McGuireWoods Honored as a Law360 White Collar Practice Group of the Year

January 15, 2020
Law360 White Collar Group of the Year 2019

Law360 has recognized McGuireWoods as a White Collar Practice Group of the Year — one of only five firms to earn the prestigious honor. It marks the second time the publication has recognized the firm for its elite government investigations and white collar litigation practice.

A premier national practice, McGuireWoods’ Government Investigations & White Collar Litigation Department has represented Fortune 100 companies and high-profile individuals in some of the most prominent and complicated matters of the past decade. The practice reaches from coast to coast and has more than 60 lawyers, including former federal prosecutors and enforcement officials from the highest levels of government. The roster grew in 2019 with the addition of three former federal prosecutors: Andrew McBride in Washington, D.C., Rodger Heaton in Chicago and Kevin Lally in Los Angeles.

McGuireWoods earned the Law360 recognition for its work handling high-stakes investigations and enforcement matters worldwide. Recent notable achievements included securing the dismissal of criminal charges against former U.S. Rep. Aaron Schock in a long-running federal probe focused on alleged misuse of government and campaign funds. Partners George J. Terwilliger III, Robert Bittman, Christina Egan and Benjamin Hatch represented Schock.

Richard Cullen, the firm’s former chairman, and partner Patrick Rowan represented Vice President Mike Pence in special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation of Russian meddling in the 2016 election.

Cullen and Hatch won a half-billion dollar judgment against North Korea for the family of Otto Warmbier, an American student who died after being imprisoned and tortured in North Korea. Partners Cullen, Hatch, John Adams and Brandon Santos are co-lead counsel to The Boeing Company in connection with a federal investigation into crashes of two 737 Max-8 jets. And Terwilliger served as co-counsel to West Virginia’s governor in a federal investigation that ended with the Department of Justice declining to pursue charges.

“We are very grateful for Law360’s prominent recognition of the ‘landmark matters and general excellence’ characterizing the McGuireWoods Government Investigations & White Collar Litigation Department’s notable efforts and accomplishments in 2019,” said Todd Steggerda, chair of the department. “This honor reflects our growing coast-to-coast practice — which includes more than a dozen former prosecutors and senior enforcement officials — that regularly serves corporate America and notable public officials across our 21 specialty sub-practice areas under the general government investigations umbrella.”

Dion Hayes, deputy managing partner of the firm’s litigation practice, said, “It is gratifying when independent authorities such as Law360 affirm what our clients already know — that our talent, knowledge and intense advocacy in this critical area of the law set McGuireWoods apart.”

Among its numerous honors, McGuireWoods ranks among the world’s leading investigations firms in the GIR 100, a guide to top cross-border investigations practices based on independent research by Global Investigations Review. The firm holds a nationwide ranking for corporate investigations and white collar criminal defense in The Legal 500 United States, a premier list of the country’s best law firms. And The American Lawyer named the firm a Global Legal Awards finalist for litigation/dispute resolution of the year.

This is the fifth time Law360 lauded McGuireWoods as a Practice Group of the Year. The firm also previously received the accolade for its banking, automotive and sports practices.