Criminal Law

• Sex Crimes
  Misconduct. Our work covers the full breadth of this challenging issue. We counsel clients on compliance with Title IX, the Clery Act, and the Campus SaVE Act, as well as guidance from the DOE and the White House Task Force to Protect Students from Sexual Assault. We draft gender-based and sexual misconduct policies and procedures for resolving complaints and sanctioning responsible parties. We counsel clients on crisis response and help formulate internal and external communication strategies. We conduct internal reviews of university responses to specific incidents, and we recommend policy and practice changes when appropriate. We also represent clients facing DOE investigations, congressional oversight, law enforcement subpoenas, and lawsuits by alleged victims and respondents.
• Fraud
  In particular, we regularly defend clients in class, derivative and individual actions claiming securities fraud, unfair and deceptive trade practices, bad faith, breach of fiduciary duty, breach of contract, ERISA violations, and other federal and state causes of action. We also regularly represent insurance companies and industry trade associations in administrative law, constitutional and preemption-based challenges to statutes and regulations at the federal and state levels. We have defended clients in litigation alleging improper disclosures or other allegedly problematic sales practices, suitability or product performance issues, excessive product fees and charges, unlawful sales and executive compensation or third-party compensation arrangements, improper fund substitutions and “mapping,” excessive market value adjustments and fixed income spreads, improper policy administration, sale of annuities into tax-deferred retirement plans, market timing, bid-rigging, compliance deficiencies, discrimination (including disparate treatment and disparate impact allegations), and other matters. We have also advised and defended clients in matters that involve state departments of insurance, state attorneys general, the US Securities and Exchange Commission, and the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, and have represented clients in litigation challenging regulations issued by the US Department of Labor and actions by the Financial Stability Oversight Council.
• Theft
• Misdemeanors
  Challenged a decision by the secretary of HHS to exclude a former executive at a medical device manufacturer from participation in federal healthcare programs based upon his conviction of a strict liability misdemeanor offense as contrary to law and beyond the scope of the secretary’s authority.
• Embezzlement
  Obtaining a closing letter from the SEC and Public Company Accounting Oversight Board following a multi-year investigation into a major accounting firm’s relationship with its largest client. Allegations included embezzlement by a company employee facilitated by a junior member of the audit team, as well as potential violations of auditor independence rules by the auditor.
• Restraining Order
  Obtained a preliminary injunction and temporary restraining order on behalf of a leading medical provider in an emergency preliminary injunction challenge to a midnight rule promulgated by HHS.
• Money Laundering
  Played a role in nearly all of the largest anti–money laundering investigations to date, either as client counsel or as regulators and prosecutors, including all stages of enforcement actions brought by the DOJ, FDIC, Federal Reserve, FinCEN, Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, New York Department of Financial Services, OCC, SEC and others.
• Internet Crimes

Business and Corporate Law

• Corporate Law
  WilmerHale lawyers provide timely and thoughtful analysis of trends and developments on global topics that span across investigations, regulations, corporate governance, transactions and more.
• Mergers and Acquisitions
  Colleges and universities have never been as prominent, or as vulnerable, as they are today. As their influence spreads, so does the scrutiny they receive. Educational institutions have unique missions, management and governance systems. WilmerHale guides these institutions through government investigations, congressional inquiries and public scrutiny. We represent them in high-profile litigation, defend their intellectual property and handle major transactions. And we assist schools confronting contentious policy issues. WilmerHale knows the unique issues and mounting pressures facing educational institutions. We work with clients in areas including accreditation, affirmative action, antitrust, art and antiquities, campus security, cybersecurity, employee misconduct, endowment management, federal grants, and contracts. We also assist in areas including financial aid, free speech, export controls, gender-based and sexual misconduct, and healthcare, as well as IP litigation, joint ventures, licensing, mergers and acquisitions, patent commercialization, patent prosecution, privacy, public-private partnerships, religious liberty, research guidelines, student-athlete issues, technology transfer, and testing.
• Business Disputes
  Our philosophy is simple: Consistent courtroom excellence is essential to client satisfaction in the resolution of high-stakes commercial disputes like the ones we litigate. We have extensive experience handling complex civil cases for clients—including hospitals, medical billing systems companies, pharmacy benefits providers and medical device manufacturers—in areas that include commercial contract disputes, licensing, bankruptcy, business torts, consumer fraud, employment, insurance, trade secrets and ERISA. Our litigators also regularly handle class actions and multidistrict litigation. In addition to our trial experience, we resolve cases through arbitration, mediation and complex settlements.
• Business Transactions
  Clients look to us for assistance with complex matters that impact them as banks, card issuers, insurance companies, broker-dealers, mortgage lenders, student loan servicers, database operators, FinTech firms or investors in the financial sector. We have extensive experience in banking controversies, retail financial services and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), prudential and foreign bank regulatory advice, financial technology, and business transactions.
• Trade Secrets
  In order to achieve outstanding results, our lawyers bring to bear technology industry insights combined with a collaborative approach across a wide range of practices, from licensing, venture financing and securities regulation to intellectual property litigation, trade secret protection and government investigations. Our multidisciplinary teams also work in some of the fastest-growing verticals in the industry, including artificial intelligence, cloud computing, Internet of Things, cryptocurrency and FinTech. This combination of exceptional legal skills, industry knowledge and exposure to cutting-edge issues positions our lawyers to help clients navigate complex matters that are critical to their success.
• Intellectual Property
  WilmerHale is uniquely positioned to provide counseling, strategic advice and litigation representation to clients confronting issues involving both antitrust and intellectual property law—and the intersection between the two. Learn More
• Unfair Competition
  Enforcement proceedings. We represent airlines, shippers and indirect air carriers in enforcement proceedings before the DOT and FAA. We have successfully defended a broad range of aviation enterprises in proceedings involving allegations of unfair competition, the use of unfair and deceptive advertising practices, and violations of agency rules and regulations, including hazardous materials regulations and safety and security regulations.
• Antitrust
  Some of our recent successes in the healthcare sector include representing a major insurance carrier in the Insurance Brokerage Antitrust Litigation, where we successfully secured dismissal of all federal antitrust, RICO and ERISA claims in the consolidated class action complaint against employee benefits insurers, as well as the related state law claims. We also recently represented the second-largest provider of regulated medical waste services in obtaining clearance for its acquisition by the largest provider of those services.

