Valarie Hays concentrates her practice in white collar criminal defense, corporate compliance and complex civil litigation. Ms. Hays has represented executives and other management-level employees, corporations and governmental entities in internal investigations and investigations conducted by the federal government and state authorities.

In her civil litigation practice, Ms. Hays has represented corporations and individuals in fraud, civil conspiracy, employment discrimination, negligence, breach of contract, trade secret, unfair competition and securities fraud matters.

Experience

Ms. Hays has represented individuals and businesses in the following types of internal investigations, corporate compliance matters and white collar criminal defense cases:

Accounting Fraud

• Executive under investigation for False Claims Act violations
• Company investigating employee accounting improprieties to cover up the theft of electronic goods; presented findings and recommendations to the company's general counsel
• Company investigating improprieties related to revenue recognition; presented findings and recommendations to the company's Chief Compliance Officer

Bank Fraud and Bank Regulatory Violations

• Multi-billion dollar company in connection with a FBI bank fraud investigation focusing on potential improprieties related to Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs), collateral appraisals, lending decisions, and workouts; presented findings and recommendations to the bank's president, the CEO and other board members
• Corporation investigating potential FDIC regulatory violations, including improper lending and underwriting practices, appraisal procedures, and loan monitoring and failure to respond to FDIC regulatory warnings

Environmental Violations

• Executive called to testify before the Marine Board of Investigations related to the Deepwater Horizon rig explosion and oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico
• Gas company under federal investigation for Clean Water Act violations; after conducting an internal investigation at the company and presenting our findings, the prosecutors agreed to close the investigation
• Supervisor of oil company employee under federal investigation for environmental violations
• Company needing assistance with the development of an employee training program focusing on ensuring compliance with environmental regulations and avoiding violations of criminal environmental laws
• Electric company under investigation by the Environmental Protection Agency and sued by the Department of