Complex Civil Litigation

• We are counsel to three Unification Church entities in their action against the directors of a non-profit corporation established to support the Unification Church. The suit alleges that the current directors breached their fiduciary duty to the non-profit when they amended its articles of incorporation to change the non-profit’s purposes and then diverted hundreds of millions of dollars in assets to a new purpose. The suit also involves breach of contract claims by the non-profit's principal donor. The case already has included two appeals, both resolved in our clients' favor. At the end of 2020, the Superior Court of the District of Columbia determined remedies for the breach, which resulted in a complete victory for our client. Additionally, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, upheld a different judge’s dismissal of a similar case brought in New York.     
• In August 2018, we secured a dismissal of a shareholder derivative suit against a major insurance company and our client, a former officer of the company. 
• In September 2018, we obtained a $36.4 million judgment in a suit brought under the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act terrorism exception on behalf of a dual Iranian-U.S. citizen who was wrongfully detained and tortured in Iran.  
• Since 2013, the firm has been representing three non-profit corporations in Pennsylvania that are the subject of a parens patriae lawsuit brought by the Pennsylvania Attorney General seeking to challenge various transactions and corporate governance practices of the three corporations, including transactions between the corporations and certain of their directors or officers, who are also defendants in the lawsuit.
• We recently represented an airline in an industry-wide FCA investigation involving concerns about compliance with contracts with the U.S. Postal Service.
• We represented Innovative BioDefense, Inc. (IBD), a California-based hand sanitizer company, and its President and CEO in a lawsuit filed by the DOJ in federal court in California. The complaint alleges violations of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act resulting from the alleged distribution of unapproved new drugs and misbranded drugs. The government sought to permanently enjoin our clients from distributing their hand sanitizer products. Almost three years before DOJ filed the complaint, the FDA issued a Warning Letter to IBD, raising concerns about how IBD's products were marketed. IBD addressed the FDA's concerns. The case went to trial in early 2020, and in a verdict that called out the FDA's inability to regulate the market and the public health threat posed by GOJO, IBD emerged with only a narrow injunction that permitted the company to continue vital hand sanitizer sales soon after complying with the Court's order.
• In 2012, we represented the Palestinian Authority in Mohamad v. Palestinian Authority, 132 S. Ct. 1702 (2012), where we won a unanimous decision holding that corporations and other organizational defendants cannot be sued for international human rights violations under the Torture Victim Protection Act.

• Assistant to the Solicitor General, U.S. Department of Justice
• Assistant United States Attorney, District of Columbia
• Director, Office of International Affairs, U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission
• Trial Chief, Public Defender Service for the District of Columbia
• Senior Investigative Counsel, Special Committee on Investigations, U.S. Senate
• Chief, Special Litigation Division, Public Defender Service for the District of Columbia
• Assistant General Counsel, Federal Bureau of Investigation, U.S. Department of Justice
• Senior Adviser for International Issues to SEC Chairman Arthur Levitt, U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission
• Deputy Director, Office of International Affairs, U.S Securities and Exchange Commission
• Assistant Director, Office of International Affairs, U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission
• Assistant Chief Litigation Counsel, Division of Enforcement, U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission
• Assistant Federal Public Defender, Las Vegas, Nevada
• Appellate Deputy Public Defender, Nevada State Public Defender's Office
• Tax Assistant to the Solicitor General, U.S. Department of Justice
• Chief, Division of Health Investigations, Employee Benefits Security Administration, U.S. Department of Labor
• Deputy Associate Solicitor, Office of the Solicitor, U.S. Department of Labor
• Trial Attorney and Director of Training, Public Defender Service for the District of Columbia
• Supervising Attorney, Trial Division, Public Defender Service for the District of Columbia
• Senior Trial Attorney, Office of the Solicitor, U.S. Department of Labor
• ERISA Counsel, Regional Office of the Solicitor, U.S. Department of Labor
• ERISA Trial Attorney, Regional Office of the Solicitor, U.S. Department of Labor
• Staff Attorney, Appellate and Trial Divisions, Public Defender Service for the District of Columbia
• Legislative Assistant, U.S. House of Representatives

Chambers USA

• ERISA Litigation (USA-Nationwide), 2015 - 2023
• Tax: Controversy (USA-Nationwide), 2007 - 2023

Legal 500

• Labor & Employment: ERISA Litigation (U.S.), 2012 - 2023
• Tax: Contentious (U.S.), 2007 - 2023

U.S. News - Best Lawyers® "Best Law Firms"

• Criminal Defense: White-Collar (District of Columbia), 2010 - 2024
• Criminal Defense: White-Collar (National), 2019 - 2024
• Litigation - ERISA (District of Columbia), 2011 - 2024
• Litigation - ERISA (National), 2013 - 2024
• Litigation - Securities (District of Columbia), 2024
• Securities Regulation (National), 2024
• Commercial Litigation (District of Columbia), 2011 - 2012, 2014 - 2018