March 30, 2017
During this complimentary briefing, Gibson Dunn lawyers, joined by Matt Owen, Staff Director and Chief Counsel of the U.S. Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, discuss the unique features of congressional investigations and where Congress is likely to focus its investigative and oversight resources in the 115th Congress. The 114th Congress was a busy one for congressional investigators. A number of investigations were launched or continued, focusing on a variety of industries, including health insurers, Affordable Care Act contractors, pharmaceutical companies, as well as technology, energy, and financial services firms, to name a few. Some of these investigations will continue into 2017, and, with both political branches in Republican hands for the first time in a decade, a number of new investigations will be launched.
Our panelists review how congressional investigations work, who the key players are, new committee rules for the 115th Congress, and what several key investigative committees are likely to focus on in the new congressional session.
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PANELISTS:
F. Joseph Warin — Co-Chair of the firm’s White Collar Defense and Investigations practice and former Assistant United States Attorney in Washington, D.C., Mr. Warin is one of only ten lawyers currently ranked in Chambers USA in five categories. He received the Chambers USA Award for Excellence in 2014 in the category of Litigation: White Collar Crime & Government Investigations. In 2016, Chambers USA selected Mr. Warin as a Leading Lawyer in the nation in the areas of Securities Regulation Enforcement, Securities, and Litigation: FCPA. He was also ranked as a Leading Lawyer in the areas of Securities Litigation and White Collar Crime and Government Investigations in the District of Columbia. Chambers Global 2016 ranked Mr. Warin as a top-tier attorney for USA – FCPA From 2015-2017, he has been selected by Chambers Latin America as a top-tier lawyer in Latin America-wide Fraud & Corporate Investigations. In 2016, Who’s Who Legal and Global Investigations Review named Mr. Warin to their list of World’s Ten-Most Highly Regarded Investigations Lawyers. In 2014 and 2015, Mr. Warin was honored by Who’s Who Legal as its Investigative Lawyer of the Year. He was selected as a 2015 Top Lawyer for Criminal Defense by Washingtonian magazine. He has been listed in The Best Lawyers in America® every year from 2006 – 2017 for White Collar Criminal Defense. Best Lawyers® also named Mr. Warin 2016 Lawyer of the Year for White Collar Criminal Defense in the District of Columbia. Benchmark Litigation has recognized him as a U.S. White Collar Crime Litigator Star for seven consecutive years (2011-2017). In 2016, he was named among the Lawdragon 500 Leading Lawyers in America. U.S. Legal 500 has repeatedly named Mr. Warin a Leading Lawyer for White Collar Criminal Defense Litigation. In 2013, Mr. Warin was awarded the Best FCPA Client Service Award by Main Justice. He was also named to the publication’s FCPA Masters list.
Michael D. Bopp — Partner in the Washington, D.C. office, Mr. Bopp is Chair of the firm’s Congressional Investigations Group, Public Policy Group, and Financial Markets Crisis Group. He has been named one of the 100 most influential people in finance by Treasury and Risk magazine and has testified as an expert on Congressional investigations before Congress. Mr. Bopp also chairs the ABA’s Committee on Legislative Process and Government Investigations. His practice focuses on congressional, internal corporate, and other government investigations, public policy and regulatory consulting in a variety of fields, and managing and responding to major crises involving multiple government agencies and branches. Since joining Gibson Dunn in 2008, Mr. Bopp has defended clients in dozens of Congressional and other investigations and has prepared numerous CEOs and other top executives for committee hearings, depositions, and interviews. From 2006-2008, Mr. Bopp served as Associate Director of the Office of Management and Budget and was responsible for overseeing budgets and coordinating regulatory, legislative, and other policy for approximately $150 billion worth of spending for various government agencies, including the Departments of Treasury, Homeland Security, Transportation, Justice, Housing and Urban Development, and Commerce, the General Services Administration, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. His contacts are extensive and strong in both Republican and Democratic circles.
Trent J. Benishek — A senior associate in the Washington, D.C. office and a member of the firm’s Litigation Department, Mr. Benishek has represented clients in a variety of complex litigation matters before state and federal courts, as well as in investigations by various congressional committees. He currently serves on the firm’s global Associates Committee. Prior to joining Gibson Dunn, Mr. Benishek served as the press secretary on a successful campaign for the U.S. House of Representatives, where he focused on earned media and messaging strategy, debate preparation, and policy development. He also previously worked as a legal intern for the Office of Management and Budget’s Office of the General Counsel. Mr. Benishek received his law degree in 2010 from the William & Mary School of Law, where he served as an editor of the William and Mary Law Review and was elected to the Order of the Coif.
Matt Owen — Staff Director and Chief Counsel of the U.S. Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations (PSI), chaired by Senator Rob Portman. Prior to joining the PSI, he served as Chief Counsel to Senator Mike Lee, chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee’s Subcommittee on Antitrust, Competition Policy, and Consumer Rights. Mr. Owen is a former law clerk to Judge Neil M. Gorsuch of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit and Justice Antonin Scalia of the U.S. Supreme Court. He also served as a Bristow Fellow in the Office of the Solicitor General in the U.S. Department of Justice. He is a graduate of the University of Texas at Austin and the University of Michigan Law School.