Tom Firestone

Biography

Tom Firestone is Co-chair of the Firm's North American Government Enforcement practice and is a member of the Firm's Global Compliance & Investigations Steering Committee. He represents clients in matters involving anti-corruption and the US Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA), the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA), internal investigations, Congressional investigations, anti-money laundering and transactional due diligence. Prior to joining the Firm, he spent 14 years at the US Department of Justice. He worked as an Assistant US Attorney in the Eastern District of New York where he prosecuted transnational organized crime cases. He also worked as Resident Legal Adviser and Acting Chief of the Law Enforcement Section at the US Embassy in Moscow. In the latter capacity, he facilitated US-Russian law enforcement cooperation, assisted the Russian government in drafting new criminal legislation, advised the US government on policy issues related to criminal justice in Russia and twice won the US State Department Superior Honor Award. He has testified as an expert before the US Senate Judiciary Committee and the UK House of Lords about transnational organized crime, corruption, and money laundering and is recognized, based on peer review, by Best Lawyers in America in the area of white collar criminal defense. He also authored the Foreign Extortion Prevention Act (FEPA) which is currently pending before Congress.

Practice Focus

Tom represents multinational companies and individuals before the US Department of Justice, State Department, and other US and foreign agencies in connection with transnational criminal investigations, extradition proceedings and other sensitive matters in multiple international jurisdictions. He also regularly advises foreign governments on issues relating to anti-corruption and the rule of law, and has represented individuals in Interpol matters and in national security investigations. He also leads the Firm's FARA practice and anti-kleptocracy initiative and serves as a member of the Firm's Cannabis Review Committee and as editor of the Firm's Global Cannabis Compliance Blog.

Representative Legal Matters

Served as Global Compliance Counsel to major international company under monitorship pursuant to DOJ/SEC settlement for FCPA violations
Conducted internal investigations and risk assessments for US and European companies in various countries including Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, China, Kazakhstan, Korea, Kyrgyzstan, Nigeria, Pakistan, Paraguay, Russia, Ukraine and Uzbekistan, and represented companies before DOJ and SEC in connection with many of these matters.
Negotiated 65 million USD plea agreement on behalf of large Asian engineering company in connection with fraud in US Department of Defense contract.
Led major investigation for US pharmaceutical company into possible improper payments to healthcare professionals.
Represented an FBI agent in the Durham investigation into the origins of the Trump Russia investigation.
Represented a former US Ambassador under investigation by the DOJ National Security Division.
Obtained cancellations of Red Notices for clients in Interpol proceedings.
Served as adviser to a former prime minister of an East European country in the largest corruption case in the country's history.
Obtained a declination from DOJ National Security Division in FARA case.
Advised the governments of Romania and Ukraine on anti-corruption reforms.
Served as US support lawyer for a European monitor in connection with Deferred Prosecution Agreement with DOJ.

Representative Matters with DOJ

Served as lead US prosecutor in the extradition of a Russian government official facing charges of money laundering.
Prosecuted a 30-defendant Eastern European organized crime case.
Prosecuted a 17-defendant Russian organized crime case.
Prosecuted a racketeering case involving a USD 1 billion fraud in the audiotext and internet pornography industries perpetrated by a well-known organized crime family.
Worked with Russian parliament and presidential administration to draft new laws on human trafficking and cooperating witnesses; provided law enforcement technical assistance in other former Soviet countries including Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Moldova and Latvia.

Judicial Clerkships

Judge Allen G. Schwartz, United States District Court, Southern District of New York (1997-1998)

Professional Honors

Best Lawyers in America: White Collar Criminal Defense, 2022
Superior Honor Award, US Department of State, 2010 and 2004
Special Award for Advancing US-Russian Cooperation in Antitrust Enforcement, presented by Russian Federal Anti-Monopoly Service, 2010
Best Professor Award, Pericles American Business Law Education Project, Moscow, awarded for class on "Corporate and White Collar Crime," 2009-2010
American Bar Association Section of International Law Award for Best Stand-Alone Program, 'Resolution of Russia-Related Business Disputes: The Next Wave," September 2009
Outstanding Performance Award, US Department of Justice, 2008, 2009
Award for Advancing US-Russian Cooperation, Moscow Oblast Advocates Chamber, 2008

