Paul A. Alsdorf is a litigation associate at Farella Braun + Martel LLP with a practice emphasizing white collar criminal defense. In his criminal defense practice, Mr. Alsdorf has represented companies and individuals during criminal antitrust proceedings, stock option back-dating investigations, and corporate internal investigations involving allegations of accounting improprieties and off-label pharmaceutical promotion. His litigation experience also includes representing plaintiffs and defendants in patent infringement actions. During law school, he served as the executive director of the Harvard Prison Legal Assistance Project.
Stephen L. Braga, a partner in the Litigation Department at Ropes & Gray LLP, specializes in white collar defense and investigations. From 2001 to 2008, Mr. Braga was a partner in the Trial Department and co-chair of the White Collar and Special Investigations Practice Group at Baker Botts LLP. He was a partner at Miller Cassidy Larroca & Lewin, where his practice included handling all aspects of litigation in the federal and state courts on behalf of the firm’s clients, at both trial and appellate levels, with emphasis on white collar criminal defense and complex civil litigation. Mr. Braga was a law clerk for the Honorable Thomas A. Flannery of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia from 1981 to 1982. Mr. Braga is an adjunct professor of law at Georgetown University Law Center and a judge in moot courts for Supreme Court arguments at Georgetown Supreme Court Institute. He is a member of the District of Columbia Bar, and of the practice bars of the Supreme Court of the United States, the U.S. Courts of Appeals for the First, Second, Third, Seventh, and District of Columbia Circuits, the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, the U.S. Tax Court, the District of Columbia Court of Appeals, and the Superior Court of the District of Columbia. Mr. Braga is a fellow at the American College of Trial Lawyers. He received the Gideon Champion of Justice Award from the New York State Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers for the successful pro bono representation of Marty Tankleff. Mr. Braga has been named one of “The Best Lawyers in Washington” by the Washingtonian, a “Washington D.C. Super Lawyer” by Law & Politics, and one of “The Top Ten Criminal Defense Lawyers” by United States Lawyer Rankings. Mr. Braga received his J.D., magna cum laude, from Georgetown University Law Center and his B.A., cum laude, from Fairfield University.
Matthew J. Jacobs is a partner in the law firm of McDermott Will & Emery LLP, based in the firm’s Silicon Valley office. Mr. Jacobs heads the firm’s White-Collar Criminal Defense Practice Group in Northern California. He has more than fifteen years of experience as a trial lawyer handling white collar defense, internal investigations and complex commercial litigation. Recognized as one of the leading lawyers in the Bay Area in his field, Mr. Jacobs represents individuals and corporations in complex commercial litigation, and criminal and internal investigations involving the government, whether the Justice Department, the Securities & Exchange Commission (SEC), or another agency. Prior to joining McDermott, Mr. Jacobs was a federal prosecutor in San Francisco for the Northern District of California. As an Assistant U.S. Attorney, he served as the lead trial lawyer in numerous significant prosecutions involving securities fraud, health care, energy trading, banking, and international money laundering. Mr. Jacobs was one of the prosecutors on the Enron case involving energy trading in California. He is the recipient of the Justice Department’s Director’s Award and the FBI’s Director’s Award. As a McDermott partner heading a team of experienced lawyers representing individuals and companies in high stakes “bet your company” matters, Mr. Jacobs is experienced in, and gets great results in, cases across a wide variety of areas. Mr. Jacobs has experience in dealing with the media, an important advantage for clients in high profile cases. He holds a Master’s degree from the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University, and prior to law school was an award-winning editor of a newspaper in Louisiana. While a federal prosecutor, Mr. Jacobs served as the press spokesman for three U.S. Attorneys including Robert S. Mueller, current director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). Mr. Jacobs is recognized by local publications as one of the top lawyers in the Bay Area. He is also sought after as a teacher, writer, and commentator. Mr. Jacobs previously co-taught a course on white collar issues at the University of California at Berkeley (Boalt Hall), and taught seminars at other schools, including Stanford Law School. He speaks frequently on panels, previously appearing before a group of board members of publicly traded companies in Silicon Valley, and to another group made up of public company audit committee members. Mr. Jacobs is active in the community. He has been appointed by the judges of the Northern District of California to the Criminal Justice Act panel representing indigent criminal defendants in federal court. He has also been appointed by the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals to handle pro bono appeals. He is chairman of the Steering Committee of the Criminal Justice Panel of the San Francisco Bar Association, and also serves on the Steering Committee of the Federal Bar Association. Mr. Jacobs graduated Order of the Coif from Stanford Law School. He was an associate editor of the Law Review at Stanford. After law school, he was law clerk to the Honorable Walter J. Cummings on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit based in Chicago. He is a member of the California Bar and is admitted to practice before the Supreme Court of United States and the U.S. Courts of Appeals for the Seventh and Ninth Circuits.
Jessica K. Nall is a partner in the White Collar Crime and Business Litigation Practice Groups at Farella Braun + Martel LLP. In her white collar defense practice, Ms. Nall represents individual executives and companies facing Securities and Exchange Commission enforcement actions, Department of Justice investigations and prosecutions, and related civil actions in a wide range of matters. She has extensive experience in representing clients as both witnesses and targets in complex government investigations calling for witness interviews and grand jury testimony, as well as the production of paper and electronic documents and information. Ms. Nall’s practice is enhanced by her significant experience representing both plaintiffs and defendants in civil matters in federal and state court, as well as in private dispute resolution. She has assisted clients in all types of civil litigation, including real estate litigation, insurance coverage, general business litigation, and probate and trusts and estates disputes. Ms. Nall is the co-chair of Farella Braun + Martel’s Women’s Initiative Steering Committee, an organization dedicated to the advancement and retention of women attorneys.
Kaler in the firm’s Health Law, Litigation, and Government Investigation/White Collar Criminal Defense Sections. His practice includes government investigations, including internal investigations, with an emphasis on health care fraud, procurement fraud, and matters arising out of the False Claims Act. His representation includes such matters as defending nursing homes in “failure of care” cases, health care providers charged with violations of the False Claims Act in qui tam lawsuits, and physicians charged with fraudulent billing or performing unnecessary services. An experienced litigator, Mr. Weidenfeld has had more than twenty-five jury trials in federal and state courts, and he has argued more than twenty cases on appeal to such courts as the U.S. Supreme Court, the Federal Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, and the Louisiana Supreme Court. Mr. Weidenfeld is a graduate of the Loyola University of New Orleans School of Law, and he served as a law clerk to the Honorable Peter H. Beer of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana.
Kaler in Washington, D.C. He was one of the defense lawyers in United States v. Borne. As a member of the firm’s Government Investigations and White Collar Defense Group, his practice focuses on the defense of health care fraud and other white collar criminal cases. He is a frequent lecturer and author on topics relating to white collar defense, including health care fraud, tax fraud, and asset forfeiture. Mr. Westling is a 1988 graduate of Tulane Law School, where he served on the editorial board of the Tulane Law Review, and he is a 1985 graduate of the University of the South in Sewanee, Tennessee. He has served as an adjunct professor at Loyola Law School and is a frequent author and speaker on topics relating to white collar defense.
Partner, Farella, Braum & Martel.
