McGuireWoods’ Rodger Heaton and Kevin Lally have been honored as Criminal Law Trailblazers by The National Law Journal. Both partners are former federal prosecutors and members of the firm’s nationally recognized Government Investigations & White Collar Litigation Department, recently named a Practice Group of the Year by Law360.
Based in Chicago, Heaton handles high-stakes matters involving healthcare fraud, cybersecurity and other white collar matters. He served for 18 years as a federal prosecutor and was U.S. attorney for the Central District of Illinois from 2005 to 2009. In those roles, he supervised investigations and prosecutions of public corruption, narcotics and gang offenses, money laundering, racketeering, tax evasion and other major crimes. Before joining McGuireWoods in 2019, Heaton served as chief of staff and homeland security adviser to former Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner.
Heaton told the NLJ that advances in technology and the development of the “internet of things” will heighten focus on data privacy and security. Because of his background overseeing homeland security in Illinois, he said, “I expect to be involved in a lot of these cases, as well as traditional white-collar defense matters” at McGuireWoods.
Lally, based in the firm’s downtown Los Angeles office, works on large-scale federal criminal investigations, enforcement proceedings, internal investigations and complex civil litigation. During his nearly two decades as an assistant U.S. attorney for the Central District of California, Lally served as senior litigation counsel in the Major Frauds Section and led the office’s Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force Section. He also prevailed in the high-profile racketeering prosecution of celebrity private investigator Anthony Pellicano and in the related appeals before the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.
Lally told the NLJ he is committed to expanding the firm’s white collar practice on the West Coast. “I will also continue to pursue high-profile cases, so I can develop a similar reputation to what I had in the government in the white collar community,” he said.
Todd Steggerda, chair of McGuireWoods’ Government Investigations & White Collar Litigation Department, said, “Rodger and Kevin distinguished themselves as federal prosecutors and their experience and insight provide tremendous advantages for McGuireWoods clients nationwide. We are proud to see them honored for their exemplary work in public service and private practice.”
With a team of 60 attorneys comprised of former federal prosecutors and enforcement officials, three former U.S. attorneys and a deputy attorney general of the United States, 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.