Government Investigations & White Collar Defense

The government is a special adversary, with unique powers and vulnerabilities. ZAG/S&W’s Government Investigations & White Collar Defense Group focuses on those crucial matters in which government agencies are our clients' adversaries. At the core of the group is a team of seasoned investigative, trial and appellate attorneys, including former federal prosecutors, other former government attorneys and tax attorneys, who offer substantial experience derived collectively from many hundreds of investigations, regulatory actions and prosecutions. The Group works both on high-profile matters and on those in which a key priority is avoiding publicity.

Practice Profile (PDF)

Representative Client Work

  • Internal corporate investigations in a variety of industries, including financial services, technology, health care, telecommunications, manufacturing, business services and not-for-profit
  • Obtained the dismissal of all securities fraud and other criminal charges pending against a trading specialist in the Eastern District of New York
  • Obtained dismissal of securities fraud charges in the Northern District of Texas
  • Successfully represented numerous targets of tax investigations and controversies involving in total billions of dollars in alleged tax obligations
  • Won landmark appeal at state high court preserving work product protection over communications with accountants 
  • Represented a vice president of a New Jersey technology company targeted, but never charged, by a federal grand jury investigation into the alleged theft of trade secrets
  • Sued state Attorney General for use of false adverse publicity against client, obtaining valuable consideration in a prompt settlement
  • Successfully represented numerous directors and officers in response to SEC investigations
  • Obtained dismissal of assault charges against a celebrity and the sealing of all charges against him
  • Won a motion to suppress and the dismissal of all charges in a federal criminal prosecution in the District of Massachusetts
  • Successfully represented a leading national electronics retailer in quashing investigative subpoenas seeking customer information
  • Obtained dismissal of false statement claims brought by the Office of the Attorney General based on allegations of related-party transactions
  • Obtained reduction of charges from felonies to misdemeanors for professionals in matters ranging from alleged computer hacking in New Hampshire to alleged theft from a charity in New York 
  • Represented a Japanese chemical company accused of price-fixing and exposed to penalties in excess of $100 million, resolved at a tiny fraction of that on the most favorable terms of any target
  • Coordinated the recovery of abducted children with foreign government leaders, followed by winning a jury verdict in Connecticut, in the amount of $27 million, against a subsidiary of a Fortune 50 company, based on its role in the events
  • Representation of subjects and targets of high-profile “options backdating” and Ponzi-scheme investigations

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