Covington's White Collar Defense & Investigations Practice is widely recognized not only for litigating and winning high-profile criminal cases, but also for devising creative legal strategies to resolve cases long before they draw public scrutiny. Covington's long-standing record of excellence in defending clients in complex criminal and regulatory enforcement cases has earned the firm a deep and invaluable reservoir of credibility with courts, prosecutors and regulatory agencies nationwide.
Our white collar practice includes 30 partners, most of whom are former prosecutors and SEC enforcement attorneys who have held senior positions in United States Attorney's Offices, the U.S. Department of Justice, the White House, the Securities and Exchange Commission, and other government agencies involved in white collar criminal and regulatory enforcement.
We have defended clients in investigations by:
- the Department of Justice;
- Securities and Exchange Commission;
- Commodity Futures Trading Commission;
- Financial Industry Regulatory Authority;
- Environmental Protection Agency;
- Food and Drug Administration;
- Federal Bureau of Investigation;
- New York Stock Exchange;
- U.S. Customs Service;
- Internal Revenue Service;
- Treasury Department;
- Federal Reserve Board;
- Office of the Comptroller of the Currency;
- Office of Thrift Supervision;
- Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation;
- Federal Election Commission;
- Federal Energy Regulatory Commission;
- Department of Defense;
- Inspectors General of the Department of Health and Human Services and other agencies;
- State Department;
- the United States Congress; and
- the World Bank.
Representative Matters
- Ongoing representation of the former Sterling Financial Corporation (now a part of The PNC Financial Services Group, Inc.) in consolidated securities class action litigation, as well as inquiries by the SEC and the U.S. Attorney's Office, concerning a massive fraud at a Sterling subsidiary that resulted in the restatement of Sterling's financial statements.
- Represent a coalition of leading companies in the SEC's rulemaking to implement the Dodd-Frank whistleblower provisions.
- Represent numerous companies and their executives in investigations into possible Foreign Corrupt Practices Act violations.
- Represent numerous financial institutions, companies and individuals in insider trading investigations.
- Represented a major pharmaceutical company in an investigation by the House Oversight and Government Affairs Committee regarding alleged off-label marketing of pharmaceutical products. Represented one of the largest providers of telecommunications services in Asia in a DOJ investigation of alleged collusion with respect to termination rates charged to US carriers. The government ultimately closed the investigation and took no action against our client.
- Representing a major industrial company in criminal and civil enforcement investigations involving US economic sanctions against Iran.
- Counsel to the Special Litigation Committee of the Hewlett-Packard Company Board of Directors in shareholder derivative litigation challenging the Board’s response in 2005 and 2006 to leaks of confidential company information to the press.
- Represent a large regional bank in an SEC inquiry concerning mortgage loan repurchase reserves.
- Represent a national securities exchange in an SEC investigation.
- Conduct numerous investigations of domestic and foreign financial institutions into alleged Bank Secrecy Act violations, money laundering, and insider trading by employees.
- Represented A Big Four public accounting firm in connection with a major criminal accounting fraud investigation.
- Represent the former CEO of IndyMac in an SEC federal court action challenging the adequacy of the bank's financial crisis disclosures.
- Represent the Special Committee of the Board of Adelphia Communications in investigations by the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Manhattan and the SEC.
- Represent a world-renowned weapons research facility in a major, multi-faceted congressional investigation of alleged mismanagement at the facility.
Accolades
- Law360’s "Practice Group of the Year," White Collar (2011)
- Best Lawyers in America: White Collar Criminal Defense (2010)
- Stephen Anthony, Bruce Baird, and Alan Vinegrad
- PLC, Which Lawyer?: White Collar Investigations (USA) (2010)
- Chambers USA: Antitrust (2011)
- Firm (Nationwide, DC), Thomas Barnett, Deborah Garza, Anita Stork, and Alan Wiseman
- Chambers USA: Financial Services Regulation: Banking (2011)
- Firm (Nationwide), Stuart Stock, and Jean Veta
- Chambers USA: Litigation: White-Collar Crime & Government Investigations (2011)
- Firm (NY), Stephen Anthony, John Nields, and Alan Vinegrad
- Chambers USA: Securities: Regulation (2011)
- Chambers USA: Securities: Regulation: Enforcement (2011)
- Bruce Baird and David Martin
- Legal 500 US: Antitrust (2011)
- Tom Barnett, James Garland, Deborah Garza, Andrew Lazerow, John Nields, Jason Raofield, and Alan Wiseman
- Legal 500 US: Financial Services: Regulatory (2011)
- John Dugan, Mark Plotkin, Stuart Stock, and Jean Veta
- Legal 500 US: Securities: Shareholder Litigation (2011)
- Bruce Baird, David Bayless, David Kornblau, and William Phillips
- Legal 500 US: White-Collar Criminal Defense (2011)
- Bruce Baird, Steven Fagell, James Garland, Haywood Gilliam, David Kornblau, Allison Lurton, Matthew O'Connor, and Alan Vinegrad
- Washington D.C. Super Lawyer: Criminal Defense - White Collar (2010)
- Bruce Baird and Jean Veta
- Northern California Super Lawyers: White Collar Criminal Defense (2008-2011)
|
|