Government Investigations & White Collar

The US Department of Justice (DOJ), in alliance with other government agencies, is orchestrating and involved in highly coordinated, parallel or multi-agency investigations, which are often brought in different forums that span multiple jurisdictions across the globe. More and more often, such investigations are migrating from one forum to another, sometimes having their genesis in US Congressional investigations followed by enforcement or criminal proceedings spurred on by hearings before Congress.

With even greater frequency, such government investigations, regardless of where in the world they originate, breed civil law suits, particularly in the US, inspired by resultant precipitous stock drops, allegations of criminal wrong-doing or other types of victimization.

In this increasingly complex and regulated, global business environment, multinational and global business enterprises, financial intermediaries and even government and sovereign entities must be scrupulous about how they balance innovation and investment with compliance, and have the most exceptional government investigation and white collar counsel at hand who can quickly and deftly address all of these issues.

Capabilities

• Foreign Corrupt Practice Act (FCPA), The UK Bribery Act and other statutes directed at global corruption
• Corporate governance, SEC, CFTC and the defense of directors and officers
• Healthcare
• Competition
• Financial institutions
• Government contracting
• Tax
• Congressional investigations
• Professionals, including accountants, auditors and lawyers

Approach

We work closely with our clients’ in-house counsel to address government inquiries and investigations from three standpoints:

Assess – Compliance and Ethics Programs

Assess existing policies and procedures and determine whether there is some deficiency or conduct that could give rise to liability on the part of a client, any of its officers or employees, or even liability on the part of the board of directors.

Respond – Alleged Violations and Investigations

Respond to claims of misconduct or regulatory violations even before they are reported to government officials in order to determine whether an independent investigation is warranted and, if so, whether any corrective action should be taken.

Coordinate investigations between or among different agencies or governments, including in hearings before legislative bodies, regulatory agencies and grand juries.

Respond to subpoenas, civil investigative demands or other requests for information, including taking steps to ensure that all documents and information are secured through an appropriate “litigation hold,” and electronic discovery is managed appropriately and in a cost-effective manner. Where we represent clients that typically find themselves responding to third party subpoenas and requests for information, we have counseled them in setting up data and document banks that will ease the burden of future discovery requests.

Defend – Administrative, Civil and Criminal

Defend clients in grand jury proceedings, including mounting an aggressive defense in order to minimize the likelihood that charges will be brought or for use at trial in those cases where indictment is inevitable.

Defend administrative enforcement actions or investigations brought by any number of banking or other regulatory agencies, including defending policies and procedures employed by the client.

Defend any derivative class actions seeking damages or injunctive relief.