David F. Geneson

David F. Geneson is a partner in the Washington, D.C. office of Sheppard, Mullin, Richter & Hampton LLP in the White Collar and Civil Fraud Defense Practice Group.

Areas of Practice

Mr. Geneson's practice focuses on white-collar criminal defense and civil enforcement litigation. His areas of experience include: numerous significant federal and state criminal and civil trials; domestic and international internal investigations; Medicare and Medicaid fraud; SEC investigations and enforcement proceedings; FCPA investigations; representations of financial officers and accountants; litigation of monetary transactions, including tax and securities transactions; criminal and civil environmental enforcement; customs inquiries; civil and criminal forfeiture proceedings; Independent Counsel and Congressional inquiries; and proceedings before international tribunals.

Education

• J.D., University of Miami School of Law, 1974
• B.S., Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, 1969

Prior to private practice, Mr. Geneson practiced law publicly for 15 years as a federal prosecutor in the following positions: Assistant United States Attorney, District of Columbia 1984-1990; Senior Trial Attorney, Fraud Section, Criminal Division of the U.S. Department of Justice, 1978-1984; Assistant United States Attorney, Southern District of Florida, 1975-1978.

In private practice, Mr. Geneson has conducted numerous internal investigations in the U.S. and abroad, both to identify and deal with financial fraud and abuse, and to defend against regulatory and criminal investigations. He has represented corporations and corporate officials in financial investigations, securities actions, Medicare, Medicaid and FCA qui tam matters, FCPA investigations, government contract proceedings, and environmental matters.

Examples of Mr. Geneson's matters are:

• The acquittal after a 2½ month trial of the Senior Financial Officer of Columbia/HCA on charges of Medicare Fraud;
• The representation of the CFO of Time Warner and AOL during multiple DOJ and SEC investigations, and numerous civil actions;
• The successful defense of Philips Electronics, Philips BV, and Philips do Brasil in a multi-million dollar financial fraud trial;
• The successful defense of Hoechst Celanese in the largest environmental enforcement action brought by EPA/DOJ.

Mr. Geneson has represented corporations and corporate officials in grand jury proceedings and enforcement matters, including successfully representing the largest pipeline company in the world in parallel multidistrict enforcement cases both civil and criminal alleging massive potential penalties. He has represented some of the largest companies in the world in international investigations and numerous proceedings, including a uniquely successful defense of a multi-million dollar federal trial named as one of the “Top Twenty Defense Wins” by the National Law Journal. Geneson has represented both a senior political official and a foreign government in proceedings before the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia. Additionally, Mr. Geneson has represented various political officials and others during Independent Counsel and Congressional investigations, and public corruption inquiries.

As a federal prosecutor, Mr. Geneson prosecuted Israeli spies Jonathan and Anne Pollard; prosecuted Chilean Army Major Armando Fernandez Larios in connection with the assassination of ambassador Orlando Letelier; prosecuted Deputy Mayor of Washington, DC, Ivanhoe Donaldson, for fraud and corruption; prosecuted the Director and Deputy Director of INTELSAT and others for a multi-million dollar fraud scheme; prosecuted the first and the largest tax shelter cases brought by the Tax Division of the Department of Justice; and received numerous awards from the Department of Justice and various federal law enforcement agencies.

Honors

• Martindale-Hubbell Criminal Law Washington, D.C. Top Rated Lawyer, 2012
• Washington D.C. Super Lawyer

Articles

• Moderating Influence Needed To Survive Corporate Investigations, SMRH Online, June 26, 2007

Speeches

• Speaker, "Bribery & Corruption - forget about Government officials – what about us?" Decision Intelligence International, Johannesburg, South Africa, July 20, 2011
• For over thirty years, he has taught trial practice throughout the United States for the National Institute for Trial Advocacy (NITA) and at numerous law schools

Events

• The 2010 UK Bribery Act (FCPA On Steroids) V. The Reinvigorated FCPA -- Who Has the Bigger Stick!, September 16, 2010