With a handful of former US Department of Justice prosecutors moving to London law firms, Caroline Thorpe finds out how their colourful careers give them an advantage in the UK market, and asks whether it's a trend that's set to continue

They are the US attorneys who have taken down Mafia bosses, extracted multimillion-dollar settlements from industry giants and brought white collar criminals to justice. They have seen more witness statements than hot dinners, thrown the book at corrupt officials and persuaded bit-part players to inform on their criminal masters. Now they have entered a new arena: London.

The career path from US Department of Justice (DoJ) criminal prosecutor to highly paid corporate defence lawyer is well-established in the US. These lawyers share prestigious pedigrees: the 93 US Attorney's Offices are reputed to recruit the brightest legal minds to work as federal prosecutors. And the experience they gain prosecuting stands them in good stead when they make the switch to private practice.

Now, former DoJ lawyers are starting to appear in London. Much as City firms market 'gamekeeper turned poacher' hires from the UK's Serious Fraud Office (SFO), their US credentials are being billed as a significant perk to European clients requiring insight into the workings of the US authorities increasingly exercising 'long arm' jurisdiction overseas.

One of their number is Roger Burlingame (pictured, below), who joined litigation boutique Kobre & Kim's London base last summer as a partner. He is the fourth ex-DoJ prosecutor in the office – a notable concentration – where he focuses on white collar criminal defence, internal investigations and regulatory enforcement matters. 

"It began with blood and guts and drugs and Mafia, before I graduated to prosecuting white collar crime," says Burlingame, recalling his nine-year stint as a criminal prosecutor in the US Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of New York. "The cast of characters I prosecuted ranged from the CEO of a Manhattan brokerage firm who swindled some of New York's wealthiest investors to a mobster who murdered five men (and melted a few in acid)."

Valuable experiences

Gruesome early career experiences are not, Burlingame says, unusual for a lawyer in his shoes, though he adds he found the daily grind of "hunting down leads and sussing out the perfect witness" more satisfying than making the front pages. "I followed what is a fairly typical path in the US for white collar defence attorneys. After law school I clerked for a judge… and then I worked at Paul Weiss Rifkind Wharton & Garrison in the New York office for three-and-a-half years." He then joined the US Attorney's Office, ending up as senior trial counsel prosecuting securities fraud and heading efforts to stamp out public corruption. 

The latter role, he argues, gives him considerable currency in the London market. "My experience at the US Attorney's Office provided an invaluable base for my current practice. Whether sizing up how to fight a prosecution, best navigate or conduct an investigation, or seek a negotiated resolution, I'm constantly drawing on my knowledge of what takes place on the other side to identify the best solutions for clients. 

"My experience also provides credibility with the US prosecutors, regulators and judges, as well as a keen understanding of which arguments and tactics will bear fruit.  

"There is so much law enforcement in the US and the nuances between the different agencies and prosecuting entities can be so tricky that it's hard for me to imagine heading into these waters – especially for the non US-based clients I represent – without my insider's map." 

Strategic moves

Kobre & Kim first brought DoJ lawyers to London in 2009 when former New York assistant US attorneys Michael Kim and Robert Henoch joined the 'no conflict' boutique's St Paul's office, selling their ability to represent European clients in DoJ and Securities and Exchange Commission matters. 

That same year, Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom's Canary Wharf office welcomed Gary DiBianco, once a federal prosecutor in the Eastern District of Virginia. DiBianco was just a year out of law school when he spent 12 months with the DoJ before joining Skadden's Washington DC office in 1999, where he handled civil litigation and investigated defence cases. He argues that his brief time at the DoJ working on narcotics and statutory crime cases – three of which went to trial – taught him lessons that have remained useful throughout his career.

"To me the two things that were most valuable about that experience were, first, the actual trial experience, and, second, understanding the policies and processes by which the US Attorney's Offices build a case," explains DiBianco, who is now head of Skadden's London-based corporate investigations practice. "In the US we don't have solicitors and barristers, so if you're working in the US Attorney's Office you work with investigators to build the case and then you present the case to the judge and jury."

He says his arrival in London marked a strategic decision at Skadden. "We believed there was a growing number of international corporate investigations and that there were investigations in which multiple regulators from several countries were involved. There are certain unique aspects to defending our clients in those investigations and we wanted to be able to service our clients. We figured it would make sense to offer a cross-border defence."

