Melissa Farrar is a partner in the Washington, D.C. office of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher. Her practice focuses on white collar defense, internal investigations, and corporate compliance.
Melissa represents and advises multinational corporations in internal and government investigations on a wide range of topics, including the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, the False Claims Act, anti-money laundering, export controls compliance, and accounting and securities fraud, including defending U.S. and global companies in civil and criminal investigations pursued by the U.S. Department of Justice (“DOJ”) and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”). She also has experience representing U.S. government contractors in related suspension and debarment proceedings.
Her defense and investigations work has included successful representation of companies across a variety of industries, including those in the pharmaceutical, telecommunications, technology and software-as-a-service (“SaaS”), manufacturing, consumer products, rail transportation, oil and gas, and defense spaces, among others.
Melissa also routinely counsels corporations in these and other industries on the design and implementation of their corporate ethics and compliance programs and in connection with transactional due diligence, with a particular emphasis on compliance with anti-corruption and anti-money laundering laws. She frequently leads corporate compliance program assessments and has experience in all areas of corporate compliance, including policy and procedure and code of conduct development, program governance and structure design, risk assessment planning and implementation, and the conduct of internal investigations, among others.
She has been recognized by the 2024 edition of Best Lawyers: Ones to Watch® in America for Criminal Defense: White-Collar. She was named by Expert Guides in its 2021 and 2022 Rising Stars Guide, which recognizes the brightest and most talented practitioners under 40 in the area of business law and related practices.
Representative matters include:
- Defended a rail-based transportation company in a DOJ investigation under the False Claims Act of allegations relating to hours of service reporting.
- Conducted an internal investigation for a major global SaaS company relating to apparent U.S. export control violations, including development of disclosures to, and representation before, the U.S. Department of Commerce (BIS) and DOJ.
- Represented a multinational pharmaceutical company in negotiating resolution of whistleblower-driven FCPA investigations by DOJ and the SEC in three countries. This representation resulted in non-public declinations by both agencies.
- Defended a civil engineering company in a False Claims Act investigation by DOJ relating to allegations of inadequate employee qualifications.
- Conducted a post-monitorship anti-corruption compliance review and assessment for a global conglomerate and industrial manufacturing company.
- Conducted pre-acquisition anti-corruption due diligence for a multi-billion dollar acquisition of an international e-commerce company.
- Completed two Independent Examinerships for Swiss financial institutions participating in the DOJ Tax Swiss Bank program.
Melissa received her law degree with high honors from the George Washington University Law School in 2013, where she was elected to the Order of the Coif. While in law school, she was a member of the George Washington Law Review. She received her Bachelor of Arts degree in 2004 from Dartmouth College.
Melissa is admitted to practice in the District of Columbia and Virginia.
Capabilities
- White Collar Defense and Investigations
- Anti-Corruption & FCPA
- False Claims Act / Qui Tam Defense
- Government Contracts
- Litigation
Credentials
Education:
- George Washington University - 2013 Juris Doctor
- Dartmouth College - 2004 Bachelor of Arts
Admissions:
- District of Columbia Bar
- Virginia Bar