Government Investigations & Enforcement

For many companies, government investigations and enforcement actions are an unfortunate reality in today’s world. How you respond to and manage these matters can help to mitigate disruption and keep your business on track, and you need a partner who is intimately familiar with navigating these murky waters. Goodwin has extensive experience responding to government investigations, defending enforcement actions, and managing administrative, criminal, and private proceedings. We represent our companies, directors and audit committees in investigations relating to securities fraud, the FCPA, the False Claims Act, healthcare fraud, whistleblower allegations and alleged violations of financial lending regulations. And in the event an enforcement action proceeds, we advocate for our clients before the government on a daily basis, responding to investigation requests, negotiating the resolution of enforcement actions and advocating for our clients before a wide range of federal and state agencies, including the SEC, DOJ, CFPB, and U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and state attorneys general.

In the current environment, many private securities class action cases proceed side-by-side with investigations by SEC Enforcement, one or more state Attorneys General, and the U.S. Department of Justice. We regularly handle such parallel proceedings, working as a team with the lawyers in Securities & Shareholder Litigation and Financial Services Litigation practices, and are experienced in advising clients in these complex and high-risk situations. We also conduct internal investigations on behalf of boards of directors and committees of independent directors.

With an extraordinary collective reputation, we are well prepared to handle the full range of challenges facing our clients, from government inquiries to full-scale enforcement actions, criminal trials and related civil lawsuits. While we have resolved many of these matters quickly and quietly in advance of litigation and public scrutiny, we are genuine trial lawyers who do not hesitate to try a case when we – and our clients – believe it is the best approach.