As well as working for European clients under scrutiny from US authorities, DiBianco adds that his London presence responds to the increased use of 'US tactics' by European regulators conducting investigations. For example, he says, if watchdogs "identify questionable internal conduct there's now an expectation that the company cooperates and conducts its own review, rather than the old-fashioned style process of [the regulator] conducting a raid".

To this end he works closely with former SFO case manager Matthew Cowie, a corporate investigations counsel at Skadden since 2010. "That was a conscious effort on our part to give us someone who had experience of being a UK prosecutor and an understanding of how the SFO makes cases."

US perspective

The Americanisation of international regulatory norms, promulgated in part by the US's toughened enforcement of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) since 2010, is also remarked upon by the latest former DoJ prosecutor to arrive in the UK capital. 

"The UK Bribery Act was passed into law a few years ago [2011] and the SFO is starting to implement it," explains Baker & McKenzie senior counsel Thomas Firestone. "Since some of this is driven by US practices I can offer an interesting perspective." 

Firestone has been with Bakers in London for less than year, in contrast to his 14 years at the US DoJ. His office walls display certificates commemorating his professional successes – such as his role in the 'disbandment of the Greenpoint Crew', an eastern European gang operating in the US. They are testament to a period spent first as an assistant US attorney in New York, then as a resident legal adviser to the US embassy in Moscow. 

The fluent Russian speaker claims this combination makes him unique among London's ex-DoJ brigade. "When I was at the US embassy in Moscow a lot of the work involved meeting with US businesses that were having issues and providing assistance. That experience was really useful for understanding the problems that confront clients when they come to work in emerging markets."

Arguably his arrival in London was less strategic than circumstantial. In September 2012 Firestone quit the US embassy for Bakers' Moscow office. Seven months later, he was barred from re-entering Russia following a business trip to London. Reports suggested his expulsion followed his rebuttal of Russian attempts to recruit him as a spy. "It was a surprise," says Firestone. "I was never given any explanation for what happened and I am not going to speculate. Only the Russian government knows why."

Perfect location

He transferred to Bakers in Washington DC, advising on compliance, investigations and training, before heading back to Europe. "London was an obvious destination from the outset. It has a growing compliance practice and there was a clear need for someone with DoJ experience," Firestone says. Joanna Ludlam, co-chair of the firm's London compliance and risk group, said of the appointment: "We will now be able to advise our London and European-based clients in 'real time' on compliance with the FCPA."

Firestone agrees that being based on the Greenwich Meridian is a plus: "Geographically London is an ideal location from which to have a world-class [compliance and risk] practice. It's accessible to Europe – for instance, I'm currently working with several Swiss banks. And it's also close to all of the emerging markets, including the Middle East and Central Asia, regions that present a lot of compliance challenges."

His compatriots concur. "If I'm being investigated by the government, having someone who I can meet with right away is extremely important," adds Burlingame. "[Being in London] is especially important when it's a US and UK investigation… It's much easier if you and the British counsel are in the same timezone rather than having to cram a month's meetings into three days because that's how long the US lawyers are on the ground."

For all of this, it is unclear whether the small band of DoJ alumni is set to grow significantly. Bakers, Skadden and Kobre & Kim have no current plans to increase their number in London, though Kobre & Kim says it is "searching for a candidate" from the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission to join their London office. 

"It's the stuff that you don't see in the movies – grinding away to win the case while your opponent is home in bed – that is what being a trial lawyer is really all about," concludes Burlingame. "That's what I love and, happily, it's just the same on this side of the table."

The task now is to prove it is as valuable on this side of the pond, too. 

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Pond hopping: US attorneys on London life

"The weather is much better than I'd been expecting. I thought the winter was a breeze and the spring is marvellous. However, driving on the left-hand side of the road is absurd" – Roger Burlingame, Kobre & Kim

"The most striking thing about London is the layers of history you experience. They go back 1,000 years, not just 100 as in the US" – Gary DiBianco, Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom 

"I go to the theatre all the time. I love the West End; I love the fringe. The Donmar Warehouse has fantastic performances that you won't see anywhere else. I'm not in a hurry to leave London" – Tom Firestone, Baker & McKenzie

The Legal Week Commercial Litigation and Arbitration Forum, which is co-chaired by Herbert Smith Freehills partner Tim Parkes and CMS Cameron McKenna head of arbitration Guy Pendell, will take place in London on 6 November. For more information go to commercial-litigation-forum.com or email [email protected]