Butzel Long PC

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White Collar Crime Practice

Businesses and individuals are subject to an array of international, federal, state, and local regulations. Increasingly, government agencies at all levels are augmenting their civil enforcement efforts with parallel criminal investigations and prosecutions, raising the stakes for all involved. This is especially true for individuals, such as corporate officers, directors, managers, and employees, who face not only stiff fines and regulatory repercussions, but potentially a loss of liberty as well.

Butzel Long's White Collar Criminal Defense Team has a long history of successfully representing corporations and individuals under civil and criminal investigation. We are experienced in handling all stages of the investigative process, from search warrants and grand jury investigations through the filing of an indictment or a complaint and on to appeal. During the investigation process, our attorneys interact with federal and state prosecutors and law enforcement to secure the best possible outcome for our clients, including decisions not to prosecute whenever possible. Should an investigation result in a formal charge, the attorneys on our team are experienced trial lawyers who have handled hundreds of criminal investigations and tried dozens of complex federal and state criminal jury trials and appeals.

More than just reactive, our White Collar Criminal Defense Team also helps corporate clients develop and strengthen compliance and reporting programs so as to help avoid violating the law. We also counsel clients on how to address concerns before the regulators and prosecutors get involved. Our team can structure and conduct internal investigations of alleged wrongdoing and give advice on preserving or destroying records, interviewing employees, and determining whether employees should have separate representation. We also counsel companies regarding their obligations to disclose activities that may constitute criminal misconduct, how that information should be disclosed, and how best to interact with the government.

Our White Collar Criminal Defense Team has vast experience in a wide range of areas, including but not limited to healthcare fraud, mortgage fraud, customs fraud, tax fraud, mail and wire fraud, securities fraud, anti-trust enforcement, environmental law, copyright and other intellectual property matters, e-commerce and other technology issues, government defense contracts, employment issues, bank and thrift institution supervision, healthcare and insurance compliance, federal securities compliance, and Clery Act compliance by colleges and universities.

Given our extensive experience, our White Collar Criminal Defense Team has handled investigations by a number of regulatory and criminal justice agencies, including but not limited to the Department of Justice, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Postal Service, the Department of Defense, the Department of Homeland Security, the Securities & Exchange Commission, the Internal Revenue Service, the Department of Health and Human Services, the Department of Housing and Urban Development, the Environmental Protection Agency, and the Department of Education.

Our White Collar Criminal Defense Team knows that there are often related legal issues lurking behind the scenes when clients are under criminal investigation. And because we are a full-service law firm, our team has access to skilled lawyers from a variety of practice areas. These lawyers assist our team in taking a comprehensive, global approach to all of the related legal issues facing our clients. For example, criminal tax cases may involve related real estate and bankruptcy issues, healthcare cases may involve licensing and insurance issues, government contracting fraud cases may involve debarment. No matter what the related issue, Butzel Long's integrated approach to resolving our clients' legal matters ensures prompt, efficient, and effective service.

Corporate Compliance, Internal Investigations and Criminal Defense Practice

Activities that were once addressed by administrative or civil penalties are now increasingly the subject of corporate criminal investigations. The expanding use of the criminal process as an adjunct to more traditional methods of regulatory oversight has greatly heightened the risks of conducting business and we here at Butzel Long understand these concerns. In addition, law enforcement authorities are aggressively pursuing cases in new areas. These trends have broad implications for corporations and the personal lives of their officers and employees. Conduct that results in concurrent criminal and civil enforcement investigations requires a sophisticated and thorough level of response.

The Corporate Compliance, Internal Investigations, and Criminal Defense Practice Group at Butzel Long represents corporations and individuals in white collar criminal investigations and trials, and in civil and administrative enforcement proceedings. Attorneys in the Group serve as litigators when necessary, but also provide preventive counseling and advice so that violations are avoided. Our experience extends to the areas of healthcare fraud, environmental law, securities regulation, customs fraud, copyright and other intellectual property matters, e-commerce and other technology issues, government defense contracts, and anti-trust enforcement, employment issues, bank and thrift institution supervision, health care and insurance compliance, and Clery Act compliance by colleges and universities. We defend corporate and individual clients against white collar criminal allegations in various contexts, including grand jury investigations by federal and state prosecutors. We handle investigations by regulatory agencies such as the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Department of Homeland Security, the Environmental Protection Agency, the Education Department, and the Internal Revenue Service. We are experienced at defending clients against such allegations during the investigative stage at trial, in state and federal courts, or on appeal.

We conduct internal investigations on behalf of boards of directors and special board management committees. We conduct such investigations on wide-ranging issues and advise management regarding the establishment of compliance programs, with an emphasis on the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, Department of Justice Guidelines for Prosecution and the Federal Sentencing Guidelines. We have found that conducting a prompt and thorough internal investigation before government intervention or prior to completion of the governmentÂ’s investigation, can strongly influence the governmentÂ’s approach to the case, including the possibility of obtaining a declination or other disposition acceptable to the client. We have conducted such investigations on behalf of public and private corporations.

Butzel Long PC
150 W Jefferson Ave #100
Detroit MI 48226-4450
Tel: 313 225-7000
Fax: 313 225-7080