James Koukios is co-chair of Morrison Foerster’s Investigations + White Collar Defense Group and also serves as co-head of the FCPA + Global Anti-Corruption Practice. James represents companies and individuals in high-stakes government enforcement actions and complex internal investigations. He has handled matters across a wide range of jurisdictions including Brazil, China, Greece, India, Russia, Venezuela, and Vietnam, among others. James draws on his experience as a federal prosecutor, when he tried over 20 federal jury cases and supervised hundreds of white collar investigations, to obtain the best results for his clients. He is consistently praised for his judgment and advocacy in complex investigations and enforcement actions. Chambers USA notes that he is “super experienced with excellent judgement regarding what the government is looking for and concerned about,“ while Chambers Global describes James as, “a forceful advocate when appearing before the government.”

Before joining Morrison Foerster, James spent 10 years at the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), beginning as an Assistant United States Attorney in Miami and finishing as Senior Deputy Chief of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section in Washington, D.C., where he supervised investigations, prosecutions, and resolutions in the Fraud Section’s FCPA, Health Care Fraud, and Market Integrity and Major Fraud Units. While at DOJ, James investigated and prosecuted health care fraud, procurement fraud, domestic and foreign corruption, money laundering, and export control offenses, working closely with state, federal, and foreign law enforcement officials, as well as the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the U.S. Departments of Defense, State, and Commerce, and intelligence agencies.

While at DOJ, James assisted in drafting the widely acclaimed DOJ and SEC joint publication A Resource Guide to the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, which followed a series of consultations with business and compliance leaders. He was also a lead examiner for the Phase 2 examination of Russia’s compliance with the Anti-Bribery Convention of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).

James has been recognized as: a leading lawyer in FCPA (Nationwide and Global) by Chambers USA and Chambers Global; a recommended lawyer for corporate investigations and white collar defense by Legal 500; an “Expert” and a “Thought Leader” in investigations by Who’s Who Legal; and an “Attorney Who Matters” by the Ethisphere Institute for making an impact in the area of ethics and compliance. He also received the Assistant Attorney General’s Distinguished Service Award in recognition for his work on two landmark FCPA-related trials: United States v. Esquenazi and United States v. Duperval. James also served as a lead prosecutor in United States v. AEY Inc., a defense procurement fraud and export licensing case that served as the basis for the 2016 film War Dogs.

James is a recognized thought leader on the latest legal trends and industry developments. Chambers Global notes that, “James has a keen ability to distill trends and enforcement down to their core. He is a crisp thinker and discerning with regards to the market.” He is the lead editor of our award-winning monthly newsletter, Top 10 International Anti-Corruption Developments, which succinctly summarizes important case and policy developments for busy in-house counsel, compliance professionals, and anti-corruption lawyers. James also served as an adjunct professor of trial advocacy at the Georgetown University Law Center for over 10 years and regularly guest lectures at leading law and business schools on investigations, white collar enforcement, and anti-corruption issues.

Selected Significant Representations

FCPA and Global Anti-Corruption

• Successful resolution of a transnational bribery investigation of a multinational pharmaceutical company, securing cooperation credit, avoiding the imposition of a corporate compliance monitor, and negotiating a deferred prosecution agreement with DOJ and an administrative resolution with the SEC.
• Successful representation of a multinational medical device company in conducting an internal investigation into allegations of bribery in Vietnam that led to a deferred prosecution agreement with DOJ.
• Representation of an international consulting firm in extensive, government-facing international corruption and money laundering investigations involving China, India, and other jurisdictions.
• Representation of a multinational automotive company in an internal investigation into allegations of bribery in its Latin America operations and antitrust violations and whistleblower retaliation in its U.S. operations.
• Representation of a consumer retail company in an internal investigation into allegations of bribery in its Indonesian operations.
• Representation of business executives in government-facing FCPA investigations involving Brazil, China, Venezuela, and other jurisdictions.
• FCPA legal advice, anti-corruption counseling, transactional due diligence, and post-acquisition integration advice to multinational corporations in several industries, including defense, extractive, financial services, food, gaming, health care, and technology.
• Review of a multinational company’s compliance management system in connection with the spin-off of a subsidiary and investigations by multiple enforcement agencies.

Consumer Protection and Product Safety

• Successful representation of a multinational consumer electronics company in the first-ever corporate criminal resolution of an alleged Consumer Product Safety Act (CPSA) violation, securing cooperation credit, avoiding the imposition of a corporate compliance monitor, and negotiating a deferred prosecution agreement for the parent company with DOJ.
• Representation of a multinational vehicle manufacturer in a criminal CPSA investigation being led by DOJ’s Consumer Protection Branch.
• Representation of the CEO of a consumer electronics company in a criminal CPSA investigation being led by DOJ’s Consumer Protection Branch.
• Representation of the Supervisory Board of a car manufacturer in an investigation by DOJ, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the California Air Resources Board, SEC, various state Attorneys General, German Prosecutors and the German vehicle admissions agency into potential violations of environmental, capital markets, consumer protection, antitrust and criminal laws.

Other White Collar and Civil Fraud Defense Matters

• Representation of a multinational technology company in responding to a subpoena issued by the U.S. House of Representatives’ Judiciary Committee related to an investigation into alleged suppression or restriction of conservative opinions through “content moderation” policies on social media platforms.
• Successful representation of a multinational defense contractor in conducting an internal investigation that led to a declination from the State Department for potential International Trafficking in Arms Regulation (ITAR) violations without referral to DOJ.
• Representation of a consumer retail company in a DOJ insider trading investigation.
• Representation of a company and several of its employees in connection with a DOJ mortgage fraud investigation.
• Representation of Anthony Ornato, a former senior career civil servant who served as White House Deputy Chief of Staff of Operations, in the January 6 Select Committee investigation and related government investigations.
• Representation of two former high-level executives of a public company in internal and external investigations concerning allegations of fraud, misuse of company funds, record violations, and disclosure violations and in a derivative lawsuit in the Delaware Chancery Court regarding alleged violations of fiduciary duty, corporate waste, and unjust enrichment.
• Representation of business executives in anti-money-laundering, criminal securities fraud, whistleblower retaliation, government procurement fraud, and other DOJ investigations.
• Defended independent directors against breach-of-fiduciary-duty claims in federal bankruptcy court, successfully moving to dismiss all claims against the directors with prejudice.