Nelson Mullins announced today that NAFUSA President Bart Daniel, the former U.S. Attorney for South Carolina (1989-1992), has joined the firm as a litigation partner. He will split his time between the Firm’s Charleston and Columbia offices.

Most recently, Daniel was the lead attorney in a securities fraud trial in the court of Judge Margaret Seymour, Senior United States District Judge of the United States District Court for the District of South Carolina. Defending Revolutions Medical Corporation (RMC) CEO Rondald Wheet, who faced a maximum sentence of 80 years imprisonment if convicted, Mr. Daniel secured a unanimous jury verdict of not guilty on all three counts of securities fraud and false filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

“Bart is a superb litigator with great judgment and extensive trial and investigative experience,” said James K. Lehman, Managing Partner of Nelson Mullins. “He is a great addition to the firm and brings significant leadership skills to the group. Most importantly, Bart is a well-respected leader in the legal community, a good person, and someone we will be pleased to call partner.”

Daniel, who was nominated by President George H.W. Bush, was confirmed in 1989 and served as U.S. Attorney until 1992. He was presented with the U.S. Attorney’s Flag Award in 1991 for his work in the prosecution of Operation Lost Trust, one of the country’s most high-profile corruption cases.

“First and foremost, Nelson Mullins is a first-tier firm,” said Daniel. “They have a quality team in South Carolina and across all of their offices.  Those resources and superior team members will help me offer clients and potential clients the best possible representation.”

Since returning to private practice in 1992, Daniel has been active in both civil and criminal litigation, trying numerous white collar, health care, environmental, securities, and general business litigation matters to verdict in South Carolina. He has served as Special Counsel to the Governor, conducting an internal investigation into allegations of public corruption and influence peddling in state government.

He also served as Lead Counsel for the South Carolina House of Representatives before a Three-Judge Federal Panel in the trial involving reapportionment and the drawing of district lines.

Bart will be joining the firm’s litigation group comprised of over 283 attorneys across 17 offices and will co-lead the Firm’s White Collar Crime and Government Investigations Practice Group. “Bart brings so much to the Firm,” said Mark Jones, leader of the Firm’s litigation group. “He is not only a first-chair trial lawyer with a proven track record of winning different types of complicated, high-stakes cases, he is a bastion of the Bar in Charleston and throughout South Carolina and a strong community leader. His presence will certainly enhance what our group can offer clients and be a great influence on the entire firm.”

Most recently, Daniel was recognized by The Best Lawyers in America® 2018  for Commercial Litigation, Criminal Defense: White-Collar and Government Relations Practice in South Carolina.  A graduate of The Citadel (B.A., 1977) and the University of South Carolina School of Law (J.D., 1980), Daniel is a frequent lecturer and has authored numerous publications on the False Claims Act and white collar crime. His most recent publication, “Health Care Fraud and Collateral Consequences”, Second Edition published in 2011, deals with the recently enacted changes in health care enforcement and the False Claims Act, brought about by changes to the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.

Established in 1897, Nelson Mullins has more than 525 attorneys and other professionals with offices in California, Colorado, the District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Massachusetts, New York, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, and West Virginia. For more information on the Firm, go to www.nelsonmullins.com.

Carmen Ortiz, former U.S. Attorney for the District of Massachusetts (2009-2017), has joined Anderson & Kreiger LLP in Boston.

“I’ve long admired Carmen and am now proud to call her a colleague,” said David Mackey, Managing Partner. “Carmen is joining our firm immediately, but will also continue in her role as the Rappaport visiting professor at Boston College Law School through this semester.  Carmen will begin full-time work at Anderson & Kreiger at the beginning of the year.  I am confident she will immediately strengthen our ability to serve our clients, and I can’t think of a better mentor to help guide and train our younger lawyers.”

Ortiz will focus on internal investigations, corporate compliance and litigation, as well as white collar criminal defense.  She intends to continue to serve as a leader in the women’s bar and minority legal community.

“I chose Anderson & Kreiger because of its people, culture and commitment to practicing law with the highest professional standards,” said Ortiz.  “The firm is involved in interesting, high-profile work done by top-notch lawyers who believe strongly in their cases and their clients.  I love practicing law, and will bring the same passion and commitment to Anderson & Kreiger’s clients that I brought to my role as U.S. Attorney.”

Ortiz’s legal career spans more than 30 years with service at the U.S. Department of Justice, as an Assistant District Attorney for Middlesex County and, for the last 7 years, as the U.S. Attorney for the District of Massachusetts.  She has been involved in some of Massachusetts’ most high-profile cases, including prosecutions of Whitey Bulger and the Boston Marathon bomber.  She is also widely respected for her commitment to civil liberties. She established the first Civil Rights Unit in the U.S. Attorney’s Office, and she broadened the Office’s outreach and engagement efforts, meeting regularly with many community groups on a variety of issues to promote public safety, community policing and civil rights.

