White Collar Criminal Defense

John Nassikas is a partner in Arnold & Porter LLP’s white collar defense practice group where he concentrates on complex parallel criminal and civil litigations and internal corporate investigations. Mr. Nassikas, who holds the lead coordinating role for the firm’s national and international white collar practice, advises and defends companies, executives, and foreign governments in criminal investigations and prosecutions, particularly in the areas of healthcare fraud, financial fraud, antitrust, and SEC enforcement. He has defended companies and individuals in significant federal and state investigations throughout the United States and internationally. Mr. Nassikas has extensive experience in federal grand jury practice and trial work both as a former federal prosecutor and as a defense attorney. He deals regularly with United States Attorney Offices and the US Department of Justice (DOJ) on matters including healthcare fraud, antitrust, public corruption, government contracts, the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA), and financial fraud investigations.

From 1991 to 1995, Mr. Nassikas was an Assistant United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia. As an Assistant United States Attorney in the Criminal Division, he was responsible for major felony prosecutions, from grand jury through trial and appeal, in areas including financial, telecommunications, and government contracts fraud, violent crime, organized crime, and narcotics trafficking.

Mr. Nassikas is a frequent speaker at events such as the ABA Health Care Fraud Conference, the Institute for International Research Clinical Research Conference, the American Conference Institute Medical Device Conference, and conferences on First Amendment issues. He has been a visiting law school lecturer on criminal law and an instructor of continuing legal education courses at the Federal Bar Association and elsewhere on corporate criminal law topics. He has also written on the international aspects of criminal defense work.

White Collar Criminal Defense Representative Matters

• Leads defense teams in complex medical device and pharmaceutical company parallel criminal and civil investigations.
• Leads defense teams in large criminal antitrust and SEC enforcement probes of the airline, electronics, and healthcare industries and the financial markets.
• Won historic victory in 2009 for one of the two defendants in the so-called "AIPAC [American Israel Public Affairs Committee] Espionage Act case," which The Washington Post editorial page sharply criticized as "dangerous aggrandizement of the government's power" in its efforts to impose secrecy in the name of national security on private citizens. This unprecedented First Amendment case has been the subject of numerous editorials and opinion pieces in The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, and other major newspapers. The Fourth Circuit in February 2009 issued a landmark ruling in favor of the two former AIPAC foreign policy advocates on both Classified Information Procedures Act (CIPA) issues and evidentiary standards under the Espionage Act for speech/conduct covered by the First Amendment, and DOJ followed within months by dismissing the 10-year investigation and prosecution on the eve of trial.
• Has defended an array of individuals, including government officials, lobbyists, doctors, lawyers, accountants, and corporate executives and managers, investigated by federal and state prosecutors nationwide.