M. Kendall Day is a nationally recognized white-collar partner in the Washington, D.C. office of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher, where he is Co-Chair of Gibson Dunn’s Fintech and Digital Assets Practice Group, Co-Chair of the firm’s Financial Institutions Practice Group, co-leads the firm’s Anti-Money Laundering practice, and is a member of the White Collar Defense and Investigations and Crisis Management Practice Groups.
Kendall is recognized as a leading White Collar attorney, ranked both nationally (in Financial Services Regulation: Banking (Enforcement & Investigations) and in the District of Columbia (as a leading White Collar attorney) by Chambers USA – America’s Leading Business Lawyers. Most recently, Kendall was recognized in The Best Lawyers in America® (2024-2025) for his work in white-collar criminal defense and named to Lawdragon’s 500 Leading Global Cyber Lawyers guide (2024-2025), which highlights “lawyers who connect it all – data and security, innovation and inspiration, litigation and exploration." His practice focuses on internal investigations, regulatory enforcement defense, white-collar criminal defense, and compliance counseling. He represents financial institutions; fintech, digital asset, and multi-national companies; and individuals in connection with criminal, regulatory, and civil enforcement actions involving anti-money laundering (AML)/Bank Secrecy Act (BSA), sanctions, FCPA and other anti-corruption, securities, tax, wire and mail fraud, unlicensed money transmitter, false claims act, and sensitive employee matters. Kendall’s practice also includes BSA/AML compliance counseling and due diligence, and the defense of forfeiture matters.
Prior to joining Gibson Dunn, Kendall had a distinguished 15-year career as a white collar prosecutor with the Department of Justice (DOJ), rising to the highest career position in the DOJ’s Criminal Division as an Acting Deputy Assistant Attorney General (DAAG). As a DAAG, Kendall had responsibility for approximately 200 prosecutors and other professionals. Kendall also previously served as Chief and Principal Deputy Chief of the Money Laundering and Asset Recovery Section. In these various leadership positions, from 2013 until 2018, Kendall supervised investigations and prosecutions of many of the country’s most significant and high-profile cases involving allegations of corporate and financial misconduct. He also exercised nationwide supervisory authority over the DOJ’s money laundering program, particularly any BSA and money-laundering charges, deferred prosecution agreements and non-prosecution agreements involving financial institutions.
Earlier in his time as a white collar prosecutor, from 2005 until 2013, Kendall served as a deputy chief and trial attorney in the Public Integrity Section of the DOJ. During his tenure at the Public Integrity Section, Kendall prosecuted and tried some of the Criminal Division’s most challenging cases, including the prosecutions of Jack Abramoff, a Member of Congress and several chiefs of staff, a New York state supreme court judge, and other elected local officials. He started his career in 2003 when he was selected to join the Attorney General’s Honors Program as a prosecutor in the DOJ’s Tax Division. Kendall also was stationed overseas as the Justice Department’s Anti-Corruption Resident Legal Advisor in Serbia.
Representative Matters
- Represented Binance.com, a global crypto currency exchange, in securing resolution of criminal and civil investigations brought by DOJ, the CFTC, FinCEN, and OFAC.
- Defended a publicly traded financial institution in a DOJ AML investigation and achieved a declination of prosecution.
- Secured a no-penalty, Non-Prosecution Agreement for a U.S. health care company in connection with government investigations of wire fraud and securities violations.
- Represented a Special Committee of the Board of Directors of a U.S. publicly traded diagnostic laboratory and obtained a no-penalty Non-Prosecution Agreement in connection with multiple government investigations of alleged health care fraud and False Claims Act violations.
- Succeeded in convincing INTERPOL to cancel multiple red notices and delete a client’s data from INTERPOL’s system.
- Represented the Boards of Directors of multiple global financial institutions in connection with government investigations of alleged international money laundering, AML violations, foreign corruption, sanctions violations, and related issues.
- Secured for an Indonesian paper company a Deferred Prosecution Agreement in connection with alleged sanctions and bank fraud allegations.
- Successfully resolved an investigation by the California Attorney General into allegations that a public traded biotechnology company engaged in misleading and deceptive marketing practices.
- Secured for the third largest Israeli bank a Deferred Prosecution Agreement in connection with government investigation of alleged tax evasion.
- Represented the Board of Directors of an international tobacco company in connection with a DOJ and OFAC investigation of alleged sanctions violations.
- Conducted internal investigation and analysis of FCPA allegations for a publicly traded company.
- Represented a global financial institution in connection with government investigations of AML violations and related issues.
- Represented a leading independent company in the specialty ingredients business in connection with a DEA investigation for alleged failures to declare the import and export of certain List 1 controlled chemicals.
- Served as pool counsel representing various employees in an SEC investigation of potential AML violations for a publicly traded financial institution.
- Conducted AML compliance review for a publicly traded financial institution.
- Representation of a leading non-profit organization in connection with an internal review of employee conduct and the organization’s response.
Selected Recent Speaking Engagements
- Bahamas Financial Services Board, AML and Sanctions Enforcement, February 2023
- American Gaming Association, Annual Anti-Money Laundering Summit, “State of Play: What the Experts are Saying,” April 2022
- American Gaming Association, Annual Anti-Money Laundering Summit, “Decrypting the Role of Digital Currency in Casinos,” October 2021
- American Bar Association, 34th Annual Institute on White Collar Crime, “Money Laundering and Asset Forfeiture – Seizing Everything ‘Involved in’ Crimes,” October 2021
- Corporate Crime Reporter, “Interview: On the Ebb and Flow of Corporate Crime Prosecutions,” August 2021
- American Bar Association webcast, “DOJ White Collar Enforcement: What to Expect in 2021 and the Coming Years,” March 2021
Kendall received a number of awards while at the DOJ, including the Attorney General’s Award for Distinguished Service, the second highest award for employee performance; the Assistant Attorney General’s Award for Exceptional Service; and the Assistant Attorney General’s Award for Ensuring the Integrity of Government.
Kendall clerked for Chief United States District Court Judge Benson E. Legg of the District of Maryland. He earned his Juris Doctor from the University of Virginia School of Law, where he graduated in 2002 after winning first place in the Lile Moot Court Competition and being selected to receive the Margaret G. Hyde Graduation Award. He graduated with honors and highest distinction from the University of Kansas in 1999 with a Bachelor of Arts in Italian Literature and Humanities.
Kendall is licensed to practice in the Commonwealth of Virginia and the District of Columbia.
Capabilities
- White Collar Defense and Investigations
- Anti-Corruption & FCPA
- Anti-Money Laundering
- Betting and Gaming
- Consumer Protection
- Crisis Management
- FDA and Health Care
- False Claims Act / Qui Tam Defense
- Financial Institutions
- Financial Regulatory
- Fintech and Digital Assets
- Litigation
- National Security
- Securities Enforcement
- Securities Litigation
Credentials
Education:
- University of Virginia - 2002 Juris Doctor
- University of Kansas - 1999 Bachelor of Arts
Admissions:
- District of Columbia Bar
- Virginia Bar
Clerkships:
- USDC, Maryland, Hon. Benson E. Legg, 2002 - 2003