Contacts:
Ty Cobb, Practice Group Director
Stephen J. Immelt, Practice Group Director
Daniel F. Shea, Practice Group Director
Peter S. Spivack, Practice Group Director

The white collar and investigations group includes a number of former prosecutors and government officials who regularly advise clients on investigative matters involving external inquiries or internal reviews. That advice benefits from the decades of experience we have had in finding creative methods to conclude investigations in ways that minimize the business consequences. We always strive to obtain the best outcome – persuading the government not to prosecute. When a declination is not feasible, we stand ready to try cases or attempt to achieve a deferred prosecution or other satisfactory resolution short of trial.

We are experienced in representing companies, directors, officers, and other entities and individuals at all stages of criminal and civil investigations across the full spectrum of federal agencies. Our attorneys tackle cases from initial agency inquiries to full-scale grand jury and U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) investigations, and from preliminary government interviews to trial and beyond. Clients often come to us with their most sensitive matters because of our experience managing the multifaceted considerations at play: the financial and reputational harm that might flow from investigation itself as well as potential parallel civil actions (shareholder suits, qui tam suits, government contract suspensions and debarments), Congressional investigations, corporate governance issues, and public relations considerations. By partnering with inside counsel, senior management, boards of directors, audit committees and special litigation committees, we develop effective solutions aimed at bringing closure to high-stakes investigations and avoiding or limiting any collateral damage.

Today, many investigations derive from allegations about failure to comply with often byzantine regulations that govern many industries. In contrast to other firms that have no option but to seek particularized regulatory expertise from outside sources, our vast regulatory expertise allows us to bring to bear the necessary resources from within the firm. Our investigations lawyers regularly team with partners who are leading industry authorities, allowing us to apply in a coordinated and seamless way the most current knowledge and insights. In fact, many of our investigatory lawyers have themselves developed a high degree of industry expertise based on extensive work with clients in particular industries.

Former Leadership Positions

• United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia and the Southern District of Texas
• United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York
• Interim United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois
• Chief of the Criminal Section in the United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Maryland
• Chief of the Organized Crime & Terrorism Unit in the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York
• Assistant United States Attorneys for the Southern District of New York, the Eastern District of New York, the District of Maryland, the District of Colorado, the Central District of California and the Northern District of California
• Several trial attorneys in the Criminal and Civil Divisions of DOJ
• Attorney in the Criminal Trial Unit of the Antitrust Division of the DOJ
• Regional Director of the SEC
• Branch Chief with the SEC's Division of Enforcement