Speakers

Melinda Haag

  • Former U.S. Attorney, Northern District of California (2010-15)
  • Experienced trial lawyer with 26 years of prosecutorial and private sector experience
  • Former Partner at Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe, LLP
  • Former Assistant United States Attorney in the Central and Northern Districts of California

Hon. André Birotte, Jr.

  • U.S. District Judge (C.D. Cal.)
  • Former U.S. Attorney, Central District of California (2010-14)
  • Former Deputy Public Defender in Los Angeles
  • Former Assistant Inspector General for the Los Angeles Police Department

Joe Shew

  • Former CFO of Homestore.com Inc.
  • Previously held positions at Disney and PriceWaterhouseCoopers
  • Defendant in Homestore.com criminal and civil cases

John C. Hueston

  • Founding partner, Hueston Hennigan
  • Co-lead prosecutor in the criminal trial of Enron CEOs Kenneth Lay and Jeffrey Skilling
  • Former Assistant United States Attorney and Chief of the Southern Division (C.D. Cal.) (1994-2006)

Lauren McGory Johnson

  • Counsel, Hueston Hennigan
  • Represented both the Navajo Nation in case involving a mine spill and Monster Energy Company

Richard Marmaro

  • Partner, Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom
  • Represented ex-CFO (William Ruehle) in Broadcom stock option backdating criminal trial
  • Represented ex-CEO (Greg Reyes) in Brocade stock option backdating criminal trial
  • Former Assistant United States Attorney (C.D. Cal.) (1980-84)

Emily Aviad

  • Counsel, Skadden Arps
  • Defense of Agility Logistics in government contracting fraud prosecution
  • Broadcom stock option backdating criminal trial; defense of William J. Ruehle

Bill Ruehle

  • Former Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Broadcom Corporation

Michael R. Doyen

  • Litigation partner, Munger, Tolles & Olson
  • Lead trial counsel for Transocean criminal and civil litigation arising from the April 20, 2010 BPoil spill in New Orleans
  • Visiting Fellow at Harvard Law School

Daniel B. Levin

  • Partner, Munger, Tolles & Olson
  • Appellate counsel for Transocean criminal and civil litigation arising from the April 20, 2010 BPoil spill in New Orleans
  • Former Deputy Chief of Criminal Appeals, Los Angeles U.S. Attorney’s Office

Darren Robbins

  • Partner, Robbins Geller Rudman & Rowd LLP
  • Major securities fraud litigation and trial work, including the Household International case ($2.46 billion judgement) and the UnitedHealth case ($925 settlement)

Koji Fukumura

  • Partner, chair of securities litigation practice, and serves on the firm’s board of directors, Cooley LLP
  • Securities class action suits, M&A transactions, SEC investigations
  • Representative cases involve Blizzard Securities and Qualcomm

Terry W. Bird

  • Partner, Bird, Marella, Boxer, Wolpert, Nessim, Drooks & Lincenberg
  • Represented former CFO of New Century Financial Corp.
  • Represented Broadcom’s special litigation committee
  • Represented Joe Shew in Homestore.com criminal plea
  • Former Assistant United States Attorney (C.D. Cal.) (1972-1977)

Robert L. Corbin

  • Partner, Kendall Brill & Klieger
  • Defense Counsel in IndyMac, New Century, and Countrywide investigations and related litigation
  • Former Deputy Federal Public Defender (C.D. Cal.) (1978-1981)

Julia Deixler

  • Deputy Federal Public Defender (C.D. Cal)

Charles Snyder

  • Deputy Federal Public Defender (Los Angeles)

Ijeoma Eke

  • Assistant Federal Public Defender

Jeff Rutherford

  • Criminal and Civil Defense Attorney, lead trial lawyer in United States ex. rel. Hooper v. Lockheed Martin Corp
  • Former Deputy Federal Public Defender (C.D. Cal, 1999-2004)

Janet Levine

  • Partner, Kendall Brill & Kelly LLP
  • 25+ years of experience in white collar defense and government investigation cases
  • Former Deputy Federal Public Defender (C.D. Cal, 1999-2004)
  • Founding Partner of Crowell & Moring Los Angeles Office

