NEW YORK (August 7, 2007) – Morrison & Foerster LLP announced that former federal prosecutor Lawrence Gerschwer, who has investigated and tried a number of significant securities fraud and public corruption cases as an Assistant United States Attorney in the U.S. Attorney’s office for the Southern District of New York, has joined the firm as a partner in its New York office.

Mr. Gerschwer served as an Assistant U.S. Attorney in the Southern District for more than eight years, during which time he tried 10 criminal cases and argued numerous appeals before the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. 

Mr. Gerschwer was an active member of two high-profile Southern District units during his tenure:  the Securities and Commodities Fraud Unit, where he investigated and tried cases involving accounting fraud, insider trading, market manipulation and other violations of the federal securities laws; and the Public Corruption Unit, where he investigated and tried cases involving public corruption and government fraud.  Mr. Gerschwer handled numerous cases that involved parallel proceedings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Commodities Futures Trading Commission and court-appointed receivers, as well as cases that required coordination with state and local law enforcement officials.

Among his noteworthy prosecutions, Mr. Gerschwer served as trial attorney in U.S. v. Mark Kaiser, a case involving conspiracy, securities fraud and false SEC filings in connection with an accounting fraud scheme at U.S. Foodservice (“USF”), a U.S.-based subsidiary of the Dutch holding company Royal Ahold, which suffered a $6 billion loss of market capitalization upon discovery of the fraud at USF.

Other cases in which Mr. Gerschwer played a key role included U.S. v. Michael Rigas, which involved the accounting fraud that brought down cable operator Adelphia Communications, and U.S. v. Vito Napoletano et al., a prosecution involving a series of “boiler rooms” that was part of a large-scale investigation into fraud in the foreign exchange markets known as “Operation Wooden Nickel.”

Mr. Gerschwer also participated in the investigation of a massive municipal corruption scheme charged in U.S. v. Albert Schussler, et al. and other cases.  Schussler -- a RICO, bribery and fraud case involving a long-term scheme to bribe New York City property tax assessors -- was described by New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg as “the largest and most financially damaging corruption scheme ever conducted within city government.”

“Larry’s criminal trial background and investigative experience, particularly in securities and commodities fraud, is the ideal complement to our practice,” said Carl Loewenson, Jr., co-chair of Morrison & Foerster’s firm-wide Securities Litigation, Enforcement, White Collar Defense Group.  “There isn’t an aspect of financial fraud or executive crime that he hasn’t prosecuted, and his understanding of accounting issues, insider trading, hedge funds and other sophisticated financial topics is unparalleled.”   

Mr. Loewenson, himself a former Assistant U.S. Attorney in the Southern District, added that he expects Mr. Gerschwer will participate in internal investigations as well as litigation and enforcement assignments. 

“Investigations demand the sort of rigorous fact-finding and peripheral vision that are second nature to a good prosecutor, and Larry obviously has seen it all when it comes to corporate and executive misbehavior,” Mr. Loewenson said.  “Of course, given his trial and appellate track records, our litigation docket in securities and white collar matters will be enhanced by his presence.”

Morrison & Foerster has counted a number of notable recent representations in the securities and white collar arenas.  The firm continues to serve as counsel for more than 300 issuer defendants in the IPO Securities Litigation in the Southern District, the largest set of consolidated securities class actions ever brought. 

This spring Morrison & Foerster won complete acquittal of a former biotechnology executive accused of conspiracy and other counts under the federal Anti-Kickback law, a case highlighted by the National Law Journal in selecting Morrison & Foerster to its Defense Hot List in July 2007.

In addition, over the past year the firm has handled approximately 50 investigations and litigation matters stemming from alleged backdating of corporate stock options, representing public companies in a range of industries and working with a variety of clients, including audit committees, outside directors, and corporate officers and senior managers from CEOs and CFOs to general counsel.

“Having spent my entire career in New York City, I was drawn to Morrison & Foerster’s substantial presence in New York and the firm’s experience in the New York courts on the kinds of matters that I have prosecuted and intend to focus my practice on,” Mr. Gerschwer said.  “As an added plus, the strength of the firm’s securities litigation and white collar practice nationally and globally will provide a great opportunity for me to practice in a broader arena.”

Prior to joining the U.S. Attorney’s office in 1998, Mr. Gerschwer spent four years as a litigation associate at the law firm of Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz.  Before that, he served as a law clerk to Judge Wilfred Feinberg on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit.

Prior to his career in the law, Mr. Gerschwer worked in the environmental field.  He spent several years with the New York City Department of Environmental Protection where -- as a member of the Hazardous Materials Response Unit -- he assisted law enforcement and other first responders at incidents involving hazardous materials, and managed environmental remediation projects.   He also worked at a private environmental consulting firm, where he investigated potential hazardous waste sites and advised corporate clients on environmental regulations. 

Mr. Gerschwer received his J.D. from Columbia Law School (1993), where he was a Harlan Fiske Stone scholar and a senior editor of the Columbia Law Review, and his B.A. in Biology (1983) from SUNY Binghamton.