Desmond A. Whitfield
Partner, White-Collar Defense
Desmond represents companies and executives in federal investigations, and tries the cases that do not resolve.
Background
Desmond leads the white-collar defense and internal investigations practice. He represents corporations, boards and individual executives in grand jury proceedings, Foreign Corrupt Practices Act matters, sanctions investigations and parallel regulatory actions.
He served for seven years as an Assistant United States Attorney in the Northern District of Illinois, where he tried fourteen cases to verdict in the fraud section. That experience determines how he runs a defense: he assumes the government will charge, works backwards from the trial the client would face, and negotiates from a position that is credible because the alternative is real.
Desmond is a frequent lecturer on corporate cooperation credit and serves on the firm’s pro bono committee.
Selected matters.
- Secured a declination following a voluntary disclosure of payments made through a foreign distributor.
- Represented a senior executive through a two-year federal wire fraud investigation closed without charges.
- Negotiated early termination of a deferred prosecution agreement, ten months ahead of term.
Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome.
Bring Desmond the problem.
The first conversation is with the partner who would run the matter, and it is not billed.