Dewey’s Decline: Loses White Collar Defense Lawyer To Schiff Hardin

The partner defections and other problems facing mega-law firm Dewey & LeBoeuf continue. Now, the firm has lost a white collar defense litigator, Geoffrey H. Coll, who has joined Schiff Hardin LLP as a partner in Schiff's Litigation Group in Washington. 

Coll represents clients in a wide variety of civil, criminal and regulatory matters, including, shareholder class actions, grand jury inquiries with the Department of Justice and New York Attorney General, internal investigations, enforcement actions by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and other federal and state agencies, and complex commercial disputes.
 
His practice also covers shareholder civil class actions, white collar criminal and regulatory matters that have involved allegations of securities fraud, insider trading, antitrust violations, money laundering, terrorism financing and/or other financial crimes.
 
Among his prior representations:
 
·          The former CEO and COO of a Fortune 500 multinational construction firm in defense of a shareholder class action in the Southern District of New York (SDNY),
·         A Swiss insurer in defense of a shareholder class action in SDNY,
·         A former multinational technology company senior executive accused of securities fraud related to alleged accounting irregularities in an SEC enforcement action in the District of New Jersey,
·         French and Swiss insurers in investigations by DOJ, NYAG, and SEC related to alleged anti-competitive conduct and securities fraud in the sale of insurance products, including finite risk insurance,
·         A Middle Eastern bank in investigations by DOJ, the Department of the Treasury's Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency related to alleged violations of the Patriot Act, the Bank Secrecy Act, and related statutes and regulations concerning terrorism financing,
·         Employees of a global oil and gas company in investigations by DOJ, SEC, and the UK Financial Services Administration related to alleged securities fraud arising from under-reporting of oil and natural gas reserves,
·         The audit committee of a telecommunications company in conducting an internal investigation responding to an employee whistleblower's allegations of financial fraud.
 
Coll graduated from Columbia Law School (J.D., 1988) and Oberlin College (B.A., English, with honors, 1982).