Laura Perkins serves as Co-Chair of the Anti-Corruption & Internal Investigations practice group, and Co-Managing Partner of the firm’s Washington, DC office.

Laura is a former senior official and prosecutor with the Criminal Division of the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ). Laura’s practice focuses on high-stakes government and internal investigations, crisis management, white collar criminal defense and cross border compliance counseling, risk assessments, and due diligence.

As a skilled investigator and trial lawyer, Laura assists corporations, boards of directors, audit committees, and senior executives with sensitive internal investigations and proceedings before the DOJ, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), and other U.S. and international agencies, with a particular focus on FCPA/anti-corruption, financial fraud, sanctions violations, money laundering and healthcare fraud.

Prior to joining the firm, Laura spent nearly ten years at the DOJ, most recently serving as Assistant Chief of the FCPA Unit of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section and Senior Counsel to the Assistant Attorney General.

While at the DOJ, Laura supervised, prosecuted and tried some of the largest individual and corporate FCPA cases in the U.S. and was involved in the development of the FCPA Pilot Program and the drafting of the FCPA Resource Guide. Laura also oversaw nearly a dozen independent compliance monitors and served as a U.S. Delegate to the OECD’s Working Group on Bribery.

In addition to FCPA cases, Laura successfully investigated and prosecuted complex financial fraud cases, healthcare fraud cases, and money-laundering cases while at the DOJ. In her role as Senior Counsel to the Assistant Attorney General of the Criminal Division, Laura advised DOJ leadership on white-collar criminal cases and policy matters and assisted with responding to Congressional inquiries and investigations.

Recognitions

Ranked by Chambers Global and Chambers USA as one of the leading FCPA lawyers in the world (2020 – 2023)
Recognized in The Legal 500 United States, Corporate Investigations and White-Collar Criminal Defense (2019 – 2021)
Recognized as one of the top 100 Women in Investigations by Global Investigations Review (2018)

