Special Counsel & Investigations Team

Clients today increasingly require special counsel. Companies need lawyers for audit or special committee fraud investigations, independent monitors under Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) settlements or Department of Justice (DOJ) agreements or court-appointed trustees, receivers or examiners to investigate and pursue claims. Bryan Cave regularly fills such roles in some of the most demanding and complex situations.

Bryan Cave’s team includes lawyers who have led government investigations for U.S. attorneys, the DOJ, the SEC, state attorneys general, district attorneys and other federal and state agencies. It includes attorneys who practice in such areas as financial and accounting fraud, foreign payments and trade, corporate governance and controls and whistleblower claims.

Special investigations often require the service of professionals in related areas such as forensic accounting and electronic document collection. From our years of experience in conducting investigations, we have strong relationships with professionals in these fields. We also draw on a substantial in-house litigation support team and extensive resources for managing large-scale document reviews, both paper and electronic.

Bryan Cave’s representative experience includes:

• Independent monitor appointed by DOJ and SEC for Fortune 10 insurance company, examining structured insurance and financial transactions and overseeing revision of corporate governance, compliance and financial disclosure policies and procedures;
• Representation of audit committee of commercial furniture manufacturer concerning accounting irregularities, and appointment by U.S. Bankruptcy Court as special counsel to conduct examination of accounting practices;
• Service as fraud examiner by appointment of U.S. Bankruptcy Court for oil company, including investigation and report to court on claims on behalf of company;
• Representation of bankruptcy trustee for telecommunications company in connection with investigations of fiduciary duty breaches by former directors and officers and prosecution of claims, resulting in settlement for $32.5 million;
• Investigation for national banking institution of Sarbanes-Oxley whistleblower allegations concerning mortgage underwriting;
• Special counsel to national accounting firm in connection with post-Enron compliance and document retention policies;
• Independent counsel to nationally recognized university to assess reasonableness of proposed transaction affecting university’s intellectual property rights;
• Independent counsel to audit committee of engineering company concerning accounting irregularities;
• Special counsel to House Ethics Committee in investigation of speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives;
• Counsel to audit committee of public company for investigation of possible violations of Foreign Corrupt Practices Act;
• Counsel to Special Committee of independent directors of major national food producer concerning reasonableness of executive compensation;
• Counsel to audit committee of computer software company in connection with alleged accounting fraud involving revenue recognition (including investigations conducted in Belgium, South Korea and United States);
• Representation of manufacturer in connection with alleged fraudulent transfers and theft of property in the United Kingdom (including coordination with Major Frauds Squad) as well as assessment and disposition of potential claims in bankruptcy;
• Representation of court-appointed receiver for hedge funds following removal of manager under investigation by SEC and U.S. attorney;
• Representation of audit committee of public company in investigating insider securities transactions;
• Counsel to a major international labor union for the investigation of the embezzlement of $5 million by the officers of one of its locals;
• Representation of the Audit Committee of an AMEX-listed healthcare intermediary investigating potential illegal acts relating to a material acquisition, as identified by a registered public accounting firm under the provisions of Section 10A of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934;
• Representation of Audit Committee of major metropolitan healthcare facility following its auditor's resignation alleging illegal acts under the provisions of Section 10A of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934;
• Representation of the Audit Committee of a financial institution dealing with allegations of illegal acts under Section 10A of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as well as related criminal investigations and civil class and derivative litigation;
• Representation of special committee in responding to derivative demands in merger of multinational corporations;
• Representation of special committee of technology company addressing conflicting interests of venture capitalists and other shareholders.