For a couple decades, prosecutors in Dallas and Houston have left prosecuting corporate ne’er-do-wellers to their bigger brothers and sisters in Washington, D.C. or New York City. The small number of white-collar cases that were pursued took place in the Eastern District of Texas – Plano and Sherman, to be specific.
There are signs that is changing, including the recent indictments in the Northern District of Texas against four executives at United Development Funding.
But legal industry insiders say that a more important indication that the white-collar practice in Texas is heating up is the rash of hiring of federal prosecutors by corporate law firms and litigation boutiques in Texas.
The latest is Gibson, Dunn & Crutchers’ decision to hire Prerak Shah, who has served most recently as acting U.S. Attorney in the Northern District of Texas and spent one year with the Texas Attorney General’s office and more than two years as a lawyer for U.S. Senator Ted Cruz.
In June, Kirkland & Ellis landed former NDTX U.S. Attorney Erin Nealy Cox, who has reportedly been given the authority to build a multi-lawyer white-collar defense and investigations practice in Texas. Veteran white-collar prosecutor Andrew Wirmani, who led the cases against the Forest Park Medical Center surgeons and staff, joined Dallas litigation boutique Reese Marketos also in June.
Haynes and Boone announced only a week ago that NDTX white-collar prosecutor Nick Bunch was joining the Dallas-based firm. And in August, Bradley Arant hired Elisha Kobre, an assistant U.S. Attorney in the Southern District of New York, as a partner in its Dallas office.
While Cox, Wirmani, Kobre and Bunch will office in Dallas, Shah will be based in Gibson Dunn’s Houston office.
“In my 40 years of law practice in Texas, I cannot think of another white-collar business lawyer who has had the breadth of experiences in government at the highest levels that Pre has,” Gibson Dunn partner Rob Walters said. “He understands all the pieces of government agencies and their roles. He brings rare abilities to assist clients with their most difficult challenges.”
Shah clerked for Judge Jerry Smith of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit and then spent five years as an associate at Gibson Dunn in Dallas.
“Gibson Dunn is where I started my legal practice and so this is like coming home,” Shah told The Texas Lawbook. “The firm wants to develop a white-collar and investigations practice in Texas and when Gibson wants to do something, they do it well.”
“The firm has fantastic trial lawyers and fantastic appellate lawyers, and I want to be a fantastic white-collar/investigations lawyer,” he said.
Shah has connections to several high-profile federal judges who he helped through the Senate Judiciary Committee nominations process as Sen. Cruz’ chief of staff or during his time at DOJ. One Texas judge described Shah as “the Michael Clayton of Texas” because he is a good person to call if you have problems on Capitol Hill, DOJ or with the Texas AGs’ office.
Under U.S. Department of Justice guidelines, Shah is prohibited from representing any clients in matters handled by the Northern District for one year following his resignation as acting U.S. attorney, which was Oct. 1.
Shah points out that he has played significant roles on the government and enforcement side of investigations involving Congress, the DOJ and Texas Attorney General.
“I believe that the white-collar legal practice is going to flourish in Texas,” he said. “Investigations and litigation involving whistleblowers and False Claims Act cases could be the next patent litigation when it comes to a wave of cases.”
Under Shah and Nealy Cox, NDTX prosecutors have significantly increased their focus on white-collar criminal matters, including securities and investor fraud, cryptocurrency fraud and corporate misconduct.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Chad Meacham has been appointed by the DOJ to be acting U.S. Attorney until the Biden administration makes its nomination to the post.
The Texas Lawbook reported last month that there are multiple leading candidates for the top prosecutors jobs in all four Texas districts. Here is a link to that article.