Respected White Collar Team Joins Paul Hastings in Washington, DC

June 02, 2014

Washington, DC - Paul Hastings LLP, a leading global law firm, announced today that white collar defense lawyers Michael Levy, Michael Spafford and Amy Carpenter-Holmes have joined the firm as partners in the Washington, DC office. The team joins from Bingham McCutchen LLP.

“Paul Hastings has prioritized building a premier white collar, criminal defense, investigations and compliance team across the firm,” said Barry Sher, chair of the firm’s Litigation practice. “We have invested heavily in top talent in this area, assembling a group of highly-regarded practitioners - former federal prosecutors, seasoned Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) practitioners, and top in-house talent in strategic industries,” he added.

“This impressive team has handled many of the most complex, high-profile financial, tax, accounting and trading scandals of the last decade - and won a reputation as a premier white collar practice, especially in the financial services sector,” said Ken Breen, chair of the Investigations and White Collar Defense practice. “Their representations have included corporations and individuals at the center of government enforcement actions and investigations relating to Enron Corp., the financial and accounting practices of Fannie Mae, the bankruptcy of MF Global, the setting of Libor and other benchmarks, alleged tax abuses on Wall Street and around the world, multi-year investigations into Lehman Brothers, the NFL’s ‘Spygate’ scandal, and the unintended acceleration of Toyota vehicles, among many others,” he added.

“It is critically important for a leading white collar practice to be strong in Washington, DC, the center of so many investigations,” said Scott Flicker, chair of the Washington, DC office. “This group will substantially increase our white collar presence while providing a solid foundation on which we can continue to build,” he added.

Michael Levy

Mr. Levy was co-chair of Bingham’s White Collar Investigations and Enforcement Group. His practice focuses on white collar defense, investigations, and representation of corporations and individuals in connection with government enforcement matters. He has conducted internal investigations for major companies as well as their board committees and represents entities, executives and public officials in significant criminal actions, as well as congressional, SEC and other governmental investigations, involving alleged violations of fraud, securities, tax, antitrust, public corruption, environmental, obstruction of justice, bribery, wiretapping and other criminal statutes. Chambers & Partners, publisher of leading guides to the legal industry, heralds Mr. Levy as "a master” at representing clients in “complex white-collar cases.

Michael Spafford

Mr. Spafford’s practice focuses on complex white collar investigations, enforcement matters and parallel proceedings involving the DOJ; SEC; Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC); Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC); Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB); and other federal, state and local government enforcement entities, with a particular focus on high profile, multi-jurisdictional investigations involving trading issues, commodities and derivatives, including Libor and other benchmarks. Mr. Spafford has been recognized in Chambers USA, for White Collar Government Investigations (DC) (2014); Best Lawyers, for Derivatives and Futures law (2007-2014); and Super Lawyers, for Criminal Defense, Washington D.C. (2012-2014).

Amy Carpenter-Holmes

Ms. Carpenter-Holmes is a white collar litigator who represents financial institutions, Fortune 500 companies and senior executives in connection with government investigations and related enforcement proceedings involving the DOJ, the SEC, congressional committees and other regulators. Her practice spans cases alleging violations of securities fraud, accounting fraud, criminal tax, FCPA, public corruption, criminal antitrust and other criminal statutes. Chambers & Partners recognizes Amy for her ability to “go toe-to-toe with senior lawyers” as well as for her success in rapidly building a solid reputation in representing clients from a range of industry sectors in government investigations.

The arrival of Mr. Levy, Mr. Spafford and Ms. Carpenter-Holmes at Paul Hastings continues the expansion of the firm’s leading global compliance, investigations, and enforcement practice, and follows the recent addition of partner Gary Giampetruzzi, who joined the firm in February.

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.