Employment Law

• Employment Discrimination
  Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr LLP (WilmerHale) is an equal opportunity employer and is committed to compliance with all applicable laws prohibiting employment discrimination. It is our policy to take all employment actions and make all employment decisions without regard to race, color, religion, creed, gender, sex (including pregnancy), sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, national origin, ancestry, age, marital status, citizenship status, genetic predisposition or carrier status, disability, military status, status as a disabled or other protected veteran or any other protected status under applicable law. Consistent with its obligations under applicable laws, WilmerHale will make reasonable accommodations for qualified individuals with disabilities. In addition, WilmerHale has implemented an Affirmative Action Program designed to support equal employment opportunity.

Property Law

• Real Estate Transactions
  WilmerHale’s Life Sciences Practice has extraordinary breadth and depth, with a multidisciplinary team with experience and skills to address a broad range of matters for clients, including corporate finance, corporate governance and disclosure, licensing and strategic alliances, mergers and acquisitions, executive compensation and tax, patent litigation and licensing disputes, patent drafting and prosecution, strategic IP counseling, Food and Drug Administration (FDA) matters, competition and other regulatory matters, government investigations and litigation, real estate transactions and securities litigation and enforcement. Drawing upon deep industry knowledge as well as technical proficiency, our lawyers advise on legal strategy and complex transactions; protect clients’ intellectual property through patent prosecution and portfolio development; and defend their interests in enterprise-critical patent litigation and licensing disputes in jurisdictions across the United States and internationally. Our team also has a track record of representing life sciences companies in securities litigation and government investigations.
• Land Use and Zoning
• Property Damage

Health Law

• Personal Injury
  Representing clients in diverse matters relating to hydraulic fracturing, including monitoring and advocating in federal and state regulatory proceedings, defending personal injury and property damage claims, and evaluating risk associated with waste management and disposal.

Trusts and Estates

• Power of Attorney
  Additionally, you may authorize an agent to make a request on your behalf. To designate an agent, please provide a written and signed document by both you and the agent that authorizes the agent to act on your behalf. You may also use a power of attorney. We will still require you to provide information to allow us to reasonably verify that you are the person about whom we collected personal information.

Finance Law

• Bankruptcy
  WilmerHale has been at the forefront of complex financial restructuring and bankruptcy litigation and policy matters for decades.
• Foreclosure
  WilmerHale’s bankruptcy and financial restructuring attorneys are recognized for their work in distressed M&A and asset divestiture transactions through section 363 bankruptcy sales, chapter 11 reorganization plans, foreclosure sales, secured party sales, receiverships, reverse mergers and other distressed sale processes. We work closely with attorneys from the firm’s corporate, M&A, securities, litigation, tax, environmental, intellectual property, real estate, labor, and governmental and regulatory practices to identify the key issues in the transaction, viewing those issues through the lens of the financial distress or insolvency context of the deal.
• Tax Law
  We counsel an array of public, private and nonprofit clients as they navigate the complex, ever-changing legal landscape that shapes employee benefits and retirement plans. Our attorneys help human resources professionals understand and manage the tax, securities and employment law implications of their benefits programs. We also regularly advise employers, boards of directors, and compensation and administrative committees as they design and draft qualified and non-qualified retirement programs, health and welfare plans, and fringe benefit plans, and represent these employers and their plans before government agencies and in litigation. WilmerHale’s highly experienced transactional and tax lawyers collaborate to tackle employer concerns that range from negotiating the employee-related issues involved in buying or selling a business to advising on worker classification and employment tax matters.