Professional Activities

Officer, International Bar Association, Business Crimes Committee

Highlighted Lectures

Co-chair, GIR Live: Paris 2023, June 15, 2023
Speaker, “Privatization of law enforcement: Are companies becoming the new prosecutors?” 25th Annual IBA Transnational Crime Conference, May 4, 2023
Speaker, “Critical Issues for In-house Counsel Before and During FCPA Investigations,” PLI’s Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and International Anti-Corruption Developments Conference 2023, April 20, 2023
Speaker, GIR Live: DC Spring 2023, March 23, 2023
“Mike Huneke and Laura Perkins on Changes to Corporate Enforcement Policy,” Hughes Hubbard and Reed’s All Things Investigations, Podcast, February 27, 2023
“Kevin Abikoff and Laura Perkins on the FCPA & Anti-Bribery Fall 2022 Alert,” Hughes Hubbard and Reed’s All Things Investigations, Podcast, December 12, 2022
Speaker, “The New Realities of Corporate and Individual Liability Risks: Defense Counsel Perspectives on the DOJ’s Enforcement Posture and the Path Ahead,” Panel, 39^th Annual Conference on the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, November 31, 2022
“The Monaco Memo,” Hughes Hubbard and Reed’s All Things Investigations, Episode 12, Podcast, September 26, 2022
“Anti-Corruption Issues in International Arbitration,” Hughes Hubbard and Reed’s All Things Investigations, Episode 7, Podcast, July 11, 2022
Speaker, “Getting The Most Out of Your Compliance Program,” PLI’s The Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and International Anti-Corruption Developments 2022 Conference, April 21, 2022
Speaker, “Restitution Issues in High-Profile White-Collar Settlements,” ABA’s 36th National Institute on White Collar Crime Conference, October 28, 2021
Moderator, “Ephemeral Communications Quandaries: How Industry is Updating Policies, Procedures and Monitoring-and What Can (and What Can’t) Yield Cooperation Credit,” ACI 37th International Conference on the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, December 3, 2020
Moderator, "Inside the TechnipFMC Settlement and Aftermath,” ACI’s Houston Forum on the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, January 2020
Speaker, "Defending Your Program to the Agencies: Practitioners Discuss Their Experiences Amid the Latest DOJ Guidance and Increased Global Enforcement," ACI’s Thirty-Sixth International Conference on the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, December 2019
Faculty member, "Third-Party Arrangements," Healthcare Compliance Certificate Program of Seton Hall Law School, Newark, NJ, June 14, 2019, October 18, 2019, October 23, 2020, October 2021
"Laura Perkins on the Latest FCPA Enforcement Trends," The Compliance & Ethics Blog, Podcast, March 2019
Speaker, “The Grey Areas of Procurement, Sales & Marketing,” ACI’s Thirty-Fifth International Conference on the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act,” November 2018
Speaker, “Your Global Strategy in Face of Heightened Jurisdictional Risks, Increased International Collaboration and Accelerated Coordinated Prosecutions,” C5’s 7th Annual Fraud, Asset Tracing & Recovery Conference, October 2018
Moderator, Stirring the PEP's Nest: Applying Global Magnitsky Sanctions to Prevent Abuse and Corruption," Compliance Week Sanctions Risk Management Conference, October 2018
"FCPA Compliance Report- Laura Perkins on the Hoskins Decision," Episode 398, Podcast, September 2018
“Investigations and Monitorships: Practitioner Panel," UC Berkeley Law Compliance Academy, July 2018
Speaker, “Former US Prosecutor Discusses New FCPA Corporate Enforcement Policy and Recent Cases Involving China,” ACI’s China Forum on Anti-Corruption, June 2018
Speaker, “Criminal Enforcement and Prosecution Trends in Relevant Jurisdictions (Topics, Industries, Crimes),” American Bar Association Criminal Justice Section- WisteV Conference on Global Corporate Criminal Liability and International Internal Investigations, May 2018
Moderator, "Challenges Maintaining Attorney-Client Privilege in Anti-Corruption Enforcement Actions," The George Washington University Law School, Emerging Issues in FCPA Enforcement Conference, March 2018
Co-Chair, ACI's 12th Houston Forum on the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, January 2018
Speaker, "Taking Stock of FCPA Enforcement Priorities One Year into the New U.S. Administration," ACI's 12th Houston Forum on the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, January 2018

Highlighted Publications

Co-author, with Kevin Abikoff, Jan Dunin-Wasowicz and Laura Vittet-Adamson, "Compliance and International Arbitration: Once Separate, Now Becoming Inextricably Linked," Corporate Compliance Insights (May 2022)
Co-Author, with Kevin Abikoff, Michael A. DeBernardis, and Christine Kang, "Multilateral Development Bank Monitorships," GIR Guide to Monitorships, 3rd Edition, p.353-368 (April 2022)
Co-author, with Kevin Abikoff, "The Fine Line Between 'Cutting Red Tape' and Throwing Out the Play Book," Corporate Counsel (April 2020)
Co-author, with Marie-Agnès Nicolas, “France Issues Inaugural Convention Judiciaire d’Intérêt Publica,” Revue Internationale De La Compliance Et De L’Ḗthique Des Affaires (International Review of Compliance and Business Ethics) (March 2018)

