Experienced White Collar/Securities Litigator Adam Safwat Joins Nelson Mullins in D.C.

Aug. 10, 2021WASHINGTON, D.C. — Experienced litigator Adam Safwat has joined Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough LLP in its Washington, D.C. office. He joins from Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP, where he was counsel.

Safwat regularly represents companies and individuals before the Department of Justice and the Securities and Exchange Commission in investigations and compliance-related matters. In addition, he provides clients with extensive counseling on best practices for compliance programs and internal controls. His practice is multi-faceted, and in addition to Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) counseling, he focuses on issues related to white collar and regulatory enforcement impacting public and private companies, including securities and accounting fraud and anti-money laundering issues. Safwat also has particularly extensive experience in the pharmaceutical sector with respect to the FCPA and other domestic promotional practices.

“Adam’s skill set will be a great asset to our team and clients,” said Matthew G. Lindenbaum, leader of the Boston-based litigation team Safwat is joining. “His previous work at the U.S. Department of Justice and his experience before the Securities and Exchange Commission will bring further depth to our offerings.”

Safwat previously served as a deputy chief of the Fraud Section of the U.S. Department of Justice’s Criminal Division from 2012 to 2014, having also served as an assistant chief and a trial attorney from 2006 to 2012. During his time at the Fraud Section, he worked on a number of significant FCPA investigations involving companies operating in the commodities, oil services, logistics, and defense industries. He also coordinated a multi-jurisdictional investigation resulting in one of the largest FCPA corporate settlements to date.

In addition, while at the Fraud Section, Safwat served on several complex securities fraud investigations of individuals and entities in the financial services industry, including matters involving alleged accounting fraud relating to complex derivative instruments and special purpose entities. He was a member of the government’s successful trial team in a case against five former reinsurance executives involving accounting and financial statement fraud and concluded a related corporate settlement with a major reinsurance company. In addition to his case work, Safwat worked on policy matters such as new criminal discovery initiatives within the Criminal Division and on proposed amendments to the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines relating to corporate accounting fraud and insider trading.

Prior to joining the Fraud Section, Safwat spent four years as an assistant U.S. attorney in the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Delaware, where he conducted jury trials in general crimes cases and also concluded a number of successful white collar investigations in areas such as theft of trade secrets and tax fraud.

He earned an LL.M in International and Comparative Law and a J.D. from Duke University School of Law. He earned a B.A. with high honors from UC Berkeley.