require a broad spectrum of disciplines than investigating and defending federal and state criminal and regulatory enforcement matters. We frequently draw on the resources and knowledge of other Farella practice areas such as insurance coverage and indemnity, antitrust, environmental, securities transactions and litigation, asset protection, and employment law.
For example, to fund legal defenses our White Collar Group works closely with Farella’s Insurance Recovery Group to resolve disputes and challenges to coverage, and works with the firm’s securities transactions practice to understand and utilize indemnifications to which executives and employees may be entitled.
Leadership
Attorneys in the practice are recognized in Chambers USA and Best Lawyers in America. Senior Partners Douglas R. Young, president of the American College of Trial Lawyers, and former Assistant United States Attorney William P. Keane, also a Fellow of the College, bring decades of white collar crime experience to client strategy and defense.
