Washington, D.C. – Foley & Lardner LLP announced today that William L. Clements and Donald E. Griffith have joined the firm’s Litigation Department in the Washington, D.C. office. Clements is a partner in the Firm’s White Collar Defense & Corporate Compliance practice, and Griffith is a senior counsel in the Securities Litigation, Enforcement & Regulatory practice.
“Both attorneys’ backgrounds in the federal government will benefit our clients who are seeking counsel on the corporate compliance and securities enforcement laws that impact their businesses,” said Richard Weiss, managing partner of Foley & Lardner’s Washington, D.C. office. “Bill and Don will add substantial depth to our nationally recognized practices.”
As a partner in the White Collar Defense & Corporate Compliance practice, Clements will advise clients on compliance with U.S. trade controls laws and regulations such as dual-use exports, munitions exports, economic sanctions, foreign boycotts and the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. Griffith will focus his practice on representation of public companies, broker-dealers, and officers and directors in Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) enforcement, compliance and litigation matters as a member of the Firm’s Securities Litigation, Enforcement & Regulatory practice.
“Bill and Don are invaluable additions to our strong nucleus of corporate compliance and securities law attorneys,” said Jon Wilson, chair of Foley & Lardner’s Litigation Department. “Their extensive experience in advising companies in a variety of securities and compliance matters will benefit our clients and the Firm.”
Clements spent almost 15 years as a policymaker in various positions with the federal government, including the National Security Council, where he coordinated the development of the Clinton Administration’s policies related to restrictions on international trade to stem the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. He also served in the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Export Administration, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission and the office of Senator Max Baucus. Before joining Foley & Lardner, Clements served as corporate counsel for international trade regulation for the General Electric Company, where he was responsible for advising the company’s industrial and financial business groups on U.S. trade controls laws and regulations.
Clements earned an LL.M. in international and comparative law from the Georgetown University Law Center and a juris doctorate from the Suffolk University Law School. He also earned a bachelor of science degree in industrial engineering and operations research from Cornell University.
Before joining Foley & Lardner, Griffith was senior counsel and branch chief of the Division of Enforcement of the SEC, where he supervised and conducted investigations on a wide range of federal securities law issues including financial fraud, insider trading and broker-dealer violations. Before joining Foley & Lardner, Griffith was law, compliance and ethics counsel for LRN, The Legal Knowledge Company in Los Angeles, where he was responsible for developing online, interactive compliance, ethics and corporate governance education courses for Global 1000 companies. He also provided counsel on best practices for compliance with the Sarbanes-Oxley Act and the Federal Sentencing Guidelines’ corporate compliance program requirements. Griffith began his legal career as an associate in the litigation department of a New York law firm, where he focused on regulatory, compliance, arbitration and litigation matters.
Griffith earned his juris doctorate from the Syracuse University College of Law, where he was associate editor of the Syracuse Law Review. He was also a member of the Order of the Coif and the Moot Court Board, as well as an Andrews Scholar. He obtained a master of public administration degree from The Maxwell School at Syracuse University and a bachelor of science degree from the University of Akron. He is admitted to practice in New York, California and Washington D.C., and before the U.S. District Courts for the Southern and Eastern Districts of New York.
About Foley & Lardner LLP
Foley & Lardner LLP has nearly 1,000 attorneys in 19 offices. Its practice includes corporate governance, securities enforcement, litigation, merger and acquisitions, intellectual property and IP litigation, labor and employment, and tax with particular emphasis in the automotive, e-business and information technology, energy, financial services, food, golf and resort services, insurance, health care, life sciences, nanotechnology, and sports industries. The firm’s Web site can be found at www.foley.com.
###
