Paul Hastings Continues White Collar Expansion with Addition of High-Profile Washington, D.C. Partner Group

February 23, 2015

Washington, D.C. - Paul Hastings LLP, a leading global law firm, announced today that white collar defense lawyers Robert Luskin, Kwame Manley, and John S.(Jay) Darden, will be joining the Investigations and White Collar Defense practice within the Litigation practice as partners in the Washington, D.C. office. The team, known for its high-profile representations for global clients, was previously with Squire Patton Boggs.

Also joining with the team is highly regarded white collar defense lawyer Jamie Gardner, formerly Trial Chief for the Washington (DC) Public Defenders Service and a faculty member at Harvard Law School.

“This is a go-to team for the most sensitive and complex global white collar and enforcement challenges, and adding them to our growing Litigation practice further arms us to advise on these critical boardroom issues around the world,” said Barry Sher, chair of the firm’s Litigation practice. “U.S. enforcement authorities have taken a more aggressive approach, both on their own and in collaboration with counterparts in other jurisdictions, and have shown that they can successfully pursue major fines for non-U.S. banks and companies,” he added.

“Bob is one of the most well-known and highly-regarded litigators in Washington and we could not be more excited to have him, experienced former federal prosecutors Kwame and Jay and Jamie join us,” said Scott Flicker, chair of the Washington, D.C. office. “Combined with our recent additions of white collar defense lawyers Michael Levy, Michael Spafford, and Amy Carpenter-Holmes from Bingham McCutchen, and former FCPA prosecutor Nathaniel Edmonds joining the prior year, Paul Hastings fields an elite white collar practice second to none in this city,” he added.

Robert Luskin

Mr. Luskin specializes in complex criminal and civil litigation at both the trial court and appellate level. As a lawyer first in government service and later in private practice, Mr. Luskin has represented clients in virtually every high-profile matter in Washington over the last three decades.

Mr. Luskin has special experience in cases involving allegations of official corruption. While at the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), he helped supervise the ABSCAM investigation, which resulted in the conviction of several Members of Congress, and thereafter represented the DOJ in hearings before the Congress concerning the investigation. Since entering private practice, he has represented a Cabinet Officer and senior White House officials of both parties in criminal investigations by Independent Counsels and the DOJ; the senior staff of a U.S. Senator in the Keating Five Senate Ethics Investigation; and Members of Congress from both parties in criminal investigations. Mr. Luskin successfully represented a sitting U.S. District Judge in a criminal trial and appeal, securing the reversal of his client's conviction before the U.S. Supreme Court and the en banc U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. More recently, he successfully represented Karl Rove in the Special Counsel investigation of a leak of the identity of a CIA officer and a Member of Congress in the investigations arising out of the prosecution of lobbyist Jack Abramoff; and he currently represents Lance Armstrong; “Mark Owen,” the former Navy Seal who authored the book “No Easy Day”; the gubernatorial campaign of Gov. Chris Christie in the so-called “bridgegate” investigations; and more than a dozen executives of BNP Paribas in the U.S. government’s sanctions investigation.

Mr. Luskin has devoted his attention recently to the particular challenges posed by the representation of foreign corporations in multi-jurisdictional, cross-border criminal investigations. He has special expertise in civil and criminal investigations under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) and has represented foreign corporations in three of the five largest FCPA investigations ever resolved with the DOJ and the Securities and Exchange Commission. He also has extensive experience representing individuals and financial institutions in investigations of potential violations of U.S. sanctions.

From 1980 to 1982, he was Special Counsel to the Organized Crime and Racketeering Section of the U.S. Department of Justice, where he was responsible for legal and policy issues concerning the Organized Crime Strike Forces, as well as supervision and review of complex undercover operations.

