White-Collar Defense Boutique Hires Second Federal Prosecutor

Adding a second federal prosecutor to its ranks in recent weeks, prominent white-collar defense boutique Morvillo Abramowitz Grand Iason & Anello has hired Christopher B. Harwood from the Southern District of New York.

He was co-chief of the civil frauds unit in the U.S. attorney’s office, and will join Morvillo effective Jan. 1, 2019. He follows Telemachus P. Kasulis, known as Tim, whose hiring was announced last month. The co-chief of the securities and commodities fraud task force in the Southern District will also start at Morvillo on Jan. 1.

They will be joining the 10 other alumni from U.S. attorney’s offices, including from the criminal division, securities fraud and health care fraud prosecutions areas, already practicing at the firm.

Among the high-profile clients the firm has represented are the former chairman, Steven Davis, of law firm Dewey & LeBoeuf, whose collapse garnered headlines and criminal charges.

Harwood will become a partner and plans to focus on representing individuals, financial institutions, companies, and boards in high-stakes civil litigation, including False Claims Act, Bank Secrecy Act, and Financial Institutions Reform, Recovery and Enforcement Act matters, as well as in criminal and regulatory cases.

“I want to focus on representing individuals and entities in high-stakes civil litigation as well as commercial litigation,” Harwood told Bloomberg News.

“The firm’s reputation and collegial environment were draws, plus assurances I can do the kind of high-stakes, cutting edge cases that I’ve been able to do in government,” he added

During his eight years in the Southern District, Harwood litigated cases involving financial fraud, healthcare fraud, federal programs and grant fraud, consumer fraud, and money laundering, and resulted in more than $2.3 billion in recoveries for the federal government.

Among the major cases Harwood handled were the first large-scale mortgage fraud case that arose from the 2008 financial crisis and involved the False Claims Act. The case against a subsidiary of Deutsche Bank called Mortgage It, involved issuing loans that did not comply with federal loan guidelines. It was settled for more than $200 million in 2012 and was a blueprint for other mortgage fraud actions.

Harwood also brought three other mortgage fraud cases against three banks, the largest of which were Wells Fargo and Chase, that resulted in combined recovery of more than $1.8 billion for the government. In another case against a bank for failing to implement an effective anti-money laundering program, Harwood settled for $70 million against U.S. Bank.

“We are thrilled to welcome Chris,” said Elkan Abramowtiz, a firm co-founder, who represented Dewey & LeBoeuf’s Davis in Securities and Exchange Commission proceedings stemming from the firm’s demise.

Abramowitz praised Harwood, as “a preeminent attorney with broad trial experience. He was known to be a measured leader by his colleagues in the civil division, where his practice focused on important issues relating to financial and healthcare fraud, as well as Bank Secrecy Act violations.”

Harwood will be joining firm’s civil litigation practice, which is headed by Edward M. Spiro and Judith L. Mogul.

Prior to joining the U.S. attorney’s office in Manhattan, Harwood was an assistant U.S. attorney in the District of Columbia, and earlier was a law clerk to Judge Norman H. Stahl of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit, and Judge Joseph L. Tauro of the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts. He also practiced at Cravath Swaine & Moore LLP.