LOS ANGELES, April 1, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Winston &
Strawn LLP is pleased to announce the addition of Carol Alexis Chen as partner in the firm's
Los Angeles office and as a member
of the firm's White Collar, Regulatory Defense, and Investigations
Practice.
Carol served as an Assistant United States Attorney with
the United States Attorney's
Office for the Central District of California in Los
Angeles for the last 15 years, most recently as the first
female Chief in office history of the International Narcotics,
Money Laundering, and Racketeering Section. Carol's tenure as an
Assistant United States Attorney includes service in both the
Criminal and Civil Divisions, with extensive criminal and civil
casework and first chair trial experience. Carol has directed
federal and local law enforcement in hundreds of large-scale,
complex federal criminal grand jury and wiretap investigations,
evaluated thousands of investigations for federal prosecution,
trained countless law enforcement agents and prosecutors, and
helped to lead law enforcement and community outreach efforts.
This expansion of Winston's white collar litigation team follows
the recent addition of 15 attorneys focused on white collar
litigation and complex commercial litigation from the law office of
Scheper Kim & Harris LLP. A boutique firm in Los Angeles, Scheper Kim & Harris
concentrated on complex commercial litigation and related appellate
proceedings, as well as all aspects of white collar defense,
including pre-charging investigations and litigation in state and
federal courts throughout the United
States.
"I am excited to be joining Winston & Strawn, which has a
stellar reputation for being a top-tier trial firm. Given my
years of public service, I was also particularly attracted to its
robust diversity platform and consistent dedication to pro bono
causes," said Carol. "Winston is a forward-looking firm, and
that extends to its commitment to building a top-notch white collar
practice. I have known David Scheper
and his team for years and look forward to working with them and
leveraging my prosecutorial experience and wide network of close
relationships with various components of the Department of Justice
as well as federal and local law enforcement agencies to help
continue to expand Winston's capabilities on the West
Coast."
"Carol is a renowned trial attorney and a welcome addition to
our growing litigation team in LA and on the West Coast," said
Eva Davis, Los Angeles office managing partner and member
of the Firm's executive committee. "She will be an incredible asset
to our clients as California
courts begin to resume operations and we address the expected
increase in federal prosecutions for financial and white collar
crimes, and government investigations."
Under Carol's leadership, the International Narcotics, Money
Laundering, and Racketeering Section (previously known as the
Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force Section ("OCDETF"))
expanded the use of federal drug trafficking, money laundering,
financial, tax, forfeiture, racketeering, and fraud laws to combat
international and significant domestic narcotics trafficking and
money laundering organizations, emerging and traditional organized
criminal syndicates including those which utilize the dark net and
digital currency, racketeering enterprises, and companies and
individuals responsible for the manufacture and distribution of
opioids. In her role as chief, Carol led numerous district-wide
money laundering and financial crimes initiatives, task forces, and
working groups, including those combating trade-based fraud; money
laundering; unlicensed money remitting businesses; customs
violations; fraud, money laundering, and other financial crime
offenses committed through the use of casinos (including tribal
casinos), the dark net, and cryptocurrency; tax fraud; and Bank
Secrecy Act violations.
Carol also helped to oversee the nationally modeled opioids
enforcement program which utilizes advanced data and analytics to
target physicians, pharmacies, and medical clinics engaged in
illicit drug diversion and to secure convictions on charges
including health care fraud, tax fraud, wire fraud, money
laundering, and acquiring DEA registrations and controlled
substances through fraud.
"Winston & Strawn has a well-earned reputation as a trial
lawyer's firm, and Carol's addition to the team underscores the
high level of talent we continue to attract to our bench," said
Winston Chairman Tom Fitzgerald.
"The COVID-19 pandemic has created a significant backlog of trial
cases, and Carol's experience as a federal prosecutor will be
invaluable as we meet this demand, particularly in light of the
recent passage of new laws and regulations targeting money
laundering, and early signals that the new administration will take
a more active approach toward enforcement actions against companies
and corporations."
Carol is the recipient of numerous accolades, including Los
Angeles Bar Association's Criminal Justice Section's 2019
Prosecutor of the Year Award and the OCDETF Director's 2018
National Award for Outstanding Transnational Money Laundering
Investigation of the Year, nominations for the Attorney General's
Award for Distinguished Service in 2020 and 2017 and for the
Executive Office of the United
States Attorneys Director's Award for Superior Performance
as an Assistant United States Attorney in 2018 and 2017, and
commendations from the Federal Bureau of Investigations, the
Internal Revenue Service – Criminal Investigations, the National
Aeronautical Space Administration, Office of Inspector General, and
the United States Postal Inspection Service to name just a
few. Carol earned a B.A. in political science, summa
cum laude, from the University of
California, Los Angeles, and a J.D. from Yale Law School.
Upon graduation, she clerked for the (Late) Honorable Pamela Ann
Rymer on the Ninth Circuit in Pasadena,
California, and for the (Retired) Honorable Lourdes G.
Baird, then a District Judge for the Central District of
California.
Winston & Strawn LLP is an international law firm with 15
offices located throughout North
America, Asia, and
Europe. More information about the
firm is available at www.winston.com.
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SOURCE Winston & Strawn LLP