Former federal prosecutor Ferdose al-Taie has lateraled to Akerman’s Dallas office as a partner. She was previously a senior counsel at Dykema.
Over her 10-year career with the federal government, al-Taie developed a breadth of experience. She served in three different roles – as trial attorney in the Antitrust Division in Washington, D.C.; special assistant U.S. attorney in the criminal division of the Eastern District of Virginia; and assistant U.S. attorney in the civil division of the District of Arizona – for the U.S. Department of Justice from 2008 to 2012 before joining the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s Division of Enforcement as a senior counsel.
The first white collar criminal defense attorney in Akerman’s Dallas office, al-Taie says her diversity of experience at the DOJ and SEC makes her a “one-stop shop” for clients navigating federal or state government investigations.
“I provide clients with unique risk assessments where I share my 360 degree view of what could go wrong and how best to defend against it,” she says. “That is very important when it comes to defending against civil investigations which likely have a criminal prosecution component where DOJ has not yet surfaced.
“It’s my job to see around corners to solve problems that individuals and companies may not have even known existed.”
al-Taie is currently representing a publicly-traded corporation in a parallel criminal and civil federal investigation and prosecution. In addition to her white collar defense practice, al-Taie – who clerked for the late Chief Judge Jerry Buchmeyer of the Northern District of Texas – is a federal equity receiver, one of the few receivers in the NDTX who is a woman of color.
She also has an active advisory practice, assisting private equity firms, REITs and home offices in staying in their safe harbors by creating compliance programs that are “effective without eating into profit margins.”
When discussing reasons for making the move, al-Taie says she was impressed by Akerman’s “tremendous platform” and recent recognition in Law360’s 2019 Glass Ceiling Report as a top five law firm for female attorneys.
“It is a perfect fit with augmenting the firm’s existing federal equity receivership practice and being the first antitrust competition lawyer and white collar criminal defense lawyer in the Dallas office,” she adds.
al-Taie is the second Texas partner hire by Akerman in May. Earlier this month, the firm – which has about 65 attorneys in the state – brought in Austin patent litigator Ryan Beard.