The business law and commercial litigation knowledge of our firm combines with our firm’s government experience as we defend individuals and corporations who find themselves under the scrutiny of prosecutorial, investigative or regulatory government agencies at federal, state and local levels. Criminal law issues in a white collar context often mean parallel proceedings requiring an assessment of a mix of criminal procedure, civil litigation, administrative remedies, and business concerns. We are experienced at fashioning legal teams to fit such white collar legal problems.

Our attorneys defend companies and individuals in federal and state civil and criminal matters, including charges of sales and income tax evasion, corporate fraud, health care fraud, government contracting fraud, criminal price-fixing and other antitrust charges, securities fraud, and environmental violations.

Beyond traditional criminal defense, we regularly represent corporations and their employees facing grand jury or other law enforcement investigations. The legal task varies with every client and every investigation. We tailor our approach, evaluating issues and choices as a matter proceeds.

Internal Investigations

We have recently conducted two significant internal investigations that have led to decisions by federal authorities in both the United States and in Canada not to pursue criminal prosecutions.

Grand Jury Investigations

Numerous corporations have turned to Leonard, Street and Deinard to ask us to coordinate the tasks arising from grand jury investigations into alleged wrongdoing by companies and their employees. We are experienced at representing employee witnesses, addressing issues of attorney-client privilege, managing extensive document productions, advocating for subjects of investigations, and negotiating acceptable resolutions for targets.

Tax Evasion

The recent focus on corporate crime has found us representing a number of individuals and corporations facing allegations of evasion of sales, income, use and other taxes. Our firm recently represented a CEO in a substantial income and sales tax evasion matter in the District of Minnesota and a company president facing state sales tax evasion charges.

Health Care Fraud

We have represented many clients in connection with federal grand jury investigations into health care fraud. We have also represented many health care providers as they manage Minnesota Attorney General investigations into health care practices.

Computer Crime

Our experience finds us assisting a number of corporations victimized by computer crime, as well as individuals caught up in such allegations.

Customs Fraud and Conspiracy

We defended a former officer of an Iowa company against federal customs fraud and conspiracy allegations and were successful in having the case dismissed before trial.

Crime Prevention Programs

We have prepared white collar crime prevention programs for corporate clients. Under new corporate sentencing guidelines, the federal courts will be more lenient on companies that take substantial steps to prevent, investigate, and deter wrongdoing within the company.

Government Contracting Fraud

We have represented two corporations in connection with a federal grand jury investigation conducted in Minnesota by the Criminal Fraud Section of the U.S. Department of Justice in Washington, D.C. Because we negotiated beneficial plea agreements for our clients, they were able to avoid suspension or debarment from receiving future government contracts.

Territorial Allocation

We have represented a major milk producer that was a "target" in a multistate upper Midwest federal grand jury investigation of alleged territorial allocations among industry competitors. Following completion of grand jury deliberations, our discussions with the AntiTrust Division of the Justice Department led to no criminal indictment being issued.

Price-Fixing

We defended a major popcorn manufacturer in a civil class action price-fixing case. The client and other popcorn manufacturers were accused of violating Section 1 of the Sherman Act by conspiring to fix the price of popcorn sold to bulk purchasers. A federal grand jury also conducted a parallel investigation of the circumstances giving rise to the civil claims. At the present time, the firm is defending a major corporation in a price-fixing and territorial allocation antitrust grand jury investigation in a neighboring state.

Securities Fraud

We represented two securities brokerage houses with regard to a securities class action suit. We also defended a major Minneapolis bank against securities fraud charges and RICO claims. In another case, we were successful in obtaining a ruling that dismissed a major Minneapolis law firm from a federal securities fraud case.

Consumer Customs Fraud

We have defended numerous clients in lawsuits alleging consumer and customs fraud. For example, we were successful in representing an officer of a large commodities handling company in connection with a grand jury investigation of criminal fraud charges. In another matter, we litigated customs issues in a pre-indictment setting to earn a misdemeanor resolution of potentially more serious criminal concerns.

In another fraud case, we defended a major Twin Cities real estate brokerage firm against civil claims that it was legally responsible for allegedly fraudulent investment activities of one of its sales associates, and that those activities resulted in the loss of millions of dollars for the investors.