White-Collar Defense and Investigations

Cleary Gottlieb’s white-collar defense and investigations team advises and defends the world’s leading financial institutions and multinational corporations and, in certain cases, their senior employees, in a broad range of sensitive criminal and regulatory matters.

Our global footprint allows us to provide clients with comprehensive legal representation to overcome complex challenges across multiple jurisdictions.

The only firm to be Chambers Band 1 since ranking white collar practices began, our deep bench includes former U.S. Attorneys for the Eastern District of New York and Western District of Virginia; a former Acting U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York; a former Acting Chief of the Criminal Division for the Southern District of New York; a former Deputy Chief of the Criminal Division and Appellate Chief for the Northern District of California; and a former senior member of the Securities and Commodities Fraud Task Force for the Southern District of New York.
 
The team also includes several former senior officials of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, including its former Chief and Assistant Chief Litigation Counsel of the Enforcement Division; lawyers with experience in the offices of states’ attorney general; and numerous other partners and senior lawyers with deep experience in public-facing matters and internal investigations. The team regularly draws upon the experience of many other partners, including former senior officials of the Justice Department’s Antitrust Division, the Federal Trade Commission, the FDIC, and other agencies.

Consistent with the firm’s client-centered approach, the team also routinely consults with other senior lawyers specializing in areas such as antitrust, banking and tax so that our clients always benefit from the talents and resources of the entire firm. And our established practices in Europe, Asia and Latin America enable us to provide a comprehensive and coordinated approach to enforcement matters that touch multiple jurisdictions. Our international focus makes us the firm of choice for clients with significant operations abroad.

We defend clients before the U.S. Department of Justice, the SEC, state and federal government agencies and, when necessary, in court. We regularly advise on the development and maintenance of compliance programs. We advise companies, their boards and management, and individuals on effective responses to matters relating to the federal False Claims Act, anti-kickback statutes, and similar state laws. Additionally, we have experience in conducting investigations for Fortune 50 companies and their boards into allegations of workplace harassment, as well as advising a variety of public and private clients on human resources best practices, including the implementation of policies relating to harassment, whistleblowers, employee relations, termination and conflict resolution.