Larry D. Thompson
Of Counse
Finch McCraine, LLP
Larry D. Thompson, who joined Finch McCranie LLP as Counsel in July 2015, is the former U.S. Deputy Attorney General (2001-2003), the second highest ranking position in the U.S. Department of Justice.
In a distinguished public and private sector career over more than three decades, Mr. Thompson also has prosecuted complex cases as U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Georgia, directed internal investigations and defended individuals and businesses in special matters as a partner in a major law firm, and served as General Counsel and Senior Vice President of PepsiCo, Inc.
During his tenure as Deputy Attorney General, Mr. Thompson led the Department of Justice’s National Security Coordination Council, as well as the government-wide Corporate Fraud Task Force. In 2000, Congress selected Mr. Thompson to chair the bi-partisan Judicial Review Commission on Foreign Asset Control. In 2004, he served as a Senior Fellow with the Brookings Institution in Washington, D.C.
Prior to serving as U.S. Deputy Attorney General, Mr. Thompson was a partner with the Atlanta-based law firm of King & Spalding, LLP, and was co-founder of the firm’s special matters and government investigations practice. He previously served as U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Georgia from 1982 to 1986. From 1995 to 1998, he served as Independent Counsel for the Department of Housing and Urban Development Investigation.
Most recently, Mr. Thompson served as Senior Vice President for Government Affairs and General Counsel for PepsiCo. He also served as the John A. Sibley Professor of Corporate and Business Law at the University of Georgia, a position he will continue while with Finch McCranie LLP.
A native of Hannibal, Missouri, Mr. Thompson earned his Bachelor of Arts degree at Culver-Stockton College in Canton, Missouri, his Master’s degree at Michigan State University and his law degree at the University of Michigan. He has received numerous awards for his professional achievements, including the Edmund Jennings Randolph Award for outstanding contributions to the accomplishment of the Department of Justice’s mission, the Outstanding Litigator Award from the Federal Bar Association and an Honorary Doctor of Laws degree from Pace University in New York. He has also been recognized by Atlanta’s Gate City Bar Association as a member of its Hall of Fame.
Paul Pelletier
Principal
PEP Talk Advisors
An expert in workplace respect, bullying, conflict management, leadership and ethics, Paul uses his extensive background in corporate law, team management and project/program management to help organizations establish respectful workplace and diversity policies, training, programs, and processes for safely, fairly, and effectively addressing disrespectful behavior.
Paul is determined to “disrupt the bully and disrespect industries”. Represented by the National Speakers Bureau, he captivates by humorously and openly speaking about the “elephants in the room” that ruin our workplaces by creating chaos, intimidation, fear and dysfunction.
Fluently trilingual (English, French and Spanish), he regularly presents at global conferences, including past events in Dubai, Switzerland, England, Italy, and throughout the United States and Canada. His topics resonate for all industries, sectors and organizations – he has worked with universities, professional associations, companies, and public sector organizations. Paul has impacted audiences ranging from technology industry leaders to dentists and human resource professionals to project managers. There is no organization free from challenges with disrespectful behavior. He also provides half-day workshops and master classes on all his topics.
Lord D. Gold
Partner
David Gold & Associates
Until February 2011, Lord Gold was a partner at the leading international law firm, Herbert Smith (now Herbert Smith Freehills), having started his career there in 1973 when he joined the firm as an articled clerk (trainee in today's language). He joined the litigation practice in 1975 and became a partner in 1983, head of litigation in 2003 and Senior Partner in 2005, a position he held until May 2010. Lord Gold has a pre-eminent reputation as litigator and is recognized as one of the country's leading litigators by all of the top legal directories.
Lord Gold's clients have included many FTSE 100 and leading international companies, major investment banks and high-profile individuals.
During his time as senior partner Lord Gold oversaw the firm's international expansion, notably in relation to the major emerging markets such as the Middle East and Russia, the opening of a new office in Spain, the growth of the banking and finance capability and the strengthening of the firm's distinctive 'twin engine', its increasingly integrated disputes and corporate practices.
Alice S. Fisher
Partner
Latham & Watkins, LLP
Alice Fisher is a partner in Latham’s Washington, D.C. office and a former member of the firm’s Executive Committee. She focuses her practice on white collar criminal investigations and internal investigations, and advises clients on a range of criminal matters and civil government enforcement matters.
Ms. Fisher has significant experience with corporate investigations and enforcement matters and frequently provides strategic counsel to corporations on managing the legal risks of operating in a global economy.
From 2005-2008, Ms. Fisher served as assistant attorney general in charge of the Criminal Division of the US DOJ. As assistant attorney general, Ms. Fisher led more than 750 attorneys and staff responsible for federal criminal enforcement policy as well as handling criminal matters in federal courts across the country in all areas of federal criminal law enforcement.
