F. Joseph Warin
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F. Joseph Warin is chair of the Washington, D.C. Office’s Litigation Department, which consists of over 100 attorneys.  Mr. Warin also serves as co-chair of the firm's White Collar Defense and Investigations Practice Group.  He served as Assistant United States Attorney in Washington, D.C. from 1976-83.  In that capacity, Mr. Warin was awarded a Special Achievement award by the Attorney General.  As a prosecutor, he tried more than 50 jury trials.

Mr. Warin's areas of expertise include white collar crime, securities enforcement – including Foreign Corrupt Practices Act investigations, False Claims Act cases, special committee representations, compliance counseling and complex civil litigation.  His clients have included corporations, officers, directors and professionals in regulatory, investigative and litigation matters.  These representations have involved federal regulatory inquiries, criminal investigations and Congressional hearings. Recently, Mr. Warin successfully argued motions to dismiss in securities and consumer protection class actions, in the southern District of New York and the District of Columbia.

Mr. Warin’s civil practice includes representation of clients in complex litigation in federal courts and international arbitrations.  He has handled 10b-5 securities and RICO claim lawsuits, hostile takeovers, and commercial disputes.  Mr. Warin has handled numerous class action cases and is currently defending class actions in several district courts including the Southern District of New York and District of Columbia.  These representations include investment banking firms, Big 4 accounting firms, broker-dealers and hedge funds.

Mr. Warin has been hired by audit committees or special committees of public companies to conduct investigations to allegations of wrongdoing.  These investigations have been in a wide variety of industries including energy, healthcare, and telecommunications.

Mr. Warin has handled FCPA investigations in more than 30 countries, including, Argentina, Austria, Bangladesh, Brazil, China, Croatia, Dubai/UAE, France, Germany, Great Britain, India, Iran, Iraq, Italy, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Korea, Lebanon, Libya, Mexico, Nigeria, Norway, Panama, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Qatar, Russia and Saudi Arabia.  In connection with these investigations, Mr. Warin has provided advice to senior management and general counsel regarding company practices, enhancements to compliance programs, disciplinary action for company employees and remedial measures for improving compliance.  Some investigations have also prompted voluntary disclosures to the SEC and the Department of Justice, and Mr. Warin handled the Department of Justice and SEC investigations. 

Significant Representations include:

  • Defended large telecommunications company in a criminal investigation conducted by Southern District of New York U.S. Attorney's Office and achieved a declination of prosecution.
  • Represented the Audit Committee of a $2 billion hospital chain against allegations of financial misrepresentations.  Convinced the SEC and U.S. Attorney's Office not to take any enforcement actions.
  • Represented the Audit Committee of Fortune 100 energy company relating to allegations of earnings management.  Led two separate investigations in 2003 and 2005.
  • Represented the largest truck-stop company in the United States in an antitrust case and obtained a $49.5 million settlement in favor of the client within two weeks of trial.
  • Defended the president of a hardware supply company in a criminal price fixing case.  The jury acquitted our client after a three week trial in St. Louis, Missouri.
  • Currently serving as FCPA compliance monitor pursuant to a deferred prosecution agreement with Securities Exchange Commission and Department of Justice.
  • Obtained dismissal of numerous lawsuits brought against the largest securities self-regulatory organization during course of more than 10 years.

Mr. Warin was listed in The Best Lawyers in America in 2006 and 2007 for White Collar Criminal Defense and has been selected by Chambers and Partners as a Leading Securities Litigation Lawyer in its 2007 Chambers USA: America's Leading Lawyers for Business Guide.  In 2004, he was selected as a Top Lawyer for “Criminal Defense: You’re Under Investigation” by Washingtonian magazine.  Mr. Warin was named a Special Prosecutor by the District of Columbia Superior Court in 1988 and he has appeared regularly on MSNBC and CNN in connection with current legal developments.

