McDermott Will & Emery announced today that Sarah E. Walters, formerly the Chief of the Economic Crimes Unit in the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Massachusetts, has joined the Firm’s Litigation Practice Group as a partner in the Boston office.
As Chief of the Economic Crimes Unit, Ms. Walters supervised a team responsible for the investigation and prosecution of a wide array of financial crimes, including securities fraud, investment fraud, bank fraud, tax and bankruptcy crimes, and prosecutions under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. Her responsibilities included coordinating the Economic Crimes Unit’s criminal prosecutions with parallel civil matters brought by the Securities and Exchange Commission, Massachusetts Securities Division and other regulators.
Prior to becoming Chief of the Economic Crimes Unit, Ms. Walters was an Assistant U.S. Attorney for six years prosecuting a wide range of white collar matters including insider trading, market manipulation, investment advisor fraud, and tax evasion. She was the lead prosecutor on the first securities fraud undercover operation in the District of Massachusetts which led to more than 30 convictions. Before joining the U.S. Attorney’s office, Ms. Walters was a partner at a major Boston law firm where she represented clients in both criminal and civil matters.
Ms. Walters wide-ranging expertise in fraud and other white collar criminal matters complements and further strengthens a number of McDermott’s preeminent litigation practice areas, including the defense of alleged health care fraud, financial fraud and securities law violations.
“We are delighted to welcome Sarah to the Firm,” said Tony Bongiorno, partner-in-charge of the Firm’s Boston office. “Sarah is very highly regarded in the Boston legal community, among the bench and bar alike. Her substantial court-room skills and experience as a government lawyer add tremendous depth to our trial team, which has a well-earned reputation for success in high-stakes controversies and complex cases.”
Mark W. Pearlstein, who heads the white collar practice in the Boston office, added, “Sarah is a terrific addition to our litigation team in Boston and firm-wide. Sarah’s experience as economics crime chief and her substantial trial experience will enable her to represent clients facing a broad range of legal issues.”
Ms. Walters received a BA cum laude from the University of Pennsylvania, and a JD from Boston College Law School, where she was a member of the Law Review, graduating magna cum laude and Order of the Coif.
About McDermott Will & Emery’s Litigation Practice Group
McDermott’s global Litigation Practice Group includes highly skilled trial lawyers in offices throughout the United States, EU and UK. Combining superior advocacy skills with deep legal knowledge, our lawyers counsel companies and individuals in virtually all major industries, and have a particularly strong reputation for helping multinational clients win big-ticket cases. We strive to promote an atmosphere that holds individual and collective excellence, client service, teamwork and esprit de corps among our core values. By pairing our litigators with other McDermott lawyers in top-practice areas, we capture a substantial competitive advantage in the courtroom.
About McDermott Will & Emery
McDermott Will & Emery is a premier international law firm with a diversified business practice. Numbering more than 1,000 lawyers, we have offices in Boston, Brussels, Chicago, Dallas, Düsseldorf, Frankfurt, Houston, London, Los Angeles, Miami, Milan, Munich, New York, Orange County, Paris, Rome, Seoul, Silicon Valley and Washington, DC. Further extending our reach into Asia, we have a strategic alliance with MWE China Law Offices in Shanghai.
