Practice Areas & Industries: Luce, Forward, Hamilton & Scripps LLP

Practice/Industry Group Overview

With state and federal prosecutors increasingly targeting businesses and business executives and seeking to "criminalize" practices that only a few years ago would have been handled civilly or administratively, the need for sophisticated advice on criminal law has become a necessity for many businesses.
 
We are acutely aware of the devastating effects a criminal prosecution or investigation can have on a business. Members of our White collar Criminal Defense Group are well-equipped to deal with government prosecutors on these sensitive issues. Members of the group include a former Assistant United States Attorney, a former U.S. Department of Justice prosecutor and a former Deputy District Attorney who defend companies and individuals in investigations and trials of business, fraud, financial and corruption cases. They represent clients in state and federal courts and before administrative agencies and have successfully tried dozens of jury trials to verdict.

Services Available

In a practice that stresses prevention of violations and vigorous defense at every stage of investigations and criminal and parallel civil proceedings (including qui tam cases), our services include:

• developing an effective program to prevent violations of law and comply with the Federal Sentencing Guidelines
• conducting compliance audits and internal investigations to discover potential criminal violations and evaluate voluntary disclosure to the government
• representing companies and individuals during grand jury investigations to limit or preclude criminal prosecution
• responding to grand jury subpoenas, as well as civil investigative demand
• representing businesses during the criminal investigation and prosecution of embezzling employees and obtaining appropriate restitution
• defending clients indicted in state and federal courts
• advising clients of the collateral consequences of criminal prosecutions in such areas as government contracting, taxes and immigration

Representative Matters

Internal Investigations

Investigated a complex embezzlement of more than $250,000, including preparing a detailed report and persuading state prosecutors to criminally charge the embezzling employee.
 
Conducted an internal audit developed an effective corporate compliance program for a publicly traded corporation.
 
Grand Jury Investigations
 
Defended a real estate developer in a federal grand jury investigation involving a loss to a financial institution of more than $30 million and successfully avoided indictment.
 
Defended a professional in a wire and mail fraud grand jury investigation and negotiated a pre-indictment disposition.
 
Represented a corporate president and CEO in a nationally publicized grand jury investigation.
 
Government Contracting Matters
 
Negotiated an administrative agreement with the United States Navy to remove a prime contractor from debarment proceedings following a criminal conviction.
 
Defended a national accounting firm accused of submitting false claims to the United States government and successfully avoided the filing of a Civil False Claims Act (qui tam) action.
 
Criminal and Civil Environmental Actions
 
Obtained dismissal of over 30,000 felony counts against a client in a criminal environmental prosecution before trial.
 
Defended a manufacturer in a threatened criminal environmental prosecution and achieved a civil compromise with no finding of liability.
 
Achieved significant reduction of a criminal sentence for an individual previously convicted of federal felony charges involving bank fraud.
 
Successfully negotiated an expungeable plea and no time in custody for an individual charged in a 10-count felony fraud complaint.
 
Multinational Negotiation
 
Negotiated civil and criminal settlements with the Swiss and United States governments concerning the seizure of a Swiss bank account containing more than $16 million.