Michael W. Emmick

Mike Emmick is Special Counsel in the firm's Los Angeles office, working in two Practice Groups:  Government Contracts and Regulated Industries; and Business Trials, including White Collar and Civil Fraud Defense.

Mr. Emmick was an Assistant U.S. Attorney for 25 years in Los Angeles, where he handled over 35 criminal trials, chiefly in the white collar arena, including a 7-month RICO trial and 5-month police corruption trial.  At the U.S. Attorney's Office he held 5 supervisory and management positions, including 8 years as Chief of the 30-attorney Public Corruption and Government Fraud Section, and 7 years as Special Counsel to the U.S. Attorney.  From 1997 to 2000, he was detailed to the Office of Independent Counsel in Washington, D.C., where he worked on the Clinton/Lewinsky investigation, first as an Associate Independent Counsel and later as Deputy Independent Counsel.

Mr. Emmick is principally known for his work on high-profile white collar cases and long term investigations of complex fraud or corruption matters, often involving public figures or large corporations.  For example, he worked on the real-estate fraud prosecution of former Arizona Governor Fife Symington in the District of Arizona; the espionage-related prosecution of suspected Chinese double-agent Katrina Leung; the class-action securities-fraud kickback investigation of the Milberg Weiss law firm; and investigations of various congressmen and other elected officials suspected of bribery, conflicts of interest, and election crimes.  In the 1990's he spearheaded the prosecutive efforts (and related False Claims Act litigation) against numerous defense and aerospace contractors in cases involving product substitution, false testing, and mischarging.  He later worked in cooperation with that industry through DOJ's Government-Aerospace-Industry Working Group re Reciprocal Cooperation and DOJ's Parallel Proceedings Working Group.

Since 1986 he has served as an adjunct professor at four Los Angeles law schools (USC, Loyola, Southwestern, and Pepperdine) where he taught White Collar Crime, Federal Criminal Law, Trial Advocacy, Advanced Trial Advocacy, Anti-Corruption Methods, Evidence, and Advanced Criminal Procedure.  He has also taught at the National Institute for Trial Advocacy (NITA) and the Hastings Center for Trial and Appellate Advocacy.  

After leaving the U.S. Attorney's Office in 2007, Mr. Emmick served as Distinguished Practitioner in Residence at Pepperdine Law School and Loyola Law School.  During that time, he also worked as a white collar defense lawyer, representing various clients including a witness in the corruption prosecution of Orange County Sheriff Michael Carona; a defendant in a federal telemarketing fraud case; and a multi-national company being investigated for suspected commercial bribery.

Mr. Emmick is also active in community and pro bono matters.  He has worked with the Constitutional Rights Foundation, the Adopt-a-School Program, and the LEAD Program (a leadership program for elementary school children). 

Mr. Emmick is also committed to supporting the "rule of law" in foreign countries.  He was a member of the Core Organizing Committee of the Public/Private Partnership for Justice Reform in Afghanistan; he spent three months training lawyers, judges, and legislators in the Republic of Georgia on behalf of the Department of Justice; and he conducted shorter DOJ training sessions for regional and country representatives in Jamaica, France, Moldova, and Russia.  He is currently working as a consultant to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crimes, preparing a "toolkit" of techniques for addressing organized crime and corruption. 

Education

• J.D., University of California, Los Angeles, 1978, Order of the Coif; Comment Editor, UCLA Law Review; Moot Court Honors Program
• B.A., University of California, Santa Barbara, 1974, Phi Beta Kappa, magna cum laude

Clerkships

• Judicial clerkship with Judge Ellsworth A. VanGraafeiland III, Second Circuit Court of Appeals, New York
• Extern-clerkship with Justice Frank Richardson, California Supreme Court

Admissions

• California, 1980
• U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, 1981
• U.S. District Court, Central District of California, 1981

Honors

• Sherwood Prize for Combating Hate Crimes, Anti-Defamation League, 2008
• Member of trial team receiving the 2007 Attorney General's Award for Distinguished Service, awarded for the 2006 RICO prosecution of the leaders of the Aryan Brotherhood prison gang
• Director's Award, Special Commendation for Outstanding Service, Department of Justice, 1991
• Special Achievement Awards, Department of Justice, 1987, 1989

Memberships

• Judicial Appointments Committee, Los Angeles County Bar Association, 2001-07
• Vice-Chair, West Coast White Collar Crime Committee, American Bar Association, 1996-97
• Public Corruption Subcommittee, West Coast White Collar Crime Committee, American Bar Association, 2001
• Federal Bar Association
• Inns of Court, Los Angeles Chapter, 2003-present
• Juvenile Justice Committee, Los Angeles County Bar Association, 1981-82

