Government Investigations & White Collar Defense

Lewis Brisbois’ Government Investigations & White Collar Defense Practice represents businesses, public officials, and other individuals in a wide range of governmental investigations, civil enforcement actions, and white collar prosecutions. Our team includes former Federal Bureau of Investigation counsel, former senior officials in the U.S. Department of Justice, federal and state prosecutors, senior government regulators, national security and privacy specialists, and veteran defense trial lawyers.

Our experience extends to a wide array of substantive areas, including for example:

Financial Crimes and Investigations – all aspects of fraud, false claims, securities manipulation, tax evasion, embezzlement, money laundering, insider trading, and consumer financial protection enforcement matters.
Computer and Intellectual Property Crimes – Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, counterfeiting, theft of trade secrets, and economic espionage.
Public Corruption – bribery, kickbacks, procurement fraud, misuse of public funds, and the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.
Healthcare Fraud – false claims, violations of the Anti-Kickback Statute, Medicare/Medicaid fraud, billing fraud, and false certification.
Environmental & OSHA Violations – violations of environmental and safety laws at the federal, state, and local levels.
Corporate Counseling – implementation of training programs, codes of ethics, and procedural reviews.
Independent Investigations – neutral internal investigations and reporting.
Grand Jury Practice – negotiating interview and cooperation conditions, grand jury testimony preparation, and grand jury subpoena responses.
Antitrust and Consumer Protection - anticompetitive and unfair or deceptive acts and practices.

Our attorneys have experience representing clients in matters involving numerous federal and state agencies, including:

Department of Justice
Securities and Exchange Commission
Department of Homeland Security
Department of Commerce
Department of the Treasury
Federal Trade Commission
Drug Enforcement Administration
Internal Revenue Service
Food and Drug Administration
Environmental Protection Agency
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau
State Attorneys General

Importantly, we recognize the sensitivity of these matters and implement the right response to any client crisis. We appreciate the impact that a government investigation can have on our clients’ professional, financial, and personal lives, and our goal is to quickly resolve our clients’ problems without indictment or agency action. We employ a triage approach, whereby we interact immediately and simultaneously with federal and local prosecutors, regulatory agencies, concerned directors, and related parties. Through negotiation, our attorneys work to persuade government officials to forgo prosecution and decline to charge our clients; if that is impossible, we are fully prepared to zealously represent our clients at trial and beyond.

Our attorneys also assist corporate clients who are themselves the victim of crime, typically from rogue employees, vendors, or competitors. We help companies to either secure the prosecution of individuals who have committed crimes against the company, or seek redress against those individuals in litigation, including through restitution and forfeiture proceedings.