Investigations.
Duke Lacrosse Case. Represented one of the Duke Lacrosse players and was able to prevent any criminal charges from being brought against him. Assisted in working closely with co-counsel to effectively respond to negative media attention and gradually sway public opinion.
FINRA Investigation. Obtained letter from FINRA assuring no further action after investigation prompted by unfounded customer complaints against client.
SEC Investigations. Guided client through process of responding to SEC inquiries and interviews, leading to optimal result of having client not hear back from the SEC ever again.
Securities Group Action. Aggressively defended a corporation alleged to be at the core of a large federal securities "group" action connected to sale of mountain real estate, leading to settlement, early in litigation, on extremely favorable financial terms to client, and no admission of liability.
Price-Fixing/Antitrust Investigation. Avoided all charges against an individual executive in a multi-defendant, international investigation of the transportation/shipping industry, conducted by the U. S. Department of Justice that resulted in guilty pleas and criminal charges for others.
Environmental Violations. Defended a commercial developer against alleged federal criminal Clean Water Act violations and achieved a declination. Successful outcome was achieved through extensive investigation, witness interviews, and document review, which enabled us to persuade the criminal investigators and prosecutor that there was no criminal intent surrounding an accidental release of oil into a river, and the improper storage of hazardous waste that was improperly abandoned by prior landowner.
TopCats Cheerleader Sex Scandal. One of our lawyers represented a former cheerleader for the Carolina Panthers/TopCats who was involved in a high-profile case, involving allegations criminal conduct in a nightclub in Tampa, Florida. Apart from managing the media frenzy, we were able to coordinate full cooperation with the authorities; the charges were reduced; and no jail time was imposed.
Complex Criminal Defense.
Federal Securities Fraud & Obstruction Trials. Getting involved at a relatively late stage (and charging much less than the fees quoted by larger firms), Anderson Terpening moved quickly to defend the former CEO of the largest healthcare securitization company in a month-long securities fraud trial. The media often referred to the case the largest purported securities fraud case (in terms of alleged dollar losses) in the history of Ohio. In only ten months, among other tasks, Anderson Terpening developed a working rapport with the client, reviewed and absorbed discovery involving millions of pages of documents; prepared various pre-trial motions; interviewed and prepared dozens of witnesses; developed trial strategy; and executed the trial. After successfully severing separate obstruction charges from the conspiracy counts, the firm first tried a separate two-week obstruction of justice case defending the same client, and arising from the securities matter.
Criminal Tax Trial. Successfully defended a tax lawyer and persuaded the jury to acquit our client after a multi-week trial involving allegations of a conspiracy to violate the tax code through abusive off-shore trusts.
Complex Drug Conspiracy Trial. One of our lawyers obtained an acquittal of an individual charged in a multi-defendant conspiracy, after a multi-week trial, during which the government relied upon dozens of cooperating co-defendants.
Federal International Telemarketing Fraud Plea Agreement. Despite our client's undisputed criminal liability, we obtained a favorable, fair, and relatively low sentence for alleged leader of a Costa Rican sweepstakes telemarketing fraud scheme involving bogus "sweepstakes."
High-Profile Prostitution Ring. Through negotiations with the government and careful management of client cooperation with authorities, we obtained a low sentence for husband/ assistant of the "madam" who managed an infamous, high-end prostitution ring in Charlotte.
Environmental Criminal Pleas. In two separate recent cases, the firm was able to prevent our clients from serving any active jail time, despite facing serious federal environmental criminal charges and multi-year potential jail sentence. In one of these cases, we were able to obtain a probationary sentence, despite the prior admissions to regulators that he had engaged in false reporting by adding tap water to samples. This successful outcome was obtained through gathering key facts and providing "substantial assistance" to the on-going governmental investigation. In a separate case, we negotiated a probation sentence for an executive/owner of a food grease recycler, whose company was investigated for various discharge violations.
Criminal Tax Defense & Pleas. The firm regularly represented various businesses and individuals who are investigated for a variety of tax related crimes, both on the federal and state level. Based upon the facts involved in each case, some of our legal services result in declinations or civil resolutions, while others are directed toward favorable pleas, either to less serious charges or an agreement where an active jail sentence case be avoided.
Parallel Investigations (Civil & Criminal Overlap)
Cybercrime and Parallel Civil Litigation. Firm recently obtained a sentence involving no active jail time for a former executive who improperly accessed former employer's email, and protected client in the related civil dispute with the former employer. Being able to rely on a tightly-knit group of attorneys at a single firm to handle both matters kept legal fees low, and ensured that, from a strategic point of view, the measures taken in one action prompted the measures taken in the other.
Business Disputes.
Licensing Boards and Authorities. Defended orthopedic surgeon who pre-signed prescription pads for his assistant who, without client's knowledge, used the pre-signed prescriptions to improperly obtain controlled substances for illegal resale. Surgeon retained license without any period of suspension, was not prosecuted by the criminal authorities, and suffered no disruption to medical practice.
Executive Separation from Employers. Recent negotiations allowed CFO and COO to depart from their respective companies under favorable conditions, notwithstanding the fact that the companies initially intended to simply terminate them with few or no benefits, and were contemplating civil litigation (and potential referral for criminal prosecution) against executives.
Separation from Partnerships and Employers. Negotiated with medical group to ensure that physician leaving organization, because of a personnel dispute, received full compensation, benefits, confidentiality, favorable reference for new employers and hospital privileges, non-disparagement assurances, and additional compensation for separation. In doing so, Anderson Terpening protected the physician's professional and personal reputation, as well as assuring fair compensation, without resorting to litigation, which would have been disruptive for client.
Environmental Clean-up Disputes. Represented former executive and landowner of wood preservative formulating company and prevented EPA from assigning RCRA liability on former company due to valid indemnification agreement.
Compliance Counseling.
Auto Dealership Fraud. After the FBI conducted a surprise search warrant, one of our lawyers assisting in conducting an internal investigation, terminating "bad actor" employees who had participated in the fraud, created a corporate compliance program, and successfully negotiated with the federal prosecutors to avoid any charges against the dealerships, as well as to avoid any jail time for the individual owner/executive.
Defense Contracting. Conducted internal investigation for a defense contractor in response to initial governmental inquiry into series of significant overpayments. By immediately confirming oversight, returning the overpayment, gathering key facts that caused the oversight, addressing the government's concerns, correcting the problems and improving the compliance program, the firm obtained a complete declination of all civil and criminal charges.
Appeals.
Brady/Giglio Violations. Anderson Terpening has recently been granted oral argument in the federal appeals courts, which is discretionary and not granted as a matter of course, for clients who were, for example, denied fair process because they did not receive sufficient and fair access to discovery documents related to their trials.
Securities Fraud. The firm regularly appeals lengthy criminal sentences imposed upon white-collar defendants which arise from the disproportionate impact that dollar loss amounts in business fraud cases have on sentences, as well as cumulative enhancements applied in the sentencing guidelines. Unfortunately, the current state of the law often leads to absurd results in federal business crime cases, in which executives receive longer sentences for securities fraud than murderers or serial rapists receive for their crimes. This effect may chill or deter talented individuals from entering finance and securities sectors, and, unfortunately, induces executives to plead guilty simply because the risk of going to trial is simply too severe. Our firm's appeals regularly confront that troubling irregularity.
Sentencing Errors/Procedural "Unreasonableness." We also filed an appellate brief and recently participated in oral argument for a client in a multi-defendant drug conspiracy who was sentenced by a judge who did not make adequate findings on the record to support a substantial sentence.
