About Eric B. Bruce

Eric is the US head of the firm's disputes, litigation and arbitration, and global investigations practice. He is a nationally recognized trial lawyer who specializes in complex white collar criminal defense matters, global investigations, crisis management, congressional investigations and bet-the-company civil litigation. Eric splits his time between Washington and New York.

Eric regularly defends multinational companies and their officers and directors against allegations of bribery/Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) violations, money laundering, securities and accounting fraud, insider trading, antitrust violations, tax evasion, and violations of the World Bank's Integrity Compliance Guidelines. He also frequently advises boards of directors and audit committees regarding complex cross-border litigation and investigations and develops strategies to favorably resolve those matters short of litigation.

While in government, Eric served as Counselor to the Attorney General of the United States and advised the Attorney General on complex white collar cases, all cross-border criminal investigations and all national security investigations, including cybersecurity, terrorism and espionage matters. Additionally, he served as Senior Counsel to the Assistant Attorney General for the Criminal Division at the DOJ, advising on complex issues arising from securities fraud and insider trading cases, as well as a variety of national security matters.

Eric also served for more than 10 years as a federal prosecutor in the US Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York where he successfully prosecuted a wide range of cases, including complex white collar frauds, international terrorism cases and high-profile extradition matters.

Recent work

• White collar criminal defense:
• Representing a corporate officer in the highly publicized, eight-week-long “FCPA sting trial” in Washington, DC. Eric obtained an acquittal on several charges and a mistrial on the remaining charges when the jurors were unable to reach a unanimous verdict. Ultimately, the government dropped all charges against his client and all other defendants in the case. Upon dismissal of the charges, the judge recognized the “tireless and spirited efforts” of defense counsel and noted that “their hard work and effective advocacy are a testament to how strong our criminal defense bar is nationwide.”
• Representing a foreign brokerage firm charged with over $50 million in insider trading by the SEC and obtaining a voluntary dismissal of all charges following a thorough internal investigation of the charges and a presentation to convince the SEC that the trades at issue were based on legitimate market research.
• Representing a corporate executive in securing a rare declination of prosecution following allegations that the client had failed to pay taxes on over $14 million in Swiss bank accounts over a period of more than seven years.
• Representing the former CEO of a global telecommunications company regarding alleged FCPA violations arising from the company’s operations in central Asia in an investigation by the DOJ and the SEC. Ultimately, no criminal or civil enforcement charges were filed against the client and all counts in a subsequent class action lawsuit against the client were dismissed.
• Representing the former CEO and Chairman of a publicly traded biopharmaceutical company charged with over $10 million in securities fraud arising from an alleged scheme to fraudulently inflate the company's revenue through "secret side deals" with distributors and to conceal material facts from the company's internal accountants and outside auditors.
• Representing two French proprietary trading firms in a high-profile SEC civil enforcement action alleging over $25 million in insider trading through the hacking of various newswire services to access corporate earnings announcements before they were publicly announced.

• Investigations and monitorships:
• Conducting an internal investigation on behalf of a Fortune 100 company into possible FCPA violations arising from the company’s operations in Asia.
• Conducting an internal investigation on behalf of a multinational energy company into possible procurement fraud occurring as part of the company’s operations in China.
• Conducting an independent investigation on behalf of a Chinese company under investigation by the World Bank's Integrity Vice Presidency regarding allegations of corruption arising out of an irrigation project in Ethiopia.
• Conducting an internal investigation on behalf of the special committee of the board of directors for a major media publication into allegations of misconduct in the sale of overseas licensing rights, arising from a whistleblower complaint.
• Serving as the independent integrity compliance consultant appointed by the African Development Bank to review and assess the compliance program and activities of a Chinese state-owned enterprise operating in Africa.