Best Lawyers in District of Columbia, United States for Criminal Defense: White-Collar
Patrick F. Stokes is a top attorney recognized by Best Lawyers in the practice area(s) of Criminal Defense: White-Collar. Patrick F., who practices law in Washington, District of Columbia, has been recognized since 2024. This recognition is based on an exhaustive peer-review survey, reflecting the high esteem in which Patrick F. is held by other top lawyers in the same geographic and legal practice area.
Criminal defense lawyer and civil litigator Michael Battle is focused on white collar criminal matters. Having previously served as a prosecutor and judge himself, Michael understands their perspectives and designs compelling arguments that have the best chance of defending his clients and mitigating their exposure to prosecution. After leaving public service for private practice, Michael has counseled numerous clients on cases involving the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA), healthcare fr...
Brenda Lee represents companies, universities, and individuals in a broad range of investigations and related proceedings, including white collar criminal, securities enforcement, anti–money laundering (AML), and anti-discrimination matters. She has significant experience representing financial institutions, tech companies, and individuals in parallel proceedings, including overlapping criminal and civil investigations. The vice-chair of the firm’s Anti-Discrimination Practice, Ms...
Steven D. Gordon practices in the areas of white collar crime and complex civil litigation. He has been lead counsel in more than 100 trials, both jury and non-jury, in federal and state courts. He has argued appeals in most of the federal circuit courts and in the United States Supreme Court. White Collar Defense Mr. Gordon represents individual and corporate clients who are being investigated by inspector generals or other federal and state authorities. He defends clients who are under gran...
Mark J. MacDougall is a top attorney recognized by Best Lawyers in the practice area(s) of Criminal Defense: White-Collar. Mark J., who practices law in Washington, District of Columbia, has been recognized since 2010. This recognition is based on an exhaustive peer-review survey, reflecting the high esteem in which Mark J. is held by other top lawyers in the same geographic and legal practice area.
Amy Conway-Hatcher is a Partner at Schertler Onorato Mead & Sears in Washington, DC. Amy’s practice focuses on corporate internal investigations, corporate compliance and defending corporate and individual clients in criminal and civil enforcement matters. She has appeared before the Department of Justice, US Attorneys’ Offices, the Securities and Exchange Commission, the US Commerce Department, the Department of Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), the Ne...
Michael Spafford is a partner in the Investigations and White Collar Defense practice of Paul Hastings and is based in the firm’s Washington, DC office. Mr. Spafford’s practice focuses on white-collar criminal defense, government investigations, regulatory enforcement, internal investigations, and related litigation. He has represented financial institutions, funds and other companies, as well as individual clients in numerous high-profile government investigations and parallel li...
Kobie is, first and foremost, a trial lawyer, with over twenty-five years of courtroom experience. Kobie has litigated cases in federal and state courts throughout the United States and in the military commissions in Guantanamo Bay. He represents clients in high-stakes criminal investigations, civil litigation, internal investigations, and trials. Recognized by his peers for his trial acumen, Kobie teaches the art and science of trial lawyering to other lawyers around the country. Kobie began...
M. Kendall Day is a top attorney recognized by Best Lawyers in the practice area(s) of Criminal Defense: White-Collar. M. Kendall, 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 M. Kendall is held by other top lawyers in the same geographic and legal practice area.
Samuel Rosenthal is a top attorney recognized by Best Lawyers in the practice area(s) of Criminal Defense: White-Collar. Samuel, who practices law in Washington, District of Columbia, has been recognized since 2021. This recognition is based on an exhaustive peer-review survey, reflecting the high esteem in which Samuel is held by other top lawyers in the same geographic and legal practice area.
The Law Offices of G. Allen Dale, PLLC, is a litigation firm with a national practice in criminal and enforcement matters. Its founder, Allen Dale, has over 45 years of experience in white-collar criminal defense and regularly represents individuals in high-stakes criminal matters. Clients rely on Mr. Dale for his legal expertise and skill, innovative thinking, and zealous advocacy. He is solution oriented and approaches each case with the passion, drive, and tenacity his clients deserve. His...
Christopher Cestaro is a partner in the firm's White Collar Defense and Investigations Practice. Mr. Cestaro’s practice focuses on white-collar criminal matters, government enforcement actions, internal corporate investigations, due diligence reviews and compliance counseling. Mr. Cestaro’s unique experience includes more than eight years as a federal prosecutor focused on white-collar cases, three years working as a compliance counsel for a multinational oil services company and ...
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.