Our Approach

Davis Polk is widely recognized as having one of the preeminent white collar criminal defense and investigations practices in the United States. We represent corporations and individuals from around the world in high-profile and complex white-collar criminal defense matters, regulatory enforcement matters and internal investigations. Our litigators include some of the most highly respected criminal defense lawyers in the country, many of whom served with distinction before joining the firm as federal and state prosecutors or senior officials at the Department of Justice and the Securities and Exchange Commission.
More >

Awards & Rankings

Davis Polk ranked in the first tier among law firms in white collar criminal defense, according to The Legal 500 (U.S. 2009): “The white-collar practice at Davis Polk & Wardwell is best known for its ‘wonderful practitioners’, many of whom have served at the US Department of Justice (DoJ) and the SEC. Clients consider this New York-based group to be ‘outstanding’.”
Davis Polk ranked in the first tier among New York law firms in white collar crime and government investigations matters, according to Chambers USA (2008): “[Davis Polk’s] ‘fantastically strong’ white-collar, regulatory and internal investigation practice houses a deep bench of criminal defense lawyers – including former prosecutors and assistant U.S. Attorneys – who are acclaimed for their ‘phenomenal depth of experience and excellent contacts in the industry.’”
“A true New York ‘powerhouse,’ Davis Polk & Wardwell has a ‘huge reputation’ as a leading white-collar firm, both for ‘trying a lot of cases in court’ and ‘excelling at investigations.’” Legal 500 (2008).

Notable Matters

We represent Siemens AG and are advising it in criminal and regulatory matters in numerous jurisdictions relating to corruption allegations - including advising the company on financial reporting, coordinating its global defense as to non-U.S. investigations, and assisting in the development of enhanced compliance policies and procedures. We acted as counsel in Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) proceedings, and we currently represent Siemens before various multilateral development banks and in civil matters arising from the corruption matter. In coordination with the simultaneous settlement of related German proceedings, we successfully structured a court-approved resolution of all criminal and civil investigations by the DOJ and the SEC.
A large part of our practice involves representing corporations, individuals, financial institutions and professional firms in non-public criminal and regulatory investigations and proceedings conducted by the DOJ, the SEC, the New York Attorney General's Office, the Manhattan District Attorney's Office, the NYSE Euronext, FINRA, the Federal Trade Commission, the Federal Reserve Bank, and numerous other U.S., state and foreign law enforcement and regulatory agencies.
We represent multiple broker-dealers, hedge funds and other financial institutions in an array of investigations relating to short selling, including SEC and DOJ investigations into short sales of financial institutions' securities at critical points during the financial crisis.
We represented CVS Caremark Corporation (CVS) in a DOJ investigation into business relationships between CVS and certain Rhode Island state citizen-legislators. In 2008, a federal jury acquitted two former CVS executives of all charges arising out of one of those relationships. No action was taken against CVS.
We represent a major European bank in connection with ongoing investigations by the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office and the DOJ into the processing of U.S. dollar payments on behalf of entities and countries subject to U.S. economic sanctions.

More >

We have represented a number of law firms in connection with varied criminal and regulatory investigations. For example, we successfully negotiated a non-prosecution agreement with the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York in connection with its investigation with the IRS into tax opinions provided by our client, former law firm Jenkens & Gilchrist.
We regularly represent senior executives at hedge funds in connection with a variety of federal and state criminal and regulatory matters. These matters have included, among others, the New York Attorney General's investigation relating to the New York State Pension Fund, and various insider trading investigations.
We represent the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation (Freddie Mac) in a number of matters, including an investigation by the DOJ, and as a creditor in the Lehman Brothers insolvency cases.
We represent a major financial institution in connection with a DOJ criminal investigation into its dollar clearing activities, OFAC compliance procedures and other Bank Secrecy Act compliance matters.
We represented a Special Committee of the Board of WellCare in its investigation into matters raised in an investigation by certain federal and state agencies.
We represent a major accounting firm in connection with multiple government investigations relating to stock options backdating by its audit clients.
We have represented corporations and individuals in numerous grand-jury investigations into alleged price fixing involving vitamins, marine hoses, auction house commissions, air cargo and passenger fares, explosives and magnetic tape.
We represented Pfizer in the successful global resolution of federal and state investigations into the marketing of Neurontin.
We represent a major financial institution in connection with a publicly disclosed FCPA-related internal investigation into actions initiated by a former employee based in China in an overseas real estate subsidiary.
We have advised a number of Fortune 500 companies – including companies in the technology, consumer, defense/aerospace and finance industries that provide market-leading products and services – on confidential FCPA matters.
We represented the American Italian Pasta Company (AIPC) in an SEC investigation into AIPC’s past accounting practices and financial disclosure issues. We successfully negotiated a settlement with the SEC that lacked any civil monetary penalty. We also represented AIPC in 47 parallel shareholder class action and derivative litigations, which have now been successfully resolved.
We represented W.P. Carey & Co. LLC (WPC), a manager of real estate investment trusts (REITs), in an SEC investigation of WPC’s arrangements with broker-dealers distributing shares of the REITs. We won dismissal of related New York state court shareholder derivative litigation against WPC.

< Less