Scott Edelman

  • Partner, Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher
  • Represented Chevron, Dole Foods in dismissal of toxic tort cases because of fraud by plaintiffs and their counsel
  • Co-Chair of Media, Entertainment and Technology and Transnational Litigation Practice Groups

Zainab Ahmad

  • Partner, Gibson Dunn & Crutcher. Co-Chair of the firm’s National Security Practice Group
  • Former Senior Assistant Special Counsel in Special Counsel Robert S. Mueller’s Office
  • Former prosecutor at the U.S. DOJ, investigating attacks on U.S. diplomats and those orchestrated by international terrorist organizations al-Qaeda and ISIS
  • Former Assistant U.S. Attorney (E.D. NY)

Hon. Michael R. Wilner

  • Magistrate Judge (C.D. Cal.)
  • Former Assistant United States Attorney (C.D. Cal.) (2001-2011)
  • Deputy Chief of the Major Fraud Section (2009-2011)
  • Co-lead trial lawyer in the criminal trial of Homestore CEO

Doug Fuchs

  • Partner, Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher
  • Former Assistant United States Attorney (C.D. Cal.) (2000-2007)
  • Deputy Chief of the Major Fraud Section
  • Co-lead trial lawyer in the criminal trial of Homestore CEO

Kevin Abikoff

  • Deputy Chair of Hughes Hubbard & Reed LLP
  • Appointed first-ever external anti-corruption compliance monitor jointly      appointed by the US Department of Justice (DOJ), the US Securities and    Exchange Commission (SEC) and the UK Serious Fraud Office (with advice and approval of the US Office of Foreign Assets Control) for a multinational specialty chemical manufacturer

Thomas Long

  • Partner at Nossaman LLP
  • Trial counsel for FDIC in financial crisis case arising out of the failure of IndyMac Bank ($169 million verdict)

David Graeler

  • Partner and Chair of Litigation Practice Group at Nossaman LLP
  • Trial counsel for FDIC in financial crisis case arising out of the failure of IndyMac Bank ($169 million verdict)

Patrick Richard

  • Partner and Chair of Financial Services and Bankruptcy Practice Group at Nossaman LLP
  • Trial counsel for FDIC in financial crisis case arising out of the failure of IndyMac Bank ($169 million verdict)

Nathan Hochman

  • Partner, Morgan, Lewis & Bockius
  • Represents Bryan Shaw in the KPMG Insider Trading case
  • Former Assistant Attorney General for the tax division of the U.S. Department of Justice
  • Former Assistant United States Attorney for the criminal division of the Central District of California.

Hon. Nora Manella

  • Presiding Justice of CA Court of Appeal (C.D.)
  • Former U.S. District Judge (CA C.D.)
  • Former U.S. Attorney for California’s C.D.

Tamerlin Godley

  • Partner, Munger, Tolles & Olson
  • High-level Hollywood cases, involving Bachelor in Paradise, Life is Beautiful Music Festival, Charlie Sheen, and media conglomerates Warner Music Group, Universal Studios, and Sony Pictures Entertainment
  • Part of trial team for Transocean civil and criminal litigation in BP oil spill based in New Orleans

Abe Meltzer

  • Office of U.S. Attorney Civil Division

Abe Meltzer

  • Office of U.S. Attorney Civil Division

Bill Lerach (2004-07, 2010-19)

  • Lead Plaintiffs’ lawyer in $7.2B Enron class-action settlements
  • Former Partner of Milberg Weiss Bershad Hynes & Lerach, and Former Founding Partner of  Lerach Coughlin Stoia Robbins LLP, two of the leading class actions plaintiffs law firms in the United States at the time.
  • Profiled in Circle of Greed: The Spectacular Rise and Fall of the Lawyer who Brought Corporate America to its Knees, a book  written by two Pulitzer prize winning journalists, Patrick Dillon and Carl Cannon.

Brad D. Brian

  • National Trial Lawyer, Munger, Tolles & Olson
  • Lead trial counsel for Transocean criminal and civil litigation arising from the April 20, 2010 BP oil spill in New Orleans
  • Former Assistant United States Attorney (C.D. Cal.) (1978-81)

Bethany Kristovich

  • Litigation partner in the Los Angeles office of Munger, Tolles & Olson.

Past USC Speakers