Speeches

• Mr. Emmick has given well over 100 speeches and other presentations on various subjects as part of training, educational, and bar programs, not to mention dozens of presentations at the U.S. Attorneys Office and numerous law-enforcement agencies such as the FBI, DCIS, NCIS, HHS, SBA, EPA, FDA, DOL, DOC. A representative sample is described below by subject, year, and audience/forum.
• "Prosecuting/Defending High Profile Cases," 2009 (moderator of panel at Regional Conference of North American Pacific Asian Bar Association)
• "Investigating, Prosecuting and Defending Corrupt Politicians," 2009 (moderator of panel at Fidler Institute on Criminal Justice)
• "Negotiating Plea Agreements," 2009 (presentation at Pepperdine Law School)
• "Parallel Criminal, Civil, and Administrative Proceedings in Health Care Fraud Cases," 2009, 2008, 2007 (presentations at Pepperdine Law School)
• "The Clinton/Lewinsky Investigation," (numerous dates)(presentations to students at Yale, Loyola, Pepperdine, and USC law schools; Tbilisi State University, Tbilisi, Georgia)
• "The U.S. Sentencing Guidelines," 2008 (presentation to French judges at Ecole Nationale de la Magistrature in Paris and Bourdeaux)
• "Criminal RICO," 2008 (presentation at Pepperdine Law School)
• "Prosecuting and Defending Lawyers and Judges," 2008 (moderator of panel at Fidler Institute on Criminal Justice)
• "Common Fraud Schemes: False Testing," 2007 (presentation at DOJ's National Advocacy Center)
• "Pre-Indictment Decisions and Issues in Procurement Fraud Investigations," 2007 (presentation at DOJ's National Advocacy Center)
• "Pro-Active Investigations in Public Corruption Matters," 2007 (presentation at DOJ's National Advocacy Center)
• "The Foreign Corrupt Practices Act," 2007, 2006, 2005 (presentations at USC Marshall School of Business and to a private industry group, along with members of Bryan Cave Law Firm)
• "Intelligently Using Intelligence: The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act and the Classified Information Procedures Act" 2006 (presentation at International Bar Association's 9th Annual Transactional Crimes Conference, in Madrid)
• "Trial Objections," 2006 (presentation at DOJ's National Advocacy Center)
• "Prosecuting Police Corruption," 2005, 2004 (presentations at DOJ's National Advocacy Center; and at the Caribbean Regional Anti-Corruption Workshop, in Jamaica)
• "Presenting Evidence in Police Corruption Trials," 2004 (presentation at Caribbean Regional Anti-Corruption Workshop, in Jamaica)
• "Grand Jury Investigations," (numerous)(presentations at DOJ's National Advocacy Center and Loyola Law School)
• "Public Service Careers," 2004 (panelist at UCLA Law School program)
• "Tips of the Trade: Federal Trial Advocacy," 2003 (presentation at Annual Meeting of ABA Business Lawyers Section)
• "Authentication," 2003 (presentation at DOJ's National Advocacy Center)
• "The Right to Counsel," 2002 (presentation at USC Law School)
• "Grand Jury Secrecy," 2002 (presentation at USC Law School)
• "Conflicts of Interest and Joint Defense Agreements," 2002 (presentation at DOJ's National Advocacy Center)
• "Investigating Corporations," 2002 (presentation at DCIS national in-service training)
• "Search Warrants, Grand Jury, Attorney-Client Privilege, and Contacts with Represented Persons," 2002 (presentation at Conference of Inspectors General)
• "Comparing Criminal Law and Procedure in the United States and the Republic of Georgia," 2001 (presentation to judges, legislators, and attorneys in Tbilisi Georgia)
• "Investigating High Profile Cases," 2000 (presentation at Yale Law School)
• "The Independent Counsel Act," (numerous)(presentations at Central and Eastern European Law Initiative (CEELI) in Moscow; San Francisco Lawyers Club, San Francisco)
• "Prosecuting Public Corruption Cases in the United States," 1999 (multi-day presentation on behalf of DOJ in Chisinau, Moldova)
• "Prosecutorial Misconduct," 1999 (presentation to National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers)
• "Corporate Criminal Liability and Sentencing," (numerous)(presentations to National Association of Security Consultants; ABA Litigation Section Symposium; ABA Convention, Corporate Counsel Section, Young Lawyers Division)
• "Investigating Export Enforcement Violations and Anti-Terrorism," 1997 (presentation at Department of Commerce Agents)
• "Attorney-Client Privilege Issues for In-House Counsel," 1997 (presentation at MacDonnell Douglas Corporation)
• "Parallel Proceedings," (numerous)(presentation at DOJ's National Advocacy Center)
• "Corporate Investigations," 1996 (panelist at conference jointly conducted by the American Bar Association and the Federal Bar Association)
• "Taking the First Step to Federal Court," 1995, 1994 (panelist with federal judges)
• "Prosecution of Federal Environmental Crimes," 1994 (presentation at Environmental Law Conference by Los Angeles County Bar Association and Sierra Club)
• "The Right Stuff: Managing Your Career to Success," 1994 (panel for Women's Lawyers Association and Los Angeles County Bar Association)
• "Jury Selection in High Profile Cases," 1993 (panel at Orange County Federal Bar Association)
• "Corporate Sentencing Guidelines for Environmental Crimes," 1992 (presentation and testimony before Working Group of U.S. Sentencing Commission)
• "Prosecuting Defense Procurement Fraud," 1992 (presentation at DOJ's Financial Crimes Conference)
• "Search Warrants in Defense Procurement Fraud Investigations," 1990 (presentation at DOJ Financial Crimes Conference)
• "Prosecuting Arms Export Enforcement Cases," 1989 (panel at Orange County Federal Bar Association)
• "Prosecuting Kickback Cases," 1989 (presentation to Purchasing Management Association)
• "Contacts with Represented Persons," (numerous)(presentations at DOJ's National Advocacy Center; Attorney General's Advocacy Institute; U.S. Attorney's Office, Portland, OR; U.S. Attorney's Office, Seattle, WA)

Events

• Sheppard Mullin & Control Risks FCPA Workshop, May 12, 2010, Preventing Corruption: Good Business Practices = Good Business