Morrison & Foerster’s Investigations + White Collar Defense Group Rises 10 Spots in Global Investigation Review’s Top 30 Investigations Practices

Rising 10 spots and breaking into the top 20 this year, Morrison & Foerster has been named one of the top 30 investigations practices by Global Investigations Review (GIR). The GIR top 30 assessment identifies leading firms from around the world best situated to handle sophisticated cross-border government-led and internal investigations.

Morrison & Foerster’s Investigations + White Collar Defense team is frequently retained in matters involving highly complex and sensitive issues, including involvement in a significant corporate Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) representation that concluded with simultaneous favorable U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) and U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) resolutions; serving as the DOJ-appointed Monitor for Odebrecht S.A. in connection with one of the largest global anti‑corruption investigations and resolutions; representing a Korean state-owned bank in settlements with New York federal and state authorities; and several other matters representing multinational companies and individuals in other high-profile, cross‑border internal and government-facing anti-corruption, antitrust, money laundering, and compliance-related investigations.

Among other practice group standouts such as U.S. partners Charles (Chuck) Duross, James Koukios, Demme Doufekias, Carrie H. Cohen, Ruti Smithline, Michael Birnbaum, Carl (Chip) Loewenson, Ronald White, Christine Wong, Craig Martin, John Smith, Alex Iftimie, and Robert Litt; Berlin-based partners Roland Steinmeyer and Patrick Spӓth; and Hong Kong partners Timothy Blakely and B. Chen Zhu, GIR also highlighted the continued growth of the firm’s global Investigations + White Collar Defense practice with the recent additions of:

• Brandon Van Grack, former chief of DOJ’s Foreign Agents Registration Act Unit;
• Brian Kidd, former chief of DOJ’s Market Integrity and Major Frauds Unit;
• Andrea Delisi, former assistant chief counsel at the U.S. Department of Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control;
• Haimavathi Marlier, former senior trial counsel at the SEC;
• Gareth Rees QC, former executive director of enforcement at the UK Financial Reporting Council;
• Hayley Ichilcik, who was formerly seconded to the UK’s Serious Fraud Office; and
• Takahiro Nonaka, a former district court judge in Japan and who was seconded to the Japanese Embassy in Washington, D.C. to advise on foreign bribery enforcement issues affecting Japanese companies.

The strength of the firm’s Investigations + White Collar Defense practice is its depth and diversity of experience. The team’s collective experience—as former U.S. (federal and state) and foreign prosecutors, senior government regulators, White House and FBI counsel, national security and privacy specialists, and veteran defense lawyers—enables the team to anticipate prosecutors’ and regulators’ next steps, plan and execute efficient and thorough investigations, and quickly pinpoint key issues identifying the best path forward from the outset. Morrison & Foerster is one of the only law firms in the world with two former managers from the DOJ, Criminal Division, Fraud Section’s FCPA Unit, both of whom were instrumental in the development of the modern architecture of FCPA enforcement, overseeing hundreds of cases and billions of dollars in penalties and landmark FCPA trials.

Morrison & Foerster is also the go-to outside counsel for leading public and private companies in high‑risk and challenging markets worldwide. The Investigations + White Collar Defense practice has a deep bench of dedicated investigations attorneys in the firm’s offices around the globe, providing real-time and seamless advice to clients across continents and time zones, including in key financial centers in Asia (including in China, Japan, and Singapore) and Europe, and with attorneys with extensive experience in EMEA and Latin America.

Please visit the publication’s website for more details.