David N. Kelley

David N. Kelley, the former United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, has cultivated a revered reputation for his defense of high-profile matters involving sensitive white collar litigation and investigations. His more than three decades of experience spans a diverse range of grand jury investigations, prosecutions and congressional inquiries, as well as commercial litigation and federal securities.

An experienced trial lawyer and investigator, David advises clients around the globe on complex business crime disputes and litigates high-stakes external investigations before federal and state government regulators and prosecutors. His clients include multinational and domestic public companies, boards of directors, audit committees, and individuals, including officers and directors, that span a broad spectrum of industries, including defense, energy, healthcare, pharmaceuticals, financial services, infrastructure, insurance, oil and gas, and retail.

David has appeared in courts and before regulatory bodies across the United States, and abroad, including the SEC, DOJ, Department of the Treasury, Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, the Federal Reserve Bank, State Attorneys General, Inspector Generals of various government agencies, and the UK Financial Conduct Authority. In addition, David represents clients in matters that involve alleged violations of the federal False Claims Act and state consumer fraud and deceptive practices statutes, and has testified as an expert witness on federal criminal investigations and on the Anti-Kickback statute. He also has significant experience conducting a variety of internal investigations concerning accounting fraud and irregularities, earnings management, option backdating, commercial bribery, and personnel misfeasance.

David is consistently recognized by prominent legal publications including Chambers USA, Chambers Global, and The Legal 500 US, in which he has been described by clients as a “terrific enforcement lawyer” and lauded as “an amazing lawyer” who is “very good at seeing the big picture.” He is highly regarded for his representation of Princess Cruise Lines in a settlement and resolution of a criminal investigation with the Environmental and Natural Resources Division of DOJ for environmental offenses, serving as an independent monitor of Toyota’s compliance with safety efforts as part of a deferred prosecution agreement, representing Wal-Mart’s audit committee in an investigation into the company’s FCPA compliance and allegations of corruption, and counseling HSBC Holdings concerning the bank’s global dollar clearing services and Bank Secrecy Act compliance.

David served as the US Attorney for the Southern District of New York from 2003 to 2005, and prior to that, as Deputy US Attorney from 2002 to 2003. During his more than 17 years with the office, he oversaw the investigation and prosecution of cases involving an array of federal crimes pertaining to the FCPA and OFAC, as well as white collar crime, securities fraud, terrorism, and national security issues. David drew acclaim for obtaining convictions of, among others, WorldCom CEO Bernie Ebbers in his conviction of fraud and conspiracy, Martha Stewart regarding her trades of ImClone stock, and the five La Cosa Nostra families on charges of racketeering and murder.

David was appointed by the New York City Police Commissioner to Chair the Crime Reporting Review Committee, where he investigated the integrity of the NYPD’s crime statistics reporting processes. His previous experience also includes serving as co-chair of the Justice Department’s nationwide investigation into the 9/11 attacks, in which capacity he personally prosecuted John Walker Lindh. As chief of the organized crime and terrorism unit from 1995 to 2002, David led the investigations of the 2000 Millennium bombing plots, the 2000 attack of the USS Cole in Yemen, the 1997 bombings of the US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania, and prosecuted Ramzi Yousef for his role in the 1993 bombing of the World Trade Center.

David has served as an adjunct professor at New York Law School and has also taught trial advocacy clinics at Harvard and Hofstra Law Schools.