Quotes & Interviews

Quoted in “Executives Face Perils When Confessing to DOJ as Companies Gain,” Bloomberg Law, April 20, 2023
Quoted in "ComEd Exec's Trial A Test Of Prosecutors' Bribery Strategy,' Law360, March 13, 2023
Quoted in "DOJ Puts Corporate America on Notice," Commercial Dispute Resolution, July 2, 2022
Quoted in "DOJ anti-bribery settlements hit new high in 2020," Reuters Legal, February 24, 2021
Quoted in "Corruption, compliance and post-Covid outlook," Commercial Dispute Resolution, February 24, 2021
"Quoted in "ECCP Refinements Encourage Companies to Make Compliance a Positive Feedback Loop," The Anti-Corruption Report, June 24, 2020
Quoted in "A Close Look at the New ECCP's Commentary on Compliance," The Anti-Corruption Report, May 29, 2019
Quoted in "Analyzing the DOJ's New Evaluation of Corporate Compliance Programs," The Anti-Corruption Report, May 15, 2019
Quoted in "Cognizant Case Offers GCs Warning On Shirking FCPA," Law360, February 26, 2019
Quoted in "When Is an Individual 'Substantially' Involved in a Crime?" The Anti-Corruption Report, February 6, 2019
Quoted in "Changes to Justice Manual on Individual Prosecutions Moderate but Preserve the Yates Memo," The Anti-Corruption Report, January 23, 2019
Quoted in "Justice Limps Along As Civil Matters Get Shelved During Shutdown," Bloomberg News, January 11, 2019
Quoted in "Corruption Enforcers Discuss Benefits and Pitfalls of Increasing International Cooperation," The Anti-Corruption Report, January 9, 2019
Quoted in "Former Hong Kong Minister Patrick Ho Chi-ping Convicted in US Court on 7 of 8 Counts in Bribery and Money-Laundering Case," South China Morning Post, December 6, 2018
"New Anti-Bribery Alert Shows Companies How to Avoid FCPA Land Mines," Corporate Counsel, Interview, November 28, 2018
Quoted in "'Business Friendly' Monitorship Memo Gives Leverage to Companies," Global Investigations Review Just Anti-Corruption publication, October 23, 2018
Quoted in “Life As an FCPA Recidivist: How Stryker’s Seemingly Minor Violations Became a Major Problem,” The Anti-Corruption Report, October 18, 2018
Quoted in “France Smacks Down Second-Largest Bank to Become Key Bribery Cop,” Bloomberg News, June 5, 2018
“Hughes Hubbard & Reed Partner Laura Perkins on FCPA Enforcement Under Trump,” Corporate Crime Reporter, Interview, March 31, 2018

Highlighted Matters

Investigations

Representing a multinational transportation company in a multi-jurisdictional DOJ-facing FCPA investigation
Conducting a sensitive investigation for a large global hospitality company involving allegations of bribery, financial fraud, safety incidents and conflicts of interest
Representing a medical device manufacturer before the DOJ, HHS OIG, and State AGs in connection with alleged violations of the Anti-Kickback and False Claims Act statutes
Representing a multinational company in a multi-jurisdictional government-facing investigation into allegations of terrorist financing, sanctions, and money laundering activities
Conducting a sensitive investigation for a healthcare company involving allegations of executive workplace misconduct and securities violations
Conducting an internal investigation into potential data breaches for a large multinational company
Conducting a sensitive investigation into potential crypto fraud for a large entertainment company

Individual Representations

Representing a senior executive of an oil and gas company in connection with DOJ and CFTC investigation into potential FCPA violations and commodities fraud
Representing a senior executive of a Fortune 100 automobile manufacturer in a DOJ and SEC investigation into potential securities fraud, accounting fraud and wire fraud
Representing a senior executive of a telecommunications company in connection with a DOJ investigation into potential FCPA violations
Representing senior executives of a large financial institution in connection with a DOJ investigation into anti-money laundering violations

Compliance Advisory Matters

Representing a Global 500 aerospace company in a company-wide review and upgrade of its compliance program
Representing a Global Fortune 500 infrastructure company with its self-monitoring and compliance reporting to the Department of Justice
Serving on the team acting as compliance monitor for the World Bank for a large Chinese state-owned entity that was debarred for fraudulent conduct
Conducting third-party and transactional due diligence for a leading global oil and gas company
Providing FCPA legal advice and anti-corruption compliance counseling to leading multinational corporations, including financial services, technology, aerospace, energy, construction, oil and gas, transportation, and life sciences companies

Laura N. Perkins

Partner