Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer has recruited former acting head of the criminal division at the Department of Justice (DoJ) to bolster its US white-collar practice.
Matthew Friedrich joins from US litigation firm Boies, Schiller & Flexner, where he had a partner since 2009. Prior to this, he spent 13 years at the DoJ in various leadership roles including the assistant attorney general for the criminal department, where he managed a team of 740 individuals on fraud, intellectual property and cross-border transactions by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS).
Friedrich will be based in Washington DC focusing on white-collar investigations and litigation, alongside dispute resolution partner Tim Coleman and the firm’s New York-based white-collar team.
Friedrich said: ‘Regulators are reigning in on corporates and financial institutions and a lot of these are based in Washington so an expanded presence is needed here. From an international perspective, the New York team, Tim and I will use Freshfields existing white-collar bench and global footprint to advise clients across multiple jurisdictions very quickly.’
Friedrich is the firm’s sixth white-collar partner in the US, bringing the litigation practice to 16 partners and 83 lawyers.
Most recently, the firm beefed up its international disputes practice, appointing five new partners across its Hong Kong, New York, London and Paris offices.
Previously, Freshfields hired former Sullivan & Cromwell partner Michael Lacovara in September 2012. Before this, the firm launched a global investigations practice in February 2010 to advise multinational corporates on regulatory issues relating to corruption and financial reporting.
Global head of litigation Christopher Pugh said: ‘Matt bolsters the Washington arm of what is now truly one of the world’s leading international white-collar defence practices and brings us important new expertise in the fields of national security and foreign investment. With experienced investigation lawyers in the key commercial centres of the world, we are providing our clients with seamless global representation in complex multijurisdictional investigations.’
For The US Legal 500 rankings for white-collar defence work, click here.
Jaishree.kalia@legalease.co.uk