Professional Associations and Memberships

Council on Foreign Relations - Member
U.S.- Russia Foundation - Director; Chair, Nomination and Governance
Center for European Policy Analysis - Director
Integrity Initiatives International - Director
U.S.- Kyrgyzstan Business Council - Immediate past Chairman
U.S.- Tajikistan Business Council - Immediate past Secretary - Treasurer
America Uzbekistan Chamber of Commerce - Board Member
EurasiaNet.Org - Director

Admissions

District of Columbia (2018)
New York (1994)

Education

Harvard Law School (J.D., Cum Laude) (1993)
University of California at Berkeley (M.A. Soviet & East European Politics) (1987)
Harvard College (B.A. Slavic Languages and Literature, Magna Cum Laude with Highest Honors) (1986)

Languages

English
Polish
Russian

Previous Offices

Moscow
London

Publications

Author, "DOJ Decision on Bannon Prosecution Will Involve Nuance" Law 360, October 28, 2021

Author, "The Future of Drug Decriminalization After Oregon" Law 360, December 16, 2020

Author, "2020 Election May Mark a Turning Point for Marijuana Law" Law 360, December 2, 2020

Author, "Virus, 'Tiger King' Point to Need for Wildlife Trafficking Law" Law360, June 11, 2020

Author, "COVID and Marijuana Legalization: Lessons of History" Benzinga, May 8, 2020

Author, "DOJ Should Issue No Action Letters For Marijuana Industry" Law360, May 1, 2020

Author, "Protecting Against Corruption In State Cannabis Licensing" Law360, October 29, 2019

Author, "Legal Risk and Opportunity in the Cannabis Industry: What Every Director Needs to Know," NACD Directorship Magazine, NACDonline.org, September 2019

Author, "Navigating Political and Anti-Corruption Risks," NACD Directorship Magazine, NACDonline.org, July/August 2019

Co-author, "Two to Tango: Attacking the Demand Side of Bribery," The American Interest, 17 December 2018

Co-author, The Global Magnitsky Act, Criminal Law Forum, 2018

Co-author, "New law in Poland could open corporate expenses and contracts to public view," FCPA Blog, 5 July 2018

Author, "Does Ukraine Need an Anti-Corruption Court?," Atlantic Council Ukraine Alert, 25 August 2016

Author, "The FCPA and the Rule of Law Abroad," The Foreign Service Journal, June 2016

Author, "Real or Bogus: How to Evaluate Foreign Criminal Charges," The British Journal of White Collar Crime, Vol. 1, No. 1, 2016

Author, "Cleaning up Atlantis: How to Put a Kleptocracy on the Road to Transparency," The American Interest, Vol. 11, No. 3, November 2015

Co-author, "Overcoming ‘Crony Communism’: Is EU Membership the Key ?," ABA CJS WCCC Newsletter, Summer/Fall 2015

Co-author, "Ukraine Enacts Sweeping New Anti-Corruption Law," FCPA Blog, 30 July 2013

Author, "New Russia Law Goes Beyond FCPA, Bribery Act," FCPA Blog, 5 March 2013

Author, "Trial by Jury and the Rule of Law in Russia," International Law News, Vol. 40, No. 4, Fall 2011

Author, "Business, Corruption and Pretrial Detention in Russia," International Law News, Vol. 40, No. 2, Spring 2011

Author, "Armed Injustice: Abuse of the Law and Complex Crime in Post-Soviet Russia," Denver Journal of International Law and Policy, Vol. 38, No. 4, Fall 2010

Author, "Criminal Corporate Raiding in Russia," The International Lawyer, Vol. 42, Issue 4, 20082

Author, "Corporate Criminal Liability in the United States," St. Petersburg Law Institute Annual Review, 2008 (published in Russian)

Author, "Jury Trials and Multi-Defendant Cases," Lex Russica, No. 6, 2007 (published in Russian)

