Current Employment Position(s)

Partner-in-Charge, New York Office

Lawyer Overview

Paul A. Engelmayer is the Partner-in-Charge of WilmerHale’s 175-lawyer New York office. He is also a partner in the firm's Litigation/Controversy and Securities Departments, and a member of the Investigations and Criminal Litigation, Securities Litigation and Enforcement and Appellate and Supreme Court Litigation Practice Groups. He is also a member of the Business Trial Group. Mr. Engelmayer joined the firm in 2000.

Practice

Mr. Engelmayer's practice consists of representing institutional and individual clients in often high-profile white-collar criminal cases and securities-enforcement investigations; conducting internal investigations; and representing institutions in complex securities and commercial litigation. Mr. Engelmayer also has an active appellate practice, in which he represents clients in appellate and Supreme Court litigation. Mr. Engelmayer's litigation experience has spanned a wide array of subject areas, including federal criminal law, securities law, constitutional law (including First Amendment law), antitrust law, health care law, and immigration law. He has extensive jury trial experience. He also has extensive appellate experience, having argued approximately 20 cases in the federal courts of appeals and four cases in the Supreme Court of the United States. In his nine years at the firm, Mr. Engelmayer has also consistently had an active pro bono practice.

Recent Highlights

Mr. Engelmayer:

• Leads the firm's representation of Citigroup Inc. in litigation against Wachovia Corp. and Wells Fargo & Co., in which Citigroup alleges breach of contract claims against Wachovia and tortious interference claims against Wells Fargo, based on Wachovia’s breach of an agreement in which it agreed to negotiate its acquisition exclusively with Citigroup. 
• Leads the firm's representation of The Hartford in nationwide multi-district class-action litigation ("In re Insurance Brokerage Antitrust Litigation"), in which plaintiffs challenge the payment by numerous insurers of contingent commissions to brokers. The district court dismissed plaintiff's complaints; an appeal is pending.
• Led the firm's representation of UBS and PaineWebber in a nationwide class action, in which plaintiffs challenged commissions charged by UBS on all Nasdaq trades. The district court denied class certification.
• Is counsel to numerous financial institution and securities industry clients, and also executives, in connection with criminal and enforcement investigations by federal and state prosecutors and regulators, into subjects including alleged accounting fraud, options backdating, insider trading, and improper public disclosures.
• Is regular outside counsel to a major university, and a major philanthropic institution, in connection with government investigations and litigation work.
• Served as counsel to a major newspaper and reporter in connection with the Valerie Plame/Scooter Libby investigation.
• Advised the Office of the Governor of Connecticut regarding proceedings to impeach the Governor.
• Has been a key member of firm's appellate team on numerous successful appeals, including: (1) on behalf of Bear Stearns, won reversal from Second Circuit of $160 million jury verdict in favor of currency-trading investor (de Kwiatkowski v. Bear Stearns); court ordered case dismissed; (2) on behalf of group of appellants, won affirmance from Second Circuit of dismissal of criminal indictment against various KPMG partners, based on Sixth Amendment violation by government (United States v. Stein et al.); and (3) on behalf of Merrill Lynch executive William Fuhs, won reversal from Fifth Circuit of conviction, and entry of judgment of acquittal, in case involving allegations of sham "barge" transaction between Enron and Merrill Lynch (United States v. Brown et al). Mr. Engelmayer currently represents Ronald E. Ferguson, former CEO of Gen Re, in his appeal of his criminal conviction.

Prior Experience

Prior to joining the firm in January 2000, Mr. Engelmayer was an Assistant US Attorney and Chief of the Major Crimes Unit at the US Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York. As Chief of the Major Crimes Unit, Mr. Engelmayer supervised nearly two dozen prosecutors specializing in white collar-crime matters, including corporate crimes, financial institution fraud, mail and wire fraud, environmental crimes, tax crimes, money laundering, extortion, computer crimes and other intellectual property crimes. Some of Mr. Engelmayer's notable prosecutions include: United States v. Lawrence X. Cusack Jr., involving a scheme to sell forged documents containing the alleged handwriting of John F. Kennedy and others; United States v. William F. Duker, involving the partner of a New York City law firm who defrauded the FDIC and RTC through a billing fraud scheme; and United States v. Autumn Jackson, et al., involving a scheme to extort $40 million from the actor Bill Cosby. Mr. Engelmayer also served as Deputy Chief Appellate Attorney at the US Attorney’s Office.

Prior to joining the US Attorney's Office, Mr. Engelmayer was Assistant to the Solicitor General at the US Department of Justice for two years, where he argued cases before the Supreme Court on behalf of the United States; wrote numerous briefs; and advised the Solicitor General as to federal appellate litigation.

Professional Activities

Mr. Engelmayer has spoken on various panels regarding issues in criminal and civil litigation and internal investigations. He has also lectured at Harvard Law School on federal extortion and bribery law and on mail fraud. His analysis of the "Pardongate" scandal was published on the op-ed page of the Wall Street Journal and he has been quoted in The New York Times and The Washington Post, among other publications, on legal issues.

Prior to attending law school, Mr. Engelmayer was a staff reporter for the Wall Street Journal.

Honors and Awards

• Named a “New York Super Lawyer” in ciminal defense: white collar in the 2006, 2007, 2008 and 2009 issues of Law and Politics
• Listed in the 2010 edition of Benchmark Litigation for his leading white collar crime practice
• Recognized as a leader in litigation: white-collar crime & government investigations in the 2007, 2008 and 2009 editions of Chambers USA: America's Leading Lawyers for Business
• Recognized for exceptional standing in the legal community for his litigation practice in the 2006 edition of Chambers USA: America’s Leading Lawyers for Business, named specifically for his work in white collar crime and government investigations
• Selected by his peers for inclusion in each edition of The Best Lawyers in America from 2005-2010

Areas of Practice

• Litigation/Controversy
• Investigations and Criminal Litigation
• Securities
• Securities Litigation
• Appellate and Supreme Court Litigation
• Business Trial Group
• Litigation and Enforcement

Representative Cases

• Prominent attorney (anonymous)
• The Hartford Financial Group , (US District Court for the District of New Jersey)
• WilmerHale Secures Victory for KPMG Employees in High-Profile Case , (US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit)

West Practice Categories

Securities Law

Bar Admissions

• New York
• District of Columbia

Education

• Harvard Law School, 1987
  JD
  Honors: magna cum laude
• Harvard University, 1983
  BA
  Honors: summa cum laude

Published Works

• Paul A. Engelmayer, a partner resident in the New York Office of Wilmer, Cutler & Pickering,was recently interviewed by Corporate Crime Reporter., 2001
• Paul A. Engelmayer, a partner resident in the New York Office of Wilmer, Cutler & Pickering,was recently interviewed by Corporate Crime Reporter. The interview focused on Paul’s legal analysis of U.S. Attorney Mary Jo White’s ongoing investigation of all, 2001

Address

399 Park Avenue
New York, NY 10022

Phones

+1 212 230 8820 (Business Phone)

Faxes

+1 212 230 8888 (Business Fax)

Emails

Contact Us (Business Email)

Websites

www.wilmerhale.com