O’Melveny Welcomes David N. Kelley, Esteemed White Collar Lawyer and Former US Attorney for the Southern District of New York
January 8, 2024
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
NEW YORK—January 8, 2024—O’Melveny announced today that David N. Kelley, esteemed White Collar lawyer and former United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, has joined the firm’s New York office as a partner in its White Collar Defense & Corporate Investigations Practice Group. He will represent and advise multinational and domestic public companies, boards of directors, audit committees, officers, and directors on enforcement matters, internal and regulatory investigations, governance and compliance issues, monitorships, and criminal investigations.
Ranked by Chambers for more than a dozen consecutive years and regularly recognized by Legal 500, Kelley is an acclaimed veteran of the White Collar bar in New York with deep experience as a criminal and regulatory lawyer and investigator. Over more than three decades, he has handled a wide array of grand jury investigations, independent board investigations, congressional hearings and inquiries, commercial litigation, and federal securities matters, while also serving as a corporate monitor. He has argued and tried cases in numerous federal courts and regularly appears before a wide range of regulators and enforcement agencies, including the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the Department of Justice (DOJ), United States Attorney’s Offices in many jurisdictions, the Department of the Treasury, the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, the Federal Reserve, and various state attorneys general.
Kelley was a New York federal prosecutor for more than 17 years, and he served nearly two years as US Attorney for the Southern District of New York (SDNY)—one of the most prestigious law enforcement posts in the country. In that role, he oversaw headline-making prosecutions of many high-profile defendants, from corporate titans to media moguls. Kelley has also served as Chief of the SDNY’s Organized Crime and Terrorism Unit and co-chair of the DOJ’s task force investigating the 9/11 attacks.
Kelley comes to O’Melveny from the New York office of Dechert, where he served as global co-leader of the White Collar and Securities Litigation Practice. He advises clients across a broad spectrum of industries, including defense, automotive, energy, healthcare, pharmaceuticals, financial services, infrastructure, insurance, oil and gas, and retail.
“We are delighted to welcome David to O’Melveny,” said O’Melveny chair Bradley J. Butwin. “He is widely recognized among the nation’s premier White Collar lawyers, with extraordinary expertise, a stellar reputation, and a proven record of success. David’s combination of private practice experience and government service at the highest level will undoubtedly be an asset to our clients and to our firm.”
“Many clients want their most important internal investigations, and their defense in any criminal investigation, led by a lawyer like David—a high-profile former prosecutor whose credentials and credibility are beyond question,” said Mark Racanelli, global co-chair of O’Melveny’s White Collar Defense & Corporate Investigations Practice Group. “David is a perfect addition to our talented White Collar team and we are thrilled to welcome him to O’Melveny.”
“David brings remarkable skills and an exceptional background to our White Collar team and he further expands our abilities in New York,” added Steven J. Olson, global co-chair of O’Melveny’s White Collar Defense & Corporate Investigations Practice Group. “Our clients—particularly boards of directors and board committees—will benefit from his unique insights and enforcement experience.”
“I’m excited to join O’Melveny’s respected and elite team of White Collar lawyers,” Kelley said. “The firm has a world-class reputation for providing superior client service, and I was impressed by the firm’s powerful platform rooted in a collaborative culture. I’m confident that O’Melveny will be a great fit for my clients and my practice.”
Kelley bolsters O’Melveny’s acclaimed East Coast roster of White Collar partners, which has recently welcomed several respected practitioners from the public sector, including:
- Rebecca Mermelstein, former Assistant US Attorney for the Southern District of New York and co-chief of the General Crimes Unit, who joined the firm’s New York office in November 2022; and
- AnnaLou Tirol, former deputy director of the US Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), who joined the firm’s Washington, DC office in October 2022.
Kelley earned his J.D. from New York Law School and his B.A. from The College of William & Mary.
About O’Melveny
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Contact:
Brandon Jacobsen
O’Melveny & Myers LLP
+1 213 430 8024
bjacobsen@omm.com
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