Author, "Testimony of a Criminal Defendant under U.S. and Russian Law: A Comparative Analysis" Biznes v Zakone, No. 4, 2007 (published in Russian)

Author, "Investigation of Criminal Cases under the Russian Criminal Procedure Code" (with Professor William Burnham) (unpublished manuscript) October 2007

Author, "Prosecution of Jury Trials" Actual Problems of Criminal Justice: Questions of Theory, Legislation and Implementation," Moscow State Law Academy, Moscow, 2007 (in Russian)

Author, "What Russia Must Do to Fight Organized Crime" Demokratizatsiya, The Journal of Post-Soviet Democratization, Vol. 14, No.1, Winter 2006

Author, "US-Russian Cooperation in Combating International Terrorism," Legislation and Counter-Terrorism: Materials from an International Conference in the State Duma of the Russian Federation, Moscow, 2004 (in Russian)

Author, "US Efforts to Combat Human Trafficking" Zhenshchina Plus, January 2004 (in Russian)

Author, "The Russian Connection: Sex Trafficking into the United States and What the United States and Russia Are Doing About It," USA Bulletin: International Organized Crime, September 2003

Author, "Mafia Memoirs: What They Tell Us About Organized Crime," Journal of Contemporary Criminal Justice, August 1993

Author, "Leningrad’s Right-Wing Alternative to Gorbachev," The Christian Science Monitor, February 1990

Author, "Glasnost: Debate, Seminar or Sermon?," Berkeley-Stanford Working Papers, Spring 1989

Author, "Four Sovietologists," The National Interest, Winter 1989

Author, "Trust Not and Verify," Claremont Review of Books, Spring 1989

Co-author, A Primer in Soviet Government (Co-author), The Claremont Institute, 1987

Presentations

Moderator, "Corruption and Reform in Romania," Baker & McKenzie Seminar, Washington, DC, 13 January 2017

"Corruption, Anti-Corruption and National Security in the Baltics," Baker & McKenzie Seminar, Washington, DC, 7 October 2016

"Corruption and Anti-Corruption in Eastern Europe," Baker & McKenzie Seminar, Washington, DC, 22 July 2016

"The Problems with Minsk and Corruption: How to Help Ukraine," Atlantic Council Seminar, 22 June 2016

"The New Cold War: Fighting Corruption in Eastern Europe," ABA Section of International Law Spring Meeting, New York, New York, 13 April 2016

"Criminal Charges and Third Party Due Diligence," TRACE International Webinar, 16 March 2016

"Is Banking Secrecy Dead?," ABA Section of International Law Spring Meeting, Washington, DC, 30 April 2015

"Corruption in the Courts," ABA Section of International Law Conference on Dispute Resolution in Russia and the CIS, Moscow, 12 September 2011

Moderator, "The FCPA and Russian Competition Law," Roundtable with Federal Anti-Monopoly Service Chief Igor Artemyev, Moscow, 2 September 2011 (in Russian)

"Corruption on the Ground in Russia," American Conference Institute Conference on Corruption in Emerging Markets, Washington, DC, 14 June 2011

Panelist, "Legal Reform and the Courts in Russia," US Russia Business Council 3rd Annual Russia Legal Forum, London, 9 June 2011

Speaker, "The US Foreign Corrupt Practices Act," Russian Presidential Academy of State Service Conference on Combatting Corruption: Legislative Innovations in Russian and Foreign Law, Moscow, 31 May 2011 (in Russian)

Speaker, "The US Foreign Corrupt Practices Act," Moscow State University Criminal Law Congress, Moscow, 26 May 2011 (in Russian)

Speaker, "The US Foreign Corrupt Practices Act," Moscow Times Conference on Anti-Corruption Legislation: International Application and Russian Practice, Moscow, 25 May 2011 (in Russian)

Speaker, "The US Foreign Corrupt Practices Act," Russian Presidential Academy of State Service Anti-Corruption Training Course, Moscow, 23 March 2011 (in Russian)4

Panelist, "How to Detect Corruption Schemes in Russia," American Conference Institute Russia and CIS Summit on Anti-Corruption, Moscow, 16 March 2011