| Congressional, Executive Branch and Multi-State Investigations |
Our public policy team has extensive experience representing clients engaged in complex, high-stakes congressional and executive branch investigations, as well as those facing attorneys general and other regulators from multiple states that have banded together to investigate a particular corporation or industry. These investigations involve political and media considerations very different from those found in courtroom or regulatory litigation. We provide strategic advice that takes into account the legal and political ramifications of any given course of action, and assist clients by drafting testimony, preparing witnesses in informal sessions, conducting mock hearings, working with committee members and staff in preparation for hearings, addressing executive branch decision makers, and helping to manage press coverage. In recent matters, we:
- Defended a prominent financial services company in connection with an investigation by the House Financial Services Committee relating to the provision of research and investment banking services
- Represented a leading financial institution in an inquiry by the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations focusing on the use of structured finance and other complex financial transactions, as well as on the responsibilities of financial institutions and accounting firms that assist companies in the use of such financing mechanisms
- Advised a director of a major US health care corporation in connection with an investigation by the House Energy and Commerce Committee
- Represented a major financial institution in connection with multiple investigations by the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations relating to anti-money laundering protocols in international private banking
- Represented a major FEMA contractor in preparing for and defending witness interviews and responding to document requests in connection with the Senate Homeland Security & Governmental Affairs' Special Hurricane Katrina Investigation
- Represented a major international bank through subpoena response, staff interviews and on-record depositions, and a full hearing by the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations concerning offshore tax shelters
- Represented a former ambassador in connection with staff inquiries, press strategy and government-to-government dialogue relating to the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations' inquiry into the United Nations Oil-for-Food program
- Represented outside directors of a large financial institution in connection with an investigation and hearings by the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations relating to allegations of money laundering by Augusto Pinochet
- Advised a major international petrochemical corporation in preparation for hearings by the House Energy and Commerce Committee on safety and other issues
- Represented a former director in connection with House Energy and Commerce Committee hearings regarding pretexting allegations
- Represented a leading Internet search engine company in connection with hearings by the House Subcommittee on Africa, Global Human Rights and International Operations relating to operations in China
- Represented a major nonprofit credit counseling organization in connection with an investigation and hearing by the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations concerning allegations of deceptive consumer practices
- Represented numerous trade associations in connection with congressional testimony and staff education initiatives
- Represented the Special Investigative Committee of the Board of Directors of Enron and counseled the chair, Dean William Powers Jr. of the University of Texas Law School, in preparation for congressional testimony following the filing of the committee's report