Best Lawyers in America for Criminal Defense: White-Collar
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Josh Sharp is a Boston-based partner in Nixon Peabody’s Government Investigations & White Collar Defense practice group. He represents corporations and individuals in government investigations, regulatory inquiries, and complex civil and criminal litigation. What do you focus on? I assist clients with internal investigations, regulatory inquiries, grand jury matters, and criminal defense. I also litigate civil matters in state and federal courts. Financial Institutions Investigation...
John is a lifetime member of the 82nd Airborne Association and the U.S. Army Ranger Association. He served his country as a Staff sergeant in the U.S. Army from 1990 to 1996 and was also an Airborne Ranger, a significant achievement that requires dedication, determination, exceptional mental toughness, and a commitment to excel. The selection process for becoming an Airborne Ranger is highly competitive and rigorous and includes physical fitness assessments, mental aptitude evaluations, speci...
Anne M. Collart is a top attorney recognized by Best Lawyers in the practice area(s) of Appellate Practice and Criminal Defense: White-Collar. Anne M., who practices law in Newark, New Jersey, has been recognized since 2026. This recognition is based on an exhaustive peer-review survey, reflecting the high esteem in which Anne M. is held by other top lawyers in the same geographic and legal practice area.
Mr. O’Brien grew up in the small rural Kansas community of Osage City, graduating from Osage City High School in 2004. From there, he attended classes at Butler Community College for two years while serving as a videographer for the Butler Grizzlies' nationally renowned football program. After Butler, Mr. O’Brien transferred to Emporia State University where he majored in History, a discipline that honed the research skills necessary to serve his ultimate goal of being a criminal ...
Steven Ellis Farese, Jr. is a top attorney recognized by Best Lawyers in the practice area(s) of Criminal Defense: General Practice, Criminal Defense: White-Collar and DUI / DWI Defense. Steven Ellis, who practices law in Ashland, Mississippi, has been recognized since 2010. This recognition is based on an exhaustive peer-review survey, reflecting the high esteem in which Steven Ellis is held by other top lawyers in the same geographic and legal practice area.
Christopher Hotaling is a member of the Government Investigations & White Collar Defense practice group. After 16 years as a federal prosecutor at the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Chicago, Chris focuses his practice on representing entities and individuals in all types of government investigations, criminal prosecutions, and regulatory enforcement actions. A seasoned trial attorney, clients also come to Chris for their most significant complex commercial litigation. What do you focus o...
Courtney M. Brown is a top attorney recognized by Best Lawyers in the practice area(s) of Criminal Defense: White-Collar. Courtney M., who practices law in Washington, District of Columbia, has been recognized since 2023. This recognition is based on an exhaustive peer-review survey, reflecting the high esteem in which Courtney M. is held by other top lawyers in the same geographic and legal practice area.
David has tried numerous cases in both state and federal courts and has argued in the U.S. Courts of Appeals on multiple occasions. From 2000 to July 2005, David left private practice to serve as an Assistant United States Attorney in the Office of the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York. There he handled a variety of criminal prosecutions and investigations and worked closely with representatives of financial institutions, including internal auditors, compliance offi...
BJay creates strategies to mitigate legal, political, and public relations risks to protect his clients’ business objectives. BJay offers more than 20 years of experience in handling government investigations and enforcement proceedings, corporate regulatory compliance, internal investigations, and resolution of civil and criminal litigation to drive results for clients. As a former Senate-confirmed U.S. attorney and legislator, BJay Pak has significant experience making high-stakes dec...
Janey Henze Cook represents clients in white collar and non-white collar criminal cases arising out of felony and misdemeanor crimes, including fraudulent schemes and artifices, homicide, assault, theft, public corruption, drug offenses, gambling, prostitution, forfeiture, and offenses against public order. Janey has also represented media enterprises with respect to First Amendment constitutional issues, as well as represented elected officials in matters involving disclosure obligations and...
Maria T. Galeno is a top attorney recognized by Best Lawyers in the practice area(s) of Criminal Defense: White-Collar. Maria T., who practices law in New York, New York, has been recognized since 2013. This recognition is based on an exhaustive peer-review survey, reflecting the high esteem in which Maria T. is held by other top lawyers in the same geographic and legal practice area.
Mark D. Pollack is a partner in the Litigation practice of Paul Hastings and is based in the firm’s Chicago office. He also serves as the Firm’s General Counsel. Mr. Pollack concentrates his practice in the areas of white-collar criminal defense, complex commercial litigation, internal corporate investigations, and compliance counseling. He has extensive experience in counseling and defending corporations, boards of directors, and executive officers in relation to a broad range of...
Michael Leotta conducts internal investigations and represents corporations and individuals in white collar criminal law and regulatory enforcement matters. He regularly represents US consumer banks, global correspondent banks, broker-dealers, investment advisers, and FinTech companies in a broad range of matters, including defending financial institutions’ compliance with the Bank Secrecy Act and related anti-money laundering (AML) rules, securities law, and the Foreign Corrupt Practic...
Wifredo A. Ferrer is a top attorney recognized by Best Lawyers in the practice area(s) of Corporate Compliance Law and Criminal Defense: White-Collar. Wifredo A., who practices law in Miami, Florida, has been recognized since 2019. This recognition is based on an exhaustive peer-review survey, reflecting the high esteem in which Wifredo A. is held by other top lawyers in the same geographic and legal practice area.
Our Methodology
Recognition by Best Lawyers is based entirely on peer review. Our methodology is designed to capture, as accurately as possible, the consensus opinion of leading lawyers about the professional abilities of their colleagues within the same geographical area and legal practice area.
The Process
Best Lawyers employs a sophisticated, conscientious, rational, and transparent survey process designed to elicit meaningful and substantive evaluations of the quality of legal services. Our belief has always been that the quality of a peer review survey is directly related to the quality of the voters.