Charles Duross Partner, Washington D.C. Morrison & Foerster

Morrison & Foerster has announced that Charles Duross  will join the firm’s Litigation Department as a partner and will head  its global anti-corruption practice, resident in the Washington, D.C. office.

As the head of DOJ’s FCPA Unit, Mr. Duross was in charge  of all  of DOJ’s FCPA investigations, prosecutions and resolutions in  the United  States from April 2010 through his departure from the DOJ  on Friday, January  24, 2014. Internationally recognized for his  leading role in developing and  implementing the government’s FCPA  enforcement strategy, he was a Deputy Chief  of the Fraud Section in  the Criminal Division of the U.S. Department of  Justice for almost  four years.

Once dubbed “Mr. FCPA” in the  Washington Post, he  is widely credited with developing the current enforcement  regime, and  recruiting and leading a talented team of prosecutors who have  brought  some of the most important FCPA cases in the statute’s 36-year   history. Under his leadership, the FCPA Unit resolved more than 40  corporate  cases, which include about two-thirds of the top 25 biggest  corporate  resolutions ever. Those matters resulted in approximately  $1.9 billion in  monetary penalties and the conviction of more than two  dozen business  executives and money launderers.

Mr. Duross’s  tenure was also marked by  his efforts to make FCPA enforcement more  transparent and compliance with the  statute more understandable to the  business community. For example, working  closely with his counterparts  at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission,  Mr. Duross was a  principal author of the DOJ and SEC joint publication, “A  Resource  Guide to the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act,” which followed a   series of consultations with business and compliance leaders. Mr.  Duross also  served as DOJ’s principal representative to the OECD’s  Working Group on  Bribery for many years and helped develop the OECD’s  acclaimed “Good Practice  Guidance on Internal Controls, Ethics and  Compliance.”

“In the last two  decades, there have been only  three chiefs of DOJ’s FCPA program, and Chuck is  one them – recognized  globally as the leading foreign bribery prosecutor in  the United  States,” said Larren Nashelsky, chair of Morrison & Foerster.  “His  global role has included deep involvement with the OECD’s effort to   globalize anti-corruption enforcement, including close cooperation  with law  enforcement across the country and around the world. Chuck’s  intimate  knowledge of the FCPA enforcement system he was instrumental  in creating,  along with his relationships with his fellow enforcement  officials around the  world, will be an invaluable asset to our  clients. We are delighted he chose  to join MoFo.”

Paul  Friedman, co-chair of Morrison & Foerster’s  FCPA &  Anti-Corruption Practice, added, “Chuck brings an incredible array  of  talent and expertise to MoFo’s already robust practice in this area. Not   only is he the government’s top FCPA authority and a gifted trial  lawyer, he  is an innovator in the field as the architect of the  groundbreaking  authoritative FCPA Resource Guide, which has proven  invaluable to global  companies and practitioners. We believe our  global platform, particularly our  strong presence in Asia, and our  extensive roster of blue-chip technology,  media, telecommunications  and life sciences clients, are a great fit for  Chuck. We are proud to  welcome him to Morrison &  Foerster.”

According to Bradley  S. Lui, Managing Partner of MoFo’s  Washington, D.C. office, Mr.  Duross’s stellar reputation precedes  him.

“Chuck is a highly  accomplished trial lawyer whose expertise,  energy, integrity and track  record are well known and highly regarded across  the Washington bar,”  said Mr. Lui. “His fresh insight into the government  enforcement  mindset immediately enhances our already considerable capacity to   assist global companies in managing their risk and exposure arising  from the  FCPA and other anti-corruption laws and regulations. This  complements the many  services we currently provide to clients facing  cross-border regulatory  compliance and enforcement issues, including  antitrust, privacy and data  security, financial services, government  contracts, and energy. We look  forward to welcoming him to the D.C.  office and the firm.”

“I am  excited by the opportunity to  contribute to the continued success of a firm as  dynamic as Morrison  & Foerster,” said Mr. Duross. “I was attracted by  MoFo’s  incredibly talented attorneys, including its deep bench of FCPA,   compliance and internal investigation experts, who boast well-deserved   reputations for excellence, integrity and collegiality. I was also  impressed  by the firm’s representation of many of the world’s most  successful and  innovative technology companies and its unique position  in Asia – where it has  extensive roots and is widely recognized as the  leading international firm in  Japan. I am looking forward to working  closely with my new colleagues to build  on the firm’s success in  helping clients navigate today’s challenging and  complex  anti-corruption landscape.”

Prior to being appointed Deputy   Chief, Mr. Duross served as Assistant Chief of the FCPA Unit from  October 2008  to April 2010, and as a line prosecutor with the Fraud  Section from December  2006 to October 2008. Beyond FCPA enforcement,  Mr. Duross supervised and tried  all manner of white-collar cases,  including health care fraud, mail and wire  fraud, money laundering,  public corruption, securities fraud and tax evasion.  A veteran trial  attorney, Mr. Duross is a recipient of the prestigious  Attorney  General’s Distinguished Service Award, the second highest award for   employee performance, as one of the lead prosecutors that secured the   conviction of Congressman William Jefferson following a nearly  nine-week trial  in 2009.

Mr. Duross earned his J.D., cum laude,  from the University of  Michigan Law School in 1996 and his B.A., magna  cum laude, from the University  of Michigan in 1993. After beginning  his career as a litigation associate at a  national firm in 1996, he  joined the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern  District of Florida  in 2001, where he prosecuted a variety of white-collar  cases,  including bank fraud, embezzlement, mail and wire fraud, money   laundering, securities fraud and trademark violations. Mr. Duross rose  to the  position of Deputy Chief in the Major Crimes Section in Miami  before moving to  Washington in 2006 to join the Fraud  Section.

Morrison &  Foerster — a global firm of exceptional credentials with clients that include some of the largest financial institutions,  investment banks,  Fortune 100, technology and life science companies.

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