Patrick Stokes is a litigation partner in Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher’s Washington, D.C. office. He is a member of the firm’s White Collar Defense and Investigations, Securities Enforcement, and Litigation Practice Groups.

Mr. Stokes’ practice focuses on internal corporate investigations, compliance reviews, government investigations, and enforcement actions regarding corruption, securities fraud, and financial institutions fraud. He has tried more than 30 federal jury trials as first chair, including high-profile white-collar cases, and handled 16 appeals before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit.  Mr. Stokes is equally comfortable leading confidential internal investigations, negotiating with government enforcement authorities, or advocating in court proceedings. In 2019, Mr. Stokes was ranked nationally by Chambers USA as a leading attorney in FCPA.

Prior to joining Gibson Dunn, Mr. Stokes spent nearly 18 years with the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ). From 2014 to 2016 he headed the FCPA Unit, managing the DOJ’s FCPA enforcement program and all criminal FCPA matters throughout the United States, covering every significant business sector, and including investigations, trials, and the assessment of corporate anti-corruption compliance programs and monitorships.  Mr. Stokes also served as the DOJ’s principal representative at the OECD Working Group on Bribery working with law enforcement and policy setters from 41 signatory countries on anti-corruption enforcement policy issues.

From 2010 to 2014, he served as Co-Chief of the DOJ’s Securities and Financial Fraud Unit.  In this role, he oversaw investigations and prosecutions of financial fraud schemes involving accounting fraud, benchmark interest rate manipulations, insider trading, market manipulation, Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) fraud, government procurement fraud, and large-scale mortgage fraud, among others.

From 2002 to 2008, Mr. Stokes served as an Assistant United States Attorney in the Eastern District of Virginia, where he prosecuted a wide variety of financial fraud, immigration, and violent crime cases.  From 1998 to 2002, he served in the DOJ’s Tax Division as a trial attorney in the Western Criminal Enforcement Section.

Mr. Stokes received various awards while at the DOJ, including the Attorney General’s Distinguished Service Award in 2013 and 2014 and the Assistant Attorney General’s Exceptional Service Award (Criminal Division) in 2011 and 2014.

Mr. Stokes received his bachelor’s degree and Juris Doctor from the University of Virginia, where he was an editorial board member of the Virginia Journal of Social Policy and the Law.

Mr. Stokes is a member of the Maryland State Bar and the District of Columbia Bar.

Representative engagements include:

• Representation of a global medical company before the DOJ and SEC in an investigation of accounting practices and potential FCPA violations.
• Representation of global nutrition company in an investigation before the DOJ and SEC of potential FCPA violations.
• Representation of private equity firm in an investigation before the DOJ and SEC related to portfolio company accounting issues.
• Representation of the Audit Committee of an educational services company before the DOJ and SEC in an FCPA investigation, and obtained declinations from both agencies.
• Representation of global hospitality company before the DOJ and SEC in an FCPA investigation, and obtained declinations from both agencies.
• Representation of Audit Committee of a medical diagnostics company in an investigation of whistleblower allegations related to accounting issues.
• Conducting assessments of compliance programs and related internal financial controls across various industries.
• Represented company executives in FCPA, securities fraud, and False Claims Act investigations by various government agencies.