Representative Experience
Compliance
Advice to clients on the established elements of an effective compliance plan for public and private business and regulated entities, including Sarbanes-Oxley requirements, Federal Sentencing Guidelines, Department of Justice and Securities and Exchange Commission policies.
Special Investigations
Advice to naturalized citizen concerning Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and federal bribery statutes concerning business transactions in China. (2008)
Representation of official of national housing company in response to federal allegations of kickbacks. (2008)
Internal investigation and response to SEC investigations, including informal inquiries for a petroleum investment firm, as small technology firm and a major Southwest utility. (2007-2008)
Internal investigation for a regional bank. Resolution of internal needs and compliance remediation; cooperation with federal regulators and law enforcement. (2007-2008)
Representation of government sub-contractor in response to investigation of alleged gratuities provided to military transportation officials relating to award of shipping business. Government civil and criminal claims settled satisfactorily. (2004-2007)
Representation of federal official under investigation for misuse of government authority as a deputy inspector general. Investigation closed without charge or reprimand. (2006-2008)
Representation of federal government lawyer in criminal investigation concerning allegations of inappropriate conduct in a sentencing proceeding. Matter closed without a charge or a report. (2006)
Representation of gas pipeline company in response to an arbitration demand for failure to complete role of a distribution system. Settled satisfactorily. (2005)
Representation of a former WorldCom director in criminal, securities regulation and securities litigation matters. (2002-2005)
Representation of global technology company in federal investigation of municipal procurement fraud. No charges filed; civil litigation settled satisfactorily. (2000-2003)
United States v. Church, et al., S.D. WV (1999 - 2002): Representation of second defendant charged with conspiracy to obstruct a federal bank examination during a two-month period before the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency closed the bank upon an assertion that half of its assets of one billion dollars was unaccounted for. Acquittal on conspiracy and one substantive count; conviction on one substantive count; subsequent plea agreement; client now a cooperating witness.
Representation of “Whitewater” witness employed in the White House (1995 - 2000).
Representation of former employees of the Democratic National Committee in investigations by both houses of Congress and the Department of Justice concerning campaign financing (1997 – 2000).
United States v. DeFries, et al., D.D.C. (1993 - 1996): Representation of Donald Masingo, one of six RICO defendants in 10-count indictment for labor racketeering. Changed to cooperating witness; plea agreement; no jail time; restitution only; other RICO defendants convicted on all counts.
Representation of former Congressman Charles N. Wilson in various federal investigations as he was the principally effective advocate for assistance to the Afghan resistance to Soviet occupation. (1983-1999) See also Charlie Wilson’s War, Atlantic Monthly Press
Advice and consultation with other Troutman Sanders partners on compliance programs under federal guidelines and regulation. (Ongoing)
General Litigation
Omaha Public Power District v. Union Pacific Railroad Co., District Ct., Douglas Co., NE (2007-2008): Representation of utility on claims for breach of contract and negligence for failure to maintain defendant railroad’s roadbed and infrastructure in the Powder River Basin, causing failure to deliver required coal supplies. Settled favorably for the plaintiff.
Class actions and over 100 individual actions consolidated in the Southern District of New York arising from the collapse of WorldCom, Inc. (2004-2006): Representation of the chair of the Board of Directors’ Compensation Committee, who was one of three primary targets of the plaintiffs’ claims, which amounted to more than $40 billion. Case settled favorably, using available directors and officers insurance proceeds and a personal contribution from each of the directors.
Contract Arbitration (2003-2004): Representation of Midwest utility in response to an arbitration claim that it had intentionally undermined sale of a substantial company asset. Settled favorably.
Sable Communications Co. of Georgia v. Hitachi Corporation, Cir. Ct., Fulton Co., Ga. (2000-2003): Representation of defendant in suit for breach of contract. Case settled.
Browning v. Clinton, U.S.D.C., D.C., D.C. Cir. (2000-2002): Representation of former deputy assistant to President Clinton in suit alleging conspiracy to deny plaintiff a market for her book about her relationship with Bill Clinton.
Union Electric v. The Coalition for the Fair and Equitable Regulation of Docks on Lake of the Ozarks, C.A. No. 4:99CV 466, W.D. Mo. (1999-2002): Declaratory judgment action for the plaintiff to declare the lawfulness and force of federal law of regulations of water structures on a lake within the plaintiff’s project lands, under license granted by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. Client’s position sustained in the trial court and on appeal
Media Law
Emerson v. Cole, U.S.D.C., D.C., (1999-2003). Representation of journalist in defense of defamation claim of a self-styled expert on Arab terrorism. Motion to dismiss granted on statute of limitations grounds. Plaintiff voluntarily dismissed his appeal on the eve of oral argument.
United States v. Lynde (Pelton), E.D.VA (2003). Representation of freelance reporter Robert Pelton in response to trial subpoena from defendant John Walker Lynde, who alleged that Pelton conducted a custodial interrogation for the U.S. government when he interviewed Lynde in an Afghan hospital after his capture and identification as an American foreign combatant. Trial court denied Pelton’s motion to quash with right to renew. Two days later, Lynde entered a guilty plea.
Guilford Transportation Industries v. Wilner, D.C. Super. Ct. (1997-1998). Representation of journalist in defense of defamation action by privately held railroad, its very wealthy owner and its president, arising from his column of commentary written in the Journal of Commerce, which was not sued. Summary judgment granted for the defendant. The D.C. Court of Appeals later affirmed the judgment in a strongly worded confirmation of constitutional and procedural protections for journalists defending such claims.
Maureen and John Dean v. St. Martin's Press, et al., U.S.D.C., D.C., (1994-1997), settled: Representation of one of two authors of the book, Silent Coup, against claims for defamation and invasion of privacy arising from passages concluding that John Dean was the architect of both the Watergate break-ins and the cover-up, and that he ordered the break-ins first to gather sexual dirt on Democrats. Other defendants settled later.
CBS Inc. v. Davis, U.S.S.C. (Blackmun) (1995): Assisted in obtaining order vacating prior restraint issued by South Dakota court enjoining "48 Hours" report on an unsanitary beef processing plant upon assertions that undercover videotape was obtained by trespass, deceit and violation of trade secrets.
ABC, Inc., et al. v. Powell (Jarvis) and the United States Army: (U.S.C.A./A.F.) (McKinney Article 32 proceeding) (1997): Obtained a mandamus ruling from the United States Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces that proceedings under Article 32 of the Code of Military Justice are like preliminary hearings in civilian criminal courts and are presumptively open to the public and the press.
Legal Ethics
Chair, D.C. Court of Appeals Committee on the Unauthorized Practice of Law (1992-1998).
Publications
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Author of “Responding to a Criminal Investigation,” Privacy & Data Security Law Journal, June 2007.
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Other periodic publications concerning cases and representations, and articles in media periodicals on developments in the law.