Doug Jones (The Birmingham News/Joe Singer)

NAFUSA member Doug Jones won Tuesday’s Alabama Democratic primary and will face the winner of a GOP runoff September 26 in the general election on December 12 to determine who will fill the Senate seat vacated by Jeff Sessions.

Former Alabama chief justice Roy Moore and Sen. Luther Strange finished atop the GOP field on Tuesday, but neither candidate received a majority of the vote, creating the need for the runoff. Jones received 63.6 percent of the Democratic vote with 86 percent of the vote counted.

Marcos Jimenez

NAFUSA board member Marcos Jimenez has left McDermott, Will & Emery to strike out on his own. Jimenez served as the United States Attorney for the SD of Florida (2002-2005).

As reported by the daliybusinessreview.com, “Jimenez’s current high-profile cases include his representation of ex-Panamanian president Ricardo Martinelli in his fight to avoid extradition to Panama. He is also representing former Florida Rep. Erik Fresen, who is accused of failing to file tax returns. Jimenez said he left McDermott in May, formed his own practice and has been sharing office space and collaborating with lawyers at the Miami firm Leon Cosgrove.”

“I’m in their office, but I practice as my own P.A., not as a partner in their firm,” Jimenez said. “I wanted to join friends at a litigation practice and be in a smaller firm that is exclusively dedicated to litigation.”

Jimenez has significant experience litigating high-profile matters, including class action, health care, financial institution, real estate, entertainment, professional liability and white-collar criminal cases.

His long list of current notable clients includes Martinelli, Panama’s former president who was arrested in June and is fighting extradition to Panama, where he stands accused of recording private conversations of political allies, opponents, journalists, businesspeople, and even his mistress, according to reports. In 2011, Martinelli fired Juan Carlos Varela, who is now the sitting president, for allegedly receiving kickbacks from foreign consulates. Martinelli, who faces charges in other cases in Panama as well, argues the charges are politically motivated due to his firing of Varela.

On Monday, Jimenez and his legal team filed an emergency petition with the U.S. Supreme Court that asserts Martinelli’s constitutional rights have been violated because his bid for bond was denied.

Jimenez’s other notable current litigation clients include the rapper Pitbull, who is involved in a personal injury action filed by a former bodyguard in New York. He is also representing a former director in a shareholder class action involving public company Patriot National Inc. And along with McGuireWoods, he is representing Wells Fargo in some of the civil cases involving the alleged Forrest Capital fraud scheme.

Jimenez is also the attorney for the French government-owned entity CDR in actions relating to the former real estate of Maurice and Leon Cohen, and the former manager of the Regalia, a luxury condo project in Sunny Isles Beach.

After leaving the U.S. Attorney’s office post, Jimenez worked in complex commercial litigation and white-collar criminal defense at Kenny Nachwalter, and then at Kasowitz, Benson, Torres & Friedman, before joining McDermott five years ago.

“Having my own firm and more flexibility to work on a variety of both white-collar criminal and complex business litigation matters has always been a dream of mine, so I am grateful to have the opportunity to do so at this stage in my career,” Jimenez said.

Joe Whitley

NAFUSA memberJoe Whitley announced that the annual Homeland Security Law Institute will be held September 25-27, 2017, at George Washington University. Whitley is the founder and chair of the event.

This years agenda topics:

Jenny Durkan at her Pioneer Square party Tuesday. (Alan Berner/The Seattle Times

NAFUSA Board Member Jenny Durkan held a commanding lead in Tuesday’s primary election for Mayor of Seattle. Durkan, served as United States Attorney for the WD of Washington (2009-2014). Seattle hasn’t elected a woman mayor in 91 years, but four women topped the crowded (21 candidates) primary election held on Tuesday. Durkan held a commanding lead with 31.6 percent, with the second place candidate taking 15.6 percent. The two top finishers will advance to the November 7 general election. Ballots will continue to be counted and the official results will not be certified until August 15.

NAFUSA President Bart Daniel and his co-counsel recently won an acquittal on all counts in a federal criminal securities fraud trial. Bart represented the CEO and Chairman of the Board of Revolutions Medical Corporation, a fledgling publicly traded company which develops and distributes innovative products and tools for the medical industry. On April 19, 2017, after a two-week trial, a federal jury unanimously acquitted Revolutions Medical Corporation CEO Rondald Wheet on all three counts of securities fraud and false filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).