Courtney D. Orazio

Courtney Orazio is a partner in the firm’s Complex Litigation & Dispute Resolution practice and a member of the firm’s Government Investigations & Enforcement practice and Life Sciences Dispute group. Her practice focuses on government and internal investigations, white collar criminal defense, regulatory enforcement proceedings, securities litigation, and corporate governance matters, with clients including companies, boards, and individuals in the healthcare, life sciences, technology, and financial industries.

Courtney represents companies and their directors and officers before federal and state regulators, including the DOJ and the SEC, in connection with investigations into financial accounting improprieties, securities fraud, insider trading, healthcare fraud, and alleged False Claims Act violations. She regularly conducts internal corporate investigations for companies and their boards and audit committees in financial accounting and corporate governance-related matters. Courtney also counsels clients on regulatory compliance, disclosure issues, and litigation risk management.

Courtney is a seasoned trial lawyer who has experience representing clients at trial in civil and criminal matters in both state and federal court.

Courtney’s clients include public and private healthcare, life sciences, financial services, and technology companies, their directors and officers, and private equity and venture capital firms and their partners. Her recent representations include:

• Represented former CEO of multinational conglomerate in SEC investigation into alleged misrepresentations concerning revenue recognition and accounting practices, resolving the matter with the SEC issuing a termination notice and declining to bring enforcement action
• Represented global public life sciences company and its directors and officers in SEC investigation into insider trading issues in connection with drug development timeline, resolving the matter with the SEC issuing a termination notice and declining to bring enforcement action
• Represented private equity firm and former firm Operating Partner in DOJ False Claims Act investigation into operations of firm’s former healthcare portfolio company in which DOJ has not charged the firm or former Operating Partner
• Represented public biopharmaceutical company in DOJ False Claims Act investigation in which DOJ has not charged the company
• Represented dietary supplements company in DOJ investigation into supplement misbranding issues under the FDCA, resulting in a deferred prosecution agreement
• Represented global public life sciences company and its directors and officers in SEC investigation into insider trading surrounding collaboration agreement, resolving the matter with the SEC issuing a termination notice and declining to bring enforcement action
• Represented former pharmaceutical company President in a criminal anti-kickback case in the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts, resulting in an acquittal following a month-long jury trial
• Won dismissal with prejudice in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York of securities class action under Section 10(b) and Rule 10b5-1 against public life sciences company and its officers arising out of alleged misrepresentations concerning efficacy and marketing practices for one of its drugs
• Represented CFO of public global biopharmaceutical company in SEC investigation into accounting, revenue recognition, and disclosure issues, resolving the matter with the SEC issuing a termination notice and declining to bring enforcement action
• Represented public life sciences company in SEC investigation into revenue recognition issues following short seller report, resolving the matter with the SEC issuing a termination notice and declining to bring enforcement action
• Represented global law firm in its defense of claims by a legal recruiter for finder’s fees, resulting in dismissal of four out of five claims and civil settlement as to remaining claim
• Won dismissal with prejudice in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York of securities class action under Section 10(b) and Rule 10b5-1 against former CEO of multinational conglomerate arising out of alleged misrepresentations concerning revenue recognition and accounting practices
• Won dismissal with prejudice in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York of securities class action under Section 10(b) and Rule 10b5-1 against public life sciences company and its officers arising out of alleged misrepresentations concerning clinical trial design and enrollment criteria
• Represented tax preparer charged with fraud and identity theft in three-week federal jury trial in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York in which Courtney argued evidentiary motions and cross-examined numerous witnesses
• Won dismissal of civil RICO claims on behalf of private equity firm and loan servicing portfolio company in five different cases in Illinois federal and state court
• Represented minority shareholders of private company in two-week bench trial in the Business Litigation Session of the Suffolk Superior Court concerning fiduciary duty claims arising out of alleged minority squeeze-out, in which Courtney argued evidentiary motions and cross-examined numerous witnesses
• Won summary judgment in wage-and-hour federal class action in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California on behalf of nationwide cosmetics distribution company
• Defended a nationwide transportation company in numerous class actions, civil suits, and attorney general investigations arising out of alleged misclassification of independent contractors
• Drafted clemency petition that was granted by President Obama in connection with pro bono representation of client serving federal sentence for non-violent drug offenses for which penalty would have been substantially lower if convicted today
• Represented various individuals and corporations in investigations conducted by the criminal and civil divisions of the U.S. Attorney’s Office, including securities fraud, mail and wire fraud, and health care fraud investigations relating to pharmaceutical sales and marketing practices and drug and device manufacturing processes

In addition, in 2019, Courtney gained significant trial experience during a six-month secondment with the Middlesex County District Attorney’s Office, where she served as a Special Assistant District Attorney in the Woburn, Massachusetts District Court. In that capacity, she prosecuted hundreds of felony and misdemeanor crimes; independently conducted eleven jury and bench trials to final verdict; and argued dozens of dispositive and evidentiary motions.

