The global law firm Jones Day has announced the formation of its State Attorney General Enforcement, Investigations & Litigation Practice, an area of law in which the Firm has been advising clients for decades, and one that continues to grow in importance to companies doing business in the United States.
"Building on the depth of experience we have in major state attorney general actions, formation of a single, multidisciplinary practice will strengthen our commitment to providing effective and efficient client service in these significant matters," said Stephen J. Brogan, Managing Partner of Jones Day. "Across the spectrum of substantive legal areas targeted by state attorneys general, we have lawyers experienced in defending companies facing complex individual and multistate investigations, as well as the inquiries and litigation that often arise in the midst of a storm of government investigations. This practice provides a comprehensive approach to navigating these legal challenges."
With the dramatic expansion of state attorney general activity over the last decade, corporations are facing highly coordinated multistate investigations and litigation among groups of states attempting to leverage the powers and tools of each state to target virtually every major industry sector, including financial markets, manufacturing, pharmaceuticals, health care, consumer products, retail, energy, technology, and communications. Jones Day has more than 200 lawyers experienced in working on state attorney general investigation and litigation matters. Many of these lawyers are also experienced in handling the related civil, criminal, and agency action at the federal level, along with legislative investigations and hearings—not to mention the associated individual and class action litigation, mass arbitrations, and media inquiries that often accompany these types of state attorney general efforts.
The practice will be led by Antonio (Tony) Dias, who has more than 30 years of experience with significant individual and multistate state attorney general matters and Department of Justice, federal agency, and Congressional matters, and as lead counsel in complex federal and state litigation on behalf of public and nonpublic companies. He previously served as Co-Leader of Jones Day's global Financial Institutions Litigation & Regulation Practice for nearly a decade and serves as the Partner-in-Charge of Jones Day's Miami Office.
"We have deep experience with traditional and novel state attorney general matters and an impressive track record of successful resolutions," said Mr. Dias. "This practice further strengthens our commitment to provide clients with strategic approaches to investigations, enforcement actions, and litigation initiated by state attorneys general individually or through multistate activity—strategies that must be simultaneously compatible with responding to other concurrent legal challenges."
"State attorney general activity rarely occurs in a vacuum and the result can be a complicated, unpredictable, and uncertain legal environment for business," added Mr. Dias. "These matters are often high profile and present unique legal challenges. Our decades of experience with state attorney general offices has generated respect for our capabilities inside and outside the courtroom and we are focused on establishing and implementing robust legal defenses for clients that are first based on the law and not politics."
Courtney Lyons Snyder will serve as Administrative Partner to the Practice. She is based in Jones Day's Pittsburgh Office, and was previously part of the Firm's Financial Markets Practice. Ms. Snyder is experienced in handling individual and multistate state attorney general investigations, as well as federal agency and Congressional investigations, on behalf of clients across a wide span of industries.
