Brian Kidd is a partner in Morrison Foerster’s Investigations + White Collar Defense Practice. His focus is on solving clients’ most difficult legal and regulatory challenges, often in the context of civil and criminal investigations and litigations. Brian has represented public and private companies and their executives in complex government-facing probes, which have resulted in favorable resolutions and declinations among other successes. He also represents boards of directors and companies in conducting complex internal investigations and compliance reviews. Brian regularly counsels his clients through sensitive matters, corporate crises, litigation, and other disputes involving U.S. federal and state law enforcement and regulatory agencies including the Department of Justice (DOJ), Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), Department of Education (DOE), District Attorney’s Offices, and state attorneys general, among others. Brian has served as first chair on over a dozen federal trials and is a member of the New York and Washington, D.C., bars.

Before joining MoFo, Brian served as chief of the Market Integrity and Major Frauds (MIMF) Unit of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section at DOJ. As chief, Brian supervised a team of roughly 40 federal prosecutors and oversaw the majority of all major fraud cases brought by DOJ during his tenure, with a special focus on investigating and prosecuting complex securities, commodities, and other major corporate fraud cases. Brian oversaw cross-border and corporate prosecutions involving market manipulation, spoofing, insider trading, money laundering, bribery, cryptocurrency, accounting, and procurement fraud. Brian also served as chair of DOJ’s Securities and Commodities Fraud Working Group, where he worked closely with senior leaders at the SEC, CFTC, Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, and the Federal Reserve.

Prior to his role as chief of the MIMF Unit, Brian served as an assistant chief of the MIMF Unit from January 2017 to May 2018 and as a trial attorney from October 2015 to January 2017. Prior to joining the Fraud Section, Brian was a trial attorney in the Public Integrity Section of the Criminal Division and an assistant U.S. attorney in the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Puerto Rico.

Brian is a regular speaker on DOJ, SEC, and CFTC enforcement trends, cross-border investigations, cryptocurrency fraud, COVID-19 relief fraud, and compliance guidelines issued by U.S. regulators and law enforcement agencies, among other topics. He has appeared as a guest speaker on Yahoo Financial Live, has been quoted in ABC News, CNN, USA Today, and Law360, among other publications, and has served as a presenter for leading industry groups, including the Futures Industry Association, Ethisphere, the Society of Corporate Compliance and Ethics, and Global Investigations Review: Live on these issues.

Brian earned his J.D. magna cum laude from the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law and his B.A. from the University of California at Santa Cruz. Brian is also a three-time recipient of the Assistant Attorney General’s Exceptional Service Award. Brian has been an adjunct professor at Georgetown University Law Center since May 2019 and previously was an adjunct professor at the University of Puerto Rico School of Law. 

Representative Experience

Defense Experience

Securities and Commodities Fraud:

• Representation of a start-up cryptocurrency company in proactive outreach to government agencies, including FinCEN.
• Representation of an executive of a major cryptocurrency exchange in a SEC and CFTC investigation into allegations of financial misconduct.
• Representation of an executive of a major broker-dealer in a DOJ and SEC investigation into allegations of financial misconduct by a former employer.
• Representation of a major cryptocurrency exchange in providing counsel on U.S. commodities laws.

False Claims Act (FCA) and Misuse of Federal Funds:

• Representation of a private company in an FCA investigation involving allegations that the company improperly obtained PPP funds. 

• Representation of a healthcare organization in an FCA matter involving kickback allegations.
• Representation of a large for-profit college in multiple investigations involving allegations that the company improperly received and used federal funds. Obtained a declination from DOJ in an FCA investigation.  
• Representation of a large for-profit college in multiple civil suits claiming improper use of financial loan instruments.
• Representation of the board of a prominent advertising and marketing company in an investigation involving allegations that company insiders improperly obtained and used PPP funds. Obtained a declination from DOJ in a criminal investigation. 
• Served as the internal reviewer in a post-merger, privileged investigation of a fintech company’s conduct and business activities related to PPP loans to assess risk related to government and congressional investigations.
• Representation of a venture capital firm in reviewing a potential affiliate problem related to $7+ million of SBA and PPP loan funds.

Other White Collar Defense and Compliance Matters

• Representation of an international professional services firm related to its work for opioid manufacturers, which involves complex, multidimensional work involving state attorneys general, DOJ, CPB, and congressional investigations, as well as more than 140 civil lawsuits.
• Representation of a national title insurance company in a criminal investigation being conducted by DOJ.
• Representation of an executive at a U.S. defense contractor in an investigation being led by the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives. 
• Representation of a multinational technology company in conducting a risk assessment across the company’s compliance program relating to anti-bribery and corruption, antitrust, anti-money laundering, data privacy and cybersecurity, sanctions, and export controls to recommend potential enhancements.
• Representation of a major broker-dealer in undertaking compliance risk assessments and providing related counseling.
• Representation of a former federal law enforcement officer in a House Oversight Committee investigation into allegations of misconduct.