White Collar Litigation & Government Investigations Practice

OVERVIEW

At times, individuals and corporations may unwittingly run afoul of the law and government regulations. Ordinary commercial disputes can give rise to allegations of fraud and abuse. Grand jury subpoenas may be directed at innocent targets and present logistical record-gathering challenges for legitimate businesses.

The Cole Schotz White Collar Litigation & Government Investigations practice counsels individuals and corporations, both U.S. and foreign, in criminal or regulatory allegations arising from agencies, such as the U.S. Department of Justice, state attorneys general, FBI, Securities & Exchange Commission, FINRA and local government agencies as well as private, public and quasi-public corporations.

Our attorneys represent clients in connection with business-related allegations such as, bank/wire fraud, criminal antitrust, environmental crimes, fraud in government procurement, Medicare/Medicaid fraud, RICO violations, securities law violations, tax fraud and trade espionage. We understand the legal and professional ramifications caused by such allegations, and have the experience at both the federal and state levels to litigate them successfully. Our experience also includes conceiving and implementing internal investigations for boards of directors, audit committees and executive management in almost every business sector.

Our services include:

Compliance and Prevention
Businesses and individuals in the U.S. face increasingly aggressive government enforcement, investigations, and prosecutions. Business disputes formerly handled through civil or regulatory processes now result in intrusive criminal investigations and can result in the real threat of prison for executives, and considerable sanctions for a company. Our goal is to assist clients in avoiding prosecution and the glare of media attention that comes with a government investigation. To that end, we craft individualized compliance programs designed to prevent potential problems from developing and when necessary, develop and implement a defense strategy to blunt government allegations.

Litigation
Our broad and comprehensive range of substantive litigation and regulatory experience enables us to offer an integrated approach to address our client’s problems, starting with the difficult and often frightening process of investigation. Criminal and government enforcement activity do not traditionally appear in isolation; they are accompanied by parallel proceedings, civil litigation, shareholder disputes and regulatory
or legislative investigations. Our experienced litigation team mounts an efficient and comprehensive defense on all fronts, utilizing attorneys from the firm’s other practice areas when necessary to counter government allegations and vigorously defend our clients' interest.

Typical Cases
Our White Collar practice extends to both state and federal crimes, including quasi-criminal allegations and all types of offenses, such as the following:

RICO and anti-trust
Securities or shareholder fraud
Commercial bribery and extortion
Official misconduct or financial impropriety by members of board or management
Internal ethics investigations and executive conflict determinations
Corporate theft and embezzlement
Tax and bank fraud
Environmental investigations and prosecutions
Grand jury investigations and requests for corporate disclosures for all aspects of business-related crimes