Practice Areas

Trials

We are trial lawyers who aren’t afraid of the courtroom and thrive in front of juries. Our lawyers have been elected to the American College of Trial Lawyers and have tried more than 65 cases to verdict.

Trials are not for the faint of heart.

We are creative and effective communicators who know how to make sophisticated legal concepts understandable to jurors.

We’ve tried and won challenging cases and obtained acquittals or dismissals after hung juries of significant criminal charges including bank fraud, health care fraud, terrorism and robbery.

On the civil side, we won a $40 million judgment after trial on behalf of 50 retirees.

The key to our trial success is meticulous preparation. That preparation starts before a jury is even impaneled with tireless around the clock investigation and aggressive but pragmatic pretrial motion practice. Once we’re in the courtroom, we use advocacy skills honed through decades spent talking to juries in courtrooms to present our case, challenge our opponent’s narrative and make a compelling and empathetic argument to the jury about why we should win.

If you’re looking for a firm that knows its way around a courtroom and is not afraid to take a case all the way, you’ve come to the right place.

White Collar Criminal Defense

We have defended individuals and businesses on the full spectrum of financial crimes, including conspiracy, fraud, money laundering, antitrust, export control and political corruption.

Our clients have included corporate officers, business owners, doctors, defense contractors, foreign exchange investors, real estate professionals, attorneys and government employees.

We have a distinct perspective on how complex investigations are run from leading grand juries as prosecutors and representing witnesses and targets as defense attorneys.

We know how crucial it is to get involved in an investigation early, understanding that a grand jury subpoena or target letter, email or phone call could turn into a full-blown investigation that can overtake a business and disrupt a person and their family’s life.

We have handled pre-charge investigations conducted by agencies including the SEC, DEA, IRS, FBI, OIG, and local District Attorney with the goal of sparing our clients a criminal charge.

If a charge is filed, we have extensive experience navigating the complexities and stresses of the criminal justice system.

We tailor a defense unique for every client, giving them savvy guidance to get through the challenges of being accused of a crime.
We’ve gotten cases dismissed through cutting-edge motion practice, and negotiated beneficial plea bargains for clients that have spared them years of imprisonment and saved them millions of dollars.

And if a case goes to trial, we don’t just talk the talk.

We’ve tried—and won—numerous fraud cases before juries in federal court.

Regulatory and Administrative Defense

With our expertise in savvily and aggressively defending the full spectrum of white collar criminal cases, we know how to represent clients in civil enforcement actions brought by government agencies.

Government criminal investigations into misconduct often begin as a civil enforcement action before a regulatory body and vice-versa: criminal cases often turn into civil enforcement actions.

We’ve represented business owners, contractors and doctors in civil enforcement actions brought by federal and city government agencies. We take a deep understanding of our client’s perspective and the often byzantine administrative processes into every discussion with a government agency to achieve the best possible result for our clients.

Internal Investigations

Having brought, and defended against, government investigations, we know how to efficiently conduct thorough and discreet investigations for small businesses and organizations.

We work tirelessly to uncover the facts, identify problematic behavior and develop a plan to respond to potential wrongdoing.

If disclosure to government agencies and regulators is necessary, we have the credibility to be taken seriously and get the result that protects the company’s interests.

We’ve also been selected by companies to provide specific employees with legal representation in connection with either a government or internal investigation.

General Criminal Defense

Our experiences on all sides of the criminal justice system equip us to handle any kind of criminal case from start to finish. We’ve defended thousands of federal criminal cases, including RICO, conspiracy, drug trafficking, immigration fraud, unlawful firearms possession, firearms trafficking, and violent crimes.

With a person’s liberty on the line, we know that navigating the criminal justice system is stressful. So we listen to and empathize with our clients, keep them informed of their legal options and work hard to get the best possible result for them, whether that means filing pretrial motions to get a case dismissed or improperly obtained evidence thrown out, negotiating a favorable plea agreement to spare our clients years of imprisonment, or putting the case in the hands of a jury.

With that depth of experience, it’s no surprise we’ve been called upon to represent clients accused of the most serious crimes before juries in federal court, including homicide, terrorism, and bank robbery. And we’ve won.

Appeals

We know that litigation doesn’t always end in the trial court and with our deep knowledge of the facts and legal issues at dispute, we stick with our clients and continue to represent them if their case ends up before an appeals court. We can also step in as new appellate counsel.

Our trial experience makes us better appellate lawyers, allowing us to scour the record and identify the strongest issues to pursue for our clients.

We have briefed and won numerous appeals across the country, and have argued a dozen times before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, as well as before the California Court of Appeal and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit.

Some of our victories including reversing a criminal conviction because of prosecutorial misconduct, convincing the Ninth Circuit that the FBI’s use of sophisticated malware violated the Fourth Amendment, and obtaining a published reversal of a computer fraud conviction after jury trial in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit.

We’ve also served as amicus counsel for organizations such as the American Civil Liberties Union, the Young Center for Immigrant Children’s Rights, the Electronic Frontier Foundation, the Center for Constitutional Rights, the Center for Democracy and Technology, the Brennan Center for Justice at NYU and the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers to brief novel legal issues before the U.S. Supreme Court, and federal and state appellate courts across the country.

Mediation

With a deep reservoir of litigation and trial experience, we also know the power of compromise and settlement and can mediate the toughest and most contentious disputes.

Having negotiated settlements in hundreds of criminal cases, Partner Hanni Fakhoury serves as a mediator for a wide range of civil cases, including serving as a court appointed mediator.

Resolving tough disputes requires not just knowledge and preparation, but also civility, effective communication and empathy.

Those skills are taken into every mediation to ensure that all sides of the dispute feel heard and the parties reach a cost-effective resolution satisfactory to both sides.