Mr. Luskin is a past Chairman of the Committee on RICO, Forfeitures and Alternative Remedies of the American Bar Association Criminal Justice Section; former President of the Harvard Law School Association of the District of Columbia, and has been a member of the D.C. Circuit Judicial Conference. For two decades, he was a Lecturer at the University of Virginia School of Law, where he has taught courses in advanced criminal law and labor racketeering, and is currently a member of the faculty of the Georgetown University Law Center, where he teaches a course in Global Anti-Corruption. He has lectured at Harvard Law School, the Sorbonne, and other universities.

Kwame Manley

Kwame Manley focuses his practice on white-collar criminal matters, internal and government investigations, and complex civil litigation. A former federal prosecutor, Mr. Manley defends individuals and companies in investigations by the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), Offices of the United States Attorneys (USAO), Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), State Attorneys General, and other investigative entities. His experience includes defending matters involving alleged mail, wire, accounting and bank fraud, money laundering, SBA, and immigration violations, as well as investigations under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) and False Claims Act (FCA).

Mr. Manley has particular experience representing corporations and senior executives in significant criminal matters. He has been counsel to several Fortune 100 companies in FCPA investigations in Europe, Africa, and Latin America. He currently represents a senior executive regarding bribery and fraud matter. Mr. Manley has represented Foreign Sovereign Governments and individuals in matters with the Department of Justice Kleptocracy Initiative and Anti-Money Laundering Sections. Mr. Manley has defended White House appointees in two Office of Inspector General investigations, both of which were dismissed prior to any criminal and civil referrals. Finally, Mr. Manley has represented several business executives in alleged corruption and fraud claims in Grand Jury investigations.

Before rejoining private practice, Mr. Manley served as Assistant United States Attorney and Deputy Chief at the United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Maryland, where he prosecuted white-collar, money laundering, and violent crime cases. Mr. Manley conducted multiple grand jury investigations and personally prosecuted more than 150 criminal matters. He tried numerous cases to verdict, successfully handling cases from the early stages of investigation, to all trial proceedings, appeals, and post-conviction challenges. Prior to his work as a federal prosecutor, Mr. Manley practiced law at Williams & Connolly LLP in Washington, D.C., where he focused on defending individuals and companies in criminal and civil litigation.

John S. (Jay) Darden

A former federal prosecutor, Mr. Darden defends individuals and companies in white-collar criminal matters and government investigations. He focuses his practice on actions and investigations under the FCPA; alleged health care fraud and abuse, including matters under the False Claims Act (FCA); and other white collar matters.

With Mr. Luskin and the rest of their team, Mr. Darden represented Alstom SA in its recently resolved FCPA investigation, one of the largest such investigations in history. Mr. Darden’s clients in FCPA matters include companies in diverse areas such as medical devices, oil field services, professional services, the food and beverage industry, overseas government contractors, and U.S.-based institutions of higher education.

Mr. Darden’s representations also include a staffing contractor for the U.S. government accused of submitting false claims, a news reporter in one of the recent DOJ investigations into the identity of reporters’ confidential sources, and a congressional campaign committee who was defrauded by its former treasurer, as well as numerous high-level executives and high-net-worth individuals.
Before rejoining private practice, Mr. Darden served in the Justice Department as Assistant Chief of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section, where he worked closely with Paul Hastings partner Nathaniel Edmonds. As Assistant Chief of the Fraud Section, Mr. Darden supervised the investigation and prosecution of health care fraud and anti-kickback violations nationwide. Mr. Darden is one of only a handful of federal prosecutors to have tried multiple health care fraud and anti-kickback cases to verdict in multiple districts. Mr. Darden also personally investigated and prosecuted violations of the FCPA.

Mr. Darden brings to his clients the perspective of both a defense lawyer and a prosecutor.

Paul Hastings is a leading global law firm with a strong presence throughout Asia, Europe, Latin America, and the United States. Through a collaborative approach, entrepreneurial spirit, and commitment to client service, the professionals of Paul Hastings deliver innovative solutions to many of the world’s top financial institutions and Fortune 500 companies.