Ayako Russell

Ayako's criminal defense and government investigations practice involves representing public and private corporations, as well as individuals, in response to criminal or regulatory investigations. She has experience defending foreign individuals in Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) and money laundering matters, as well as representing government contractors and individual employees during criminal investigations of public corruption, including grand jury testimony. She has assisted with anticorruption due diligence for multiple Fortune 500 companies and has conducted numerous internal investigations into allegations of employee misconduct, fraud or other corporate crimes, including potential violations of US trade sanctions and FCPA.

Ayako focuses her litigation practice on complex commercial matters. Her work crosses industries and has included consumer class actions, arbitration proceedings, contract disputes, business torts, property matters and product liability. She also has experience litigating on behalf of employers in discrimination, harassment, retaliation and wrongful termination cases, as well as assisting with in-house counsel in the review, renegotiation and revision of existing third-party supplier contracts.

As part of her internal investigations work, Ayako also represents professional athletes and other high-net-worth individuals in their business and personal ventures, such as asset recovery for those who are the victims of fraud and violations of trust.