What I Do

I provide clients and fellow lawyers with independent, efficient, focused, and experienced assistance in areas where my background can help them.
 

  • Strategic evaluation of risk. If an organization or individual faces the risk of criminal investigation/prosecution in more than one country, it is absolutely critical to develop an initial global strategy — and to do so quickly. This will in most cases involve evaluating the danger level of the threat, identifying the countries that may become involved, and prioritizing the risks.  I can provide such a preliminary analysis, efficiently and on a confidential basis — before the need to commit to a definitive defense strategy and incurring extraordinary expense.
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  • Coordination.  A multi-pronged investigation often means finding and working with savvy lawyers who know local law and (even more important) have a nuanced command of local practice. Coordinating such talent acting under different professional regimes can raise unusual problems. More than one investigation has misfired because local professional rules were not understood and addressed (leading to the disclosure of confidential information); others have encountered serious problems because local privacy and workplace rules were not appreciated. Practicing criminal law under completely different legal procedures, and in more than one language, has given me practical insights into this challenge; and my academic work and writings have focused on this issue. I have extensive and excellent relationships with noted criminal practice specialists around the world, drawn from practice, academic experience, and leadership-level participation in organizations such as the International Bar Association and the International Academy of Financial Crime Litigators.
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  • Expert opinion.  I can provide expert opinions, in English or in French, to explain one country’s criminal justice peculiarities in proceedings in another country.
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  • Training.  I have organized and run extensive and successful trial advocacy training seminars in both English and French.  I can efficiently design and run programs to provide common-sense understanding of the rapidly growing risks run by international organizations.