Government Investigations & White Collar Crime

Burns & Levinson represents companies and individuals involved in governmental investigations and litigations brought to enforce criminal, civil, or administrative laws and regulations. We represent clients in federal and state courts, in matters brought by U.S. Attorneys Offices, the Department of Justice, and state attorneys’ general offices, and before federal and state governmental agencies.

Our dual experience in both criminal and civil proceedings is especially valuable because civil and administrative investigations and enforcement actions increasingly result in referrals for criminal prosecution. Our team – many of whom have backgrounds as federal or state prosecutors – litigates each civil and administrative case with two key objectives as the driving force: resolve the matter short of a criminal referral, and preserve and maximize our client’s defenses in the event of a referral.

We have broad experience in cases such as business and financial fraud; international crime; defense procurement fraud; public corruption; healthcare, securities, and tax fraud; and antitrust, environmental, and RICO crimes. We represent clients in grand jury investigations and defend them against indictments at both federal and state levels.

If a client is confronting the prospect of an enforcement action by federal or state administrative agencies, such as the Securities and Exchange Commission, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, and the Massachusetts State Ethics Commission, we are by our client’s side through every challenge. We also defend professionals in licensing and disciplinary proceedings.

We work closely with clients to develop strong internal compliance programs to safeguard their company and employees from future government actions. Our team is highly skilled at conducting internal investigations and audits to ensure compliance with laws and regulations, and to identify any illegal conduct. If a client is ever prosecuted and convicted, these preventive measures can substantially reduce the severity of any sentence imposed under the Federal Sentencing Guidelines.

Internal compliance programs also minimize the risk that an organization will be deemed culpable for the criminal conduct of its employees because it has been “willfully blind” to the violations. Today, a corporation can be found guilty even when no single employee acting alone has committed a crime.