Under her leadership, the Criminal Division pursued a broad array of federal criminal investigations and prosecutions, with particular focus on corporate fraud matters, including securities fraud, procurement fraud, financial institution fraud, anti-money laundering, healthcare fraud, computer hacking and cyber security, national security, as well as US-domestic and international corruption.
Ms. Fisher also chaired the National Procurement Fraud Task Force, supervised the Medicare Fraud Strike Force, and served as a member of the President's Corporate Fraud Task Force.
She handled various transnational and multinational law enforcement operations and policies, including bilateral agreements and treaties involving information sharing and global criminal enforcement initiatives. Representing the DOJ in front of Congress, Ms. Fisher testified on criminal enforcement policies and served on the Federal Criminal Rules Committee.
Ms. Fisher previously held other positions in government, including deputy special counsel to a US Senate Special Committee.
Ms. Fisher has published articles and spoken on criminal law topics such as the criminalization of corporate conduct, the FCPA, healthcare and procurement fraud, the False Claims Act, the US criminal enforcement environment, public corruption and the honest services statute, financial crime in the financial services industry, securities fraud, identity theft, cybercrime, and national security. She is also an elected member of The American Law Institute.
Sam Eastwood
Partner
Mayer Brown
Sam is a partner in Mayer Brown’s Litigation practice in London and a member of the Firm’s White Collar Defense & Compliance practice which represents corporations, boards of directors, board committees, executives and public officials in criminal , civil and regulatory enforcement proceedings around the world.
Sam's experience includes: pursuing and defending claims arising from significant corporate acquisitions; competition litigation; advising on joint venture and shareholder disputes; fraud investigation; and seeking injunctive relief. He advises on ethics, anti-corruption and human rights issues in connection with companies’ internal compliance policies and procedures and international business transactions. Sam has significant experience in cross border corporate investigations involving complex financial and accounting issues and anti-corruption matters throughout Africa, Asia, Europe (particularly the Nordic region), Middle East and South America. He regularly conducts risk assessments, transactional due diligence and compliance program reviews.
Sam acted as Independent Compliance Monitor for Macmillan Publishers Limited, reporting to the World Bank and the Serious Fraud Office, and has acted on a number of other quasi monitor mandates linked to World Bank sanctioned entities. He was part of the UK project team that developed the International Standards Institute (ISO) standard for anti-corruption management programs and previously sat on the British Standards Institute’s panel for the drafting of the Anti-Bribery Standard and conducted subsequent pilot reviews of this Standard.
Sam sits on the board of Transparency International UK, as well as the Management Committee of University College London’s Centre for Ethics and Law. He is a member the City of London White Collar Crime Committee. He is co-chair of the Professional Against Corruption Group which he helped to set up at the time of the UK anti-corruption summit in 2016 and a founding member of the International Association for Independent Corporate Monitors.
Sam is recognized as a Band 1 practitioner in Chambers UK Financial Crime: Corporate and a leading individual in Legal 500 UK - Corporate Crime (including fraud, bribery and corruption).
Sam is a qualified Solicitor Advocate and accredited mediator.
Bart M. Schwartz
Chairman
Guidepost Solutions, LLC
Described by the New York Times as the person “often sought out in…thorny situations” by corporations and having served as Chief of the Criminal Division of the U.S. Attorney’s Office in New York, Mr. Schwartz has wide experience providing advice and support to corporations, governments and individuals. For more than 30 years, he has managed crises, complex investigations, security, and sophisticated investigative services. Throughout his career, Mr. Schwartz has also had numerous court and other appointments to monitor the conduct of corporations, including BP, Deutsche Bank and Hewlett-Packard. He has received assignments from or with the approval of the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Department of Justice, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the S.D.N.Y., the Manhattan District Attorney’s office, the New York School Construction Authority, and the New York Department of Environmental Conservation. As Chief of the Criminal Division of the U.S. Attorney’s Office in New York under Rudolph Giuliani, Mr. Schwartz had direct responsibility for overseeing prosecutions related to financial and business fraud, organized crime, and other types of white collar crime. In 1991 he founded and was CEO of Decision Strategies, an internationally recognized investigative and security firm. Mr. Schwartz is currently the Chairman and CEO of SolutionPoint International, Inc. which owns Guidepost Solutions, LLC, a global investigation and security consulting firm; Bode Technology Group, Inc., an internationally recognized forensic DNA laboratory; and NSM Surveillance, a manufacturer of sophisticated surveillance equipment for the military and other government agencies. He also chairs the Compliance Committee of the Board of a publicly traded company.
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