Courtney is a member of the Boston Bar Association. She also served on the Board of the Massachusetts Chapter of the Federal Bar Association from 2020-2022.

Before attending law school, Courtney worked as an analyst at UBS Financial Services, Inc.

Courtney was included in the Legal 500 US as a Recommended Lawyer for Corporate Investigations and White-Collar Criminal Defense in 2023.

Courtney graduated from Columbia Law School in 2014 as a James Kent Scholar in recognition of earning highest academic honors.

Prior to attending law school, Courtney was co-valedictorian of her graduating class at Bucknell University in 2009. While at Bucknell, she was inducted into Phi Beta Kappa and received the Oliver J. Decker Prize in recognition of earning the highest academic rank in the graduating class.

Courtney’s recent publications include:

• Co-Author, “DOJ Revises Corporate Compliance Guidance to Take on Compensation Incentives and Communications Preservation – With a Continued Emphasis on Individual Accountability,” Goodwin Client Alert, March 2023
• Co-Author, “2022 Year in Review: Securities Litigation Against Life Sciences Companies,” Goodwin Insights, March 2023 
• Co-Author, “DOJ Announces Nationwide Voluntary Corporate Self-Disclosure Policy in Effort to Standardize and Incentivize Timely Self-Reporting,” Goodwin Client Alert, February 2023
• Co-Author, “DOJ False Claims Act Recoveries Exceed $5.6 Billion in 2021,” Goodwin Client Alert, March 2022
• Co-Author, “Life Sciences Companies Face Heightened Insider Trading Risks and Scrutiny,” New York University School of Law – Program on Corporate Compliance & Enforcement Blog, April 2021
• Panelist, “False Claims Act Risks and Trends in U.S. Higher Education,” Boston Bar Association: Virtual Higher Education Legal Conference, March 2021
• Panelist, “2020 Higher Education Symposium: False Claims Act Risks and Trends in U.S. Higher Education,” Goodwin 2020 Higher Education Symposium Webinar Series, October 2020
• Panelist, “Healthcare Issues + Trends: The False Claims Act and Other Government Enforcement,” Goodwin Healthcare Webinar Series, July 2020
• Co-Author, “False Claims Act Risks In U.S. Higher Education,” Goodwin Client Alert, July 2020
• Co-Author, “U.S. SEC Enforcement Co-Director Discusses Agency’s COVID-19-Related Enforcement Priorities, Highlights Formation of Coronavirus Steering Committee,” Goodwin Client Alert, May 2020
• Co-Author, “To Fight the Pandemic, Health Care Companies Face New Opportunities But Old Legal Risks,” New York Law Journal, April 2020
• Co-Author, “U.S. SEC COVID-19 Statements Highlight the Importance of First Quarter Disclosures – A Review and Practical Guide,” Goodwin Client Alert, April 2020
• Co-Author, “Recent Events Underscore Likelihood of PPP Loan Scrutiny in the U.S.,” Goodwin Client Alert, April 2020
• Co-Author, “Enforcement Risks for Recipients of U.S. CARES Act and Other Federal Funds,” Goodwin Client Alert, April 2020
• Co-Author, “The Impact of COVID-19 on Disclosure Obligations for Public Companies in the Life Sciences Industry,” Goodwin Client Alert, March 2020
• Contributor, “No Time to Wait: Recommendations for a Fair and Effective Criminal Justice System,” Boston Bar Association Criminal Justice Reform Working Group, October 2017
• Contributor, “2016 Trends in Health Care Fraud Enforcement and an Early Outlook for 2017,” Distributed at Annual National Institute on White Collar Crime, March 2017

Courtney is a contributor to Goodwin's Securities Snapshot, a bi-weekly newsletter highlighting important news and developments in civil and criminal securities law.