White Collar Defense

Whistleblowers and the U.S. Department of Justice use the False Claims Act (FCA) to extract damages and civil penalties, which pose a significant threat to many corporations.

State attorneys general are conducting investigations and asserting claims under state laws modeled around the federal FCA, and more qui tam actions are being filed each year as the opportunity for significant whistleblower monetary awards increases.

Our FCA attorneys represent companies and their officers, directors, and employees in complex criminal fraud investigations, internal investigations, and civil and qui tam litigation . We have handled cases and investigations in numerous industries, including government contract, health care, pharmaceuticals and life sciences.

From acquiring a company to raising public or private funds to defending lawsuits or government investigations and enforcement actions, we provide strategic and tactical advice, a range of pragmatic options, and bottom-line results. We do more than just help our clients survive the current challenges; we partner with them to find the best solutions and identify new business opportunities.

• Transaction Services
• Advisory Services
• Litigation Services

Succeeding in the life sciences industry is as much about strategy and execution as it is about research and development. In this highly competitive business, you need more than the best and brightest ideas – you need a legal and strategic partner that understands the challenges of securing funding, safeguarding intellectual property, establishing partnerships, bringing new products to market, opening up new revenue streams, and protecting existing product lines.

Lawyers in our life sciences practice are deeply experienced in corporate governance, financing and M&A transactions, collaborations and licensing, regulatory matters, and intellectual property law. As part of our interdisciplinary approach, we also collaborate with attorneys in our patent litigation, products liability, employment and tax practices to protect client interests and to advocate on their behalf.

With a full service team of highly experienced lawyers resident in key life sciences hubs, our team helps clients find the strategic paths that foster growth and minimize risk across all phases of the corporate life cycle. Motivated by the knowledge that the work that we do with you is improving people’s lives, we serve as an extension of your team so you can focus on your core business.

As businesses today face an increasingly sophisticated threat environment compounded by aggressive regulatory enforcement, companies need a partner who can help mitigate risk and respond to the unthinkable. Our Privacy + Cybersecurity practice is one of the longest-standing of any AmLaw 50 firm. Dating back to the late 1990s and established formally in 2004, our practice is fully integrated and leverages the firm's core strengths, with the group's lawyers coming from our technology, financial institutions, licensing, litigation, regulatory and appellate practices. Our unique approach, focusing on client needs and value, enables us to engage specialists whose experience is framed by a holistic understanding of clients' greatest risks in this threatening environment.

Rising interest rates? Falling tenant demand? “High-yield” or “value-added”? Across the global real estate capital markets, how you position yourself with respect to risk and return is critical for maximizing your investments. Whether assessing demographic trends and capital flows or anticipating geographic shifts, Goodwin’s Real Estate Industry Group offers deep market insight and a practical approach to help you make the most of every investment decision – from private fund formation and all types of real estate transactions to REIT and real estate M&A, we excel at what we do.

When a company is faced with a securities class action or shareholder derivative litigation, they need a partner who understands what is at stake and can think outside the box to achieve resolution. Goodwin’s deep experience, creative thinking and tenacity has led to our involvement in precedent-setting securities cases in courts across the country. The results we achieve are best of breed and have helped shape the law nationally, including outright dismissals of billions of dollars in putative class action and shareholder derivative claims. Our cases range from defending high tech and biotech companies in class action securities fraud litigation brought following restatements of earnings or the release of bad business news, to resolving shareholder derivative challenges, to multibillion dollar mergers and acquisitions.

As a growing technology company, your prospects are exciting and your challenges are unique – from securing funding, protecting IP, and navigating the regulatory environment, to differentiating yourself in the marketplace, managing customer acquisition and scaling your business. We get it. Our dedicated team of technology company lawyers is proud to bring a comprehensive, coordinated approach that interconnects business, new technologies and the law.

For technology companies of all sizes, the pace and pressure can be relentless: create, innovate, revise, compete, survive, grow, thrive. As a leading technology company law firm, Goodwin  shares your entrepreneurial spirit. We partner with you to grow your business and realize your potential more effectively – with a combination of legal experience and business savvy that can scale with management teams from the earliest stages of development through mature public company. We developed Founders Workbench, a free online legal advisory resource to help entrepreneurs navigate some of the most common legal and organizational challenges facing start-ups and emerging companies.

We support clients at all stages of the corporate life cycle, including:

• legal advisory related to company formation
• IP protection
• licensing
• commercial agreements
• venture financing to IPOs
• M&A
• corporate governance
• board matters and more.

With nearly 200 lawyers dedicated to advising technology companies, Goodwin has one of the largest and most recognized technology practices in the United States. Consistently rated in the top five most active of all law firms for venture capital, IPOs and M&A, we draw on our deep experience and network of clients and investors to provide the most effective and efficient counsel for today’s emerging companies.