The Government Enforcement and White Collar Crime Group at Skadden is an internationally recognized leader in the representation of corporations, boards of directors, management and other individuals in connection with government investigations, enforcement actions, internal investigations, and white collar criminal prosecutions. 

Skadden is ranked as having one of the preeminent government enforcement and white collar crime practices in the world. For example, we were named New York Law Journal’s 2021 Litigation Department of the Year, in addition to being a finalist in the general litigation category of its 2022 Litigation Department of the Year competition. We also were named by The American Lawyer as a 2021 Litigation Department of the Year finalist and 2018 White Collar/Regulatory Litigation Department of the Year finalist, and listed among Law360’s White Collar Groups of the Year for 2018. Skadden was named as having one of the top prac­tices worldwide in Global Investigations Review’s 2020 GIR 30, a ranking of leading firms handling internal and government-led investigations. The firm also was recognized in the publication for representing Société Générale in the 2018 Most Important Develop­ment in Investigations, for SocGen’s successful, precedent-setting resolution of long-standing investigations. In 2019, for the sixth year in a row, no other firm had more attorneys named in Who’s Who Legal: Investigations. We received the award for Global Dispute of the Year, Investigations from The American Lawyer at its 2015 Global Legal Awards for our representation of 10 Swiss banks that obtained non-prosecution agreements from the U.S. Department of Justice pursuant to the DOJ Tax Division Program for Swiss banks. We also have been repeatedly ranked as a top firm for corporate investigations in Chambers Global and Chambers USA, as well as for white collar crime in Benchmark Litigation 2021.

Our government enforcement and white collar crime practice comprises lawyers in key financial centers in the Americas, Europe and Asia Pacific, and includes attorneys who formerly served as United States Attorneys and Assistant United States Attorneys, SEC officials, and other prosecutors and regulators, as well as a former federal judge, CFTC enforcement director and state securities commissioner.

Skadden’s resources enable our attorneys to anticipate and respond to parallel investigations and proceedings routinely pursued by U.S. federal and state criminal and civil enforcement authorities. The firm defends corporations, directors, officers and employees against allegations in various business contexts and at every stage of the enforcement process, including federal and state grand jury investigations, jury trials and appeals. We handle investigations and civil and administrative proceedings brought by regulatory bodies such as the DOJ, SEC, CFTC, FINRA, FTC, OFAC, IRS, federal and state banking regulators and attorneys general, and other state law enforcement agencies throughout the United States. The firm also represents companies and individuals in connection with congressional investigations and inquiries. In addition, we assist clients in dealing with investigative agencies around the world, including the Financial Conduct Authority and the Serious Fraud Office in the U.K., BaFin in Germany, the European Commission in Brussels, and the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission.