Former Federal Prosecutors Daniel Shallman, Aaron Lewis Join Covington’s New Los Angeles Office

Former Federal Prosecutors Daniel Shallman, Aaron Lewis Join Covington’s New Los Angeles Office

March 6, 2015

LOS ANGELES, March 6, 2015 — Former federal prosecutor and leading white collar defense lawyer Dan Shallman will join Covington as a partner in the firm’s new Los Angeles office on March 9. Mr. Shallman will head the firm’s Southern California white collar and investigations team while also playing a leading role in the growth of Covington’s LA office. Aaron Lewis, a former Covington associate and counsel to Attorney General Eric Holder, will join the office as special counsel after most recently serving as an Assistant U.S. Attorney in Los Angeles.

Mr. Shallman has deep experience in public service and private practice. Prior to Covington, Mr. Shallman was a white collar defense partner at a large international law firm based in LA, where he handled sensitive and complex government investigations for a range of corporate clients, senior corporate executives and elected officials. His significant white collar engagements include:
   

• Leading a three-year independent FCPA investigation on behalf of the Audit Committee of an international gaming company in connection with certain Asian operations.
• Securing a declination from the Justice Department for an LA-based entertainment company in connection with an FCPA investigation of a foreign film production.
• Securing a declination from the Justice Department for a member of the United States Congress in a federal grand jury investigation.
• Negotiating a highly favorable settlement with the Justice Department for a corporate client in a federal criminal antitrust investigation.

Mr. Shallman’s practice has included regularly counseling and training leading film studios on anti-corruption and regulatory compliance issues. He has also handled high-profile civil litigation, including false claims act litigation and a copyright infringement trial for author J.K. Rowling.

As an Assistant U.S. Attorney in Los Angeles from 1999 to 2007, Mr. Shallman handled complex grand jury investigations and prosecutions of white collar fraud and corruption. Among other notable cases, Mr. Shallman led the prosecution and trial of an LA-area mayor on corruption and fraud charges. That successful prosecution earned Mr. Shallman the U.S. Department of Justice’s Director’s Award.

“Dan has earned a reputation as a dynamic trial lawyer and a tenacious prosecutor in LA, and he’ll be a leader in expanding our white collar practice on the West Coast,” said Timothy Hester, chairman of the firm’s management committee. “We believe Dan can establish a unique white collar capability that builds on his talents, the many strengths of our white collar team in Washington, New York, San Francisco, Europe and China, and the subject area expertise that’s often essential to developing innovative solutions to some of the toughest problems facing our clients.”

Lanny Breuer, vice-chairman of the firm and former Assistant Attorney General for the Criminal Division, said, “Dan is widely respected in the white collar community and in federal law enforcement. He will be an outstanding addition to our ever-growing practice.”

Former federal prosecutor Aaron Lewis is returning to Covington after six years of service in the Department of Justice, both in Washington and LA. Mr. Lewis served as counsel to and advised Attorney General Eric Holder on a range of enforcement issues, including intellectual property protections, national security matters and civil rights. Mr. Lewis also served as an Assistant United States Attorney in Los Angeles, most recently in the National Security Section, where he investigated and prosecuted cases involving computer network intrusions, thefts of trade secrets and export control violations.

Mr. Shallman and Mr. Lewis will complement the firm’s strong West Coast white collar team, which includes Douglas Sprague, former chief of the San Francisco U.S. Attorney’s Office Economic Crimes and Securities Fraud section; Phillip Warren, former chief of the San Francisco office of the U.S. Department of Justice’s Antitrust Division; David Bayless, former head of the Securities and Exchange Commission’s San Francisco office; and Tammy Albarrán, who leads the firm’s Latin America anti-corruption practice.

Mr. Shallman said he was drawn to Covington by the exceptional quality of its lawyers, its deep relationships with a broad array of international corporate clients and its commitment to public service on a global scale.

“It is an honor to join the white collar ‘dream team’ at Covington and to help build a strong and vibrant Los Angeles office,” Mr. Shallman said. “Covington knows how Washington works, and it also has strong international capabilities in white collar defense and anti-corruption internationally, including in both Europe and Asia.”

Mr. Shallman currently serves as co-chair of the ABA Criminal Justice Section’s White Collar Crime Sub-Committee for Southern California. He has also served as chair of the 1,200 lawyer Legal Division of the Jewish Federation of Greater Los Angeles and as founding co-chair of the Jewish Federation’s Young Lawyers Division and the Geller Leadership Project.

Mr. Shallman received his bachelor’s degree from the University of Illinois and law degree from the University of Chicago Law School.

Mr. Lewis received his law degree from the University of Michigan Law School, where he served on the Michigan Law Review. He earned his undergraduate degree from Princeton University.

“I am delighted to return to Covington and look forward to working with Dan and my former colleagues in Washington to build a leading white collar practice here in Los Angeles,” Mr. Lewis said. “Covington has always been a special place to me, distinguished by its standards of excellence and commitment to collegiality and public service.”