Peter Morris

Mr. Morris is a partner in the Government Contracts and Regulated Industries practice group in the firm's Los Angeles office.

Areas of Practice

Mr. Morris is a litigator whose practice focuses primarily on white-collar defense, complex business litigation, healthcare matters and securities litigation.  Mr. Morris has extensive experience in defending companies and individuals in a wide range of federal prosecutions, including securities fraud, bank fraud, health care fraud, bribery, money laundering, tax evasion and environmental crimes.

Mr. Morris is an experienced trial lawyer who has tried 23 civil and criminal cases representing plaintiffs and defendants.

Before joining Sheppard Mullin, Mr. Morris was a founding partner of another law firm and, earlier, held senior positions with two other firms. From 1994 to 1996, Peter held a full-time faculty appointment with the School of Law of the University of California at Los Angeles. He also served as an Assistant United States Attorney in the Criminal Division of the US Attorney’s Office (1989–1991). Peter is AV Peer Review Rated.

Education

• J.D., Harvard Law School, 1986, cum laude, Managing Editor, Harvard Civil Rights-Civil Liberties Law Review
• A.B., Cornell University, 1983, cum laude, with distinction, Phi Beta Kappa

Admissions

• United States District Court, District of Massachusetts, 2010
• US District Court, Eastern District of Louisiana, 2004
• US Supreme Court, 2002
• US District Court, Eastern District of Michigan, 2000
• US Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit, 1989
• US District Court, Central District of California, 1987
• California, 1986

Notable Engagements

White Collar Criminal Defense

• Represent an executive of a major Japanese corporation in a federal criminal investigation involving price fixing of electronic auto parts.
• Represent current and former executives of Broadcom in federal criminal and SEC investigations into options pricing practices.
• Represent a major Greek shipping company in a federal criminal case involving the discharge of pollutants into US waters.
• Represent a major defense contractor in a federal investigation into cost accounting practices.
• Represent a company in a federal criminal investigation into consumer fraud, mislabeling and customs violations.
• Represent an officer of Homestore in federal criminal and SEC cases involving a scheme to inflate on-line advertising revenues through a series of fraudulent round-trip transactions.
• Represent physicians in federal criminal and FTC cases involving fraudulent representations regarding nutritional products.
• Represent the target of a federal criminal case involving Milberg Weiss's secret, illegal payments to plaintiffs in securities class-action lawsuits.
• Represent defense contractors in federal criminal investigations into FCPA violations.

Civil Business and Tort Litigation

• Represent plaintiffs in litigation against insurance companies for unlawful termination of professional disability policies.
• Represent major health care insurance companies in litigation against physicians for fraudulent billing practices.
• Represent plaintiffs and defendants in civil fraud, breach of fiduciary duty, breach of contract, securities fraud and other complex business litigation.

Honors

• Top Litigation: White-Collar Crime & Government Investigations Lawyers, Chambers & Partners', 2009, 2010

Articles

• Sheppard Mullin Signs Six from Mayer Brown, The Recorder, January 5, 2009

Government Contracts Law Blog Articles

• "New FCA Rules Put Lenders and Brokers Directly in Their Gun Sights", August 12, 2009

Events

• Antitrust and Anti-Corruption Enforcement: What Every International Company Needs to Know, September 16, 2010