Professional Articles

  • "FCPA Investigations:  Working Through a Media Crisis," Andrews Litigation Reporter on White-Collar Crime (Vol. 22; December 2007)
  • "Deferred Prosecution Agreements: A View From The Trenches and A Proposal For Reform," 93 Va. L. Rev. In Brief 107 (June 2007)
  • "Audit Committee Oversight of A Major Independent Investigation," The Review of Securities and Commodities Litigation (Summer 2007)
  • "Rolling the Dice in Corporate Fraud Prosecution," American Bar Association: Section of Litigation (Vol. 33; Spring 2007)
  • "The Foreign Corrupt Practices Act: Developments, Trends, and Guidance," Insights: The Corporate and Securities Law Advisor (Vol. 21; February 2007)
  • "To Plead or Not to Plead?  Reviewing a Decade of Criminal Antitrust Trials," The Antitrust Source (July 2006)
  • "Acquisition Due Diligence: A Recipe to Avoid FCPA Enforcement," The Oil, Gas and Energy Resources Law Report of the State Bar of Texas (Vol. 30; June 2006)
  • "Prosecute Corporations Only When They're Rotten to the Core," Corporate Crime Reporter Inc. (Vol. 20; March 2006)
  • "Foreign Corrupt Practices Act Due Diligence and Voluntary Disclosure," Journal of Payment Systems Law (September 2005)
  • "The Deferred-Prosecution Jigsaw Puzzle: A Modest Proposal for Reform," Andrews Litigation Reporter on White-Collar Crime (Vol. 19; September 2005)
  • "Recent Developments Under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act," Insights: The Corporate & Securities Law Advisor (Vol. 19; June 2005)
  • "Securities Enforcement Juries: A Beacon of Hope for Securities Fraud Defendants," Referred Prosecution Insights: The Corporate & Securities Law Advisor (Vol. 18; August 2004)
  • "The Multiple Hats Dilemma: Application of the Attorney-Client Privilege to In-House Counsel," Insights: The Corporate and Securities Law Advisor (Vol. 12; 1999)
  • "Deferred Prosecution: The Need for Specialized Guidelines for Corporate Defendants," University of Iowa Journal of Corporation Law (Fall 1997)

Speaking Engagements

  •  "The Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) Staying Out of the Government's Crosshairs," Part I: FCPA Overview and Insights into Heightened SEC, DOJ Enforcement and Part II: Strategies for Avoiding Charges, Penalties, and Litigation, Legal Publishing Group of Strafford Publications - Teleconference Presentations (June 2008)
  • "FCPA in China: Compliance Strategies Given China's Unique Cultural and Governmental Intricacies," Strafford Publications - Legal Teleconference Presentation (April 2008)
  • "Managing the PR Impact of an Investigation or Voluntary Disclosure," American Conference Institute (ACI) 19th National Conference (New York - March 2008) 
  • "FCPA Investigations Working Through a Media Crisis," ACI 18th National Conference on the FCPA (November 2007)
  • "The FCPA: An Overview and Recent Enforcement Trends," Strafford Publications – Legal Teleconference Presentations, Foreign Corrupt Practices Act: Staying Out of the Government’s Crosshair (September 2007)
  • "Deferred Prosecution Agreements: A View from the Trenches and a Proposal for Reform," Washington Legal Foundation (Washington, D.C. - September 2007)
  • "Building an Internal Culture of Reporting: How to Learn about WrongDoing," ACI Minimizing the Risk of Improper Payments in an Era Increased International Enforcement (London, UK - June 2007)
  • "Special Problems Concerning the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act in the People's Republic of China," U.S. Department of Justice FCPA Panel Presentation (Washington, D.C. - May 2007)
  • "Working with the Audit Committee Where Wrongdoing is Found," ACI 5th Annual Corporate Counsel's Forum on Conducting and Responding to Investigations (New York - April 2007)
  • "Handling a Litigation or Regulatory Crisis - Managing Risk," External and Internal Communications, 2007 SIA Compliance & Legal Division's Annual Conference (Arizona - March 2007)
  • "International Trade and Legal Issues for Corporate Counsel: Understanding the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act," CLE Options Network (Texas - September 2006)
  • "Avoiding Missteps When Probing Into Alleged Employee Misconduct," ACI's 4th Annual Corporate Counsel's Forum on Conducting and Responding to Internal & Government Investigations (New York - June 2006)
  • "Current Trends in Foreign Corrupt Practices Act Enforcement," Strafford Publications Webcast (Georgia - April 2006)
  • "Challenges in Compliance and Corporate Governance," Association of Corporate Counsel (March 2006)
  • "Mastering SOX Compliance and Establishing Time-Efficient Processes," ACI - Defense Industry Compliance (March 2006)
  • "Erosion of the Attorney-Client Privilege: What Does the Future Hold?" National Chamber Foundation and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce on a Proposed Sentencing Guideline Amendment (Washington, D.C. - November 2005)
  • "Challenges in Compliance and Corporate Governance," Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher Webcast (November 2005, January 2007 & January 2008)
  • "Hot Topics in Criminal Antitrust" ABA - Criminal Justice Section, the Section of Antitrust Law and the ABA Center for Continuing Legal Education Webcast (October 2005)

Mr. Warin graduated in 1975 from the Georgetown University Law Center, where he was Editor of Law and Policy in International Business.  He received his bachelor of arts degree cum laude from Creighton University in 1972, where he was student body president.  After graduation he served as a law clerk for United States District Court Judge J. Calvitt Clarke, in the Eastern District of Virginia.  Mr. Warin has been a member of the American Bar Association's White Collar Criminal Law Committee since 1988 and served as president of Assistant United States Attorneys Association.  Mr. Warin is on AIG's Approved Counsel Panel for securities class actions.  He is a member of the Board of Directors of the Washington Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights.