MoFo adds ex-prosecutors in N.Y., forms state AG practice
Sept 14 - Morrison & Foerster said Monday that it has added two former prosecutors in New York who will bolster its investigations and white collar defense capabilities and help anchor a new practice group focused on state attorney general matters.
The San Francisco-founded firm brought on Katherine Driscoll and Nathan Reilly from the U.S. Attorney's offices for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania and the Eastern District of New York, respectively. Both are joining as counsel in the firm's 100-lawyer investigations and white-collar defense group.
Chuck Duross, who serves as global co-chair of Morrison & Foerster's investigations and white-collar defense group, said the additions reflect the continued growth of the firm's white collar practice in New York, Washington, D.C., and beyond.
"The truth is that we're busy," Duross said. "Our clients need the help, and we need the kinds of tremendous talent that we're fortunate to get with Nathan (and) Kate joining us to help our clients deal with some of their most pressing and serious matters."
Driscoll served for five years as an assistant U.S. attorney in the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. As part of the criminal division, she prosecuted a wide array of white-collar crime matters in the healthcare industry, including COVID-19-related government fraud investigations, theft of pharma-related trade secrets, complex white-collar fraud and money laundering cases.
Reilly has held several positions in his decade-long tenure in the EDNY, most recently serving as senior litigation counsel. As a federal prosecutor, he led criminal investigations and prosecutions related to public corruption, investment fraud, commercial bribery, corruption, cybercrime and tax fraud.
Reilly also previously served as an assistant attorney general handling special investigations in the Office of the New York State Attorney General and was an aide in the office of New York Governor Andrew Cuomo.
"What was particularly attractive to hiring both Kate and Nathan was their ability to help a wide variety of clients on a wide variety of matters," said Carrie Cohen, a New York-based partner in the firm's investigations and white collar defense group.
With Reilly joining the team, Cohen said that Morrison & Foerster is forming a state and local government enforcement group to help clients that are increasingly facing scrutiny from the state, local and other government agencies.
MoFo is the latest law firm to form a practice group focused on responding to actions by state attorneys general, who have become more aggressive in pursuing enforcement and coordinating efforts among states. Other big firms that have recently launched state AG practices include DLA Piper, Jones Day, O’Melveny & Myers and Crowell & Moring.
According to the firm's website, the state and local government enforcement group, which Cohen leads, includes 37 attorneys across the firm's offices. The new practice is part of the firm's investigations and white collar defense group, which earlier in the year also tapped Brian Kidd, a decade-plus veteran of the U.S. Department of Justice and former chief of the market integrity and major frauds unit in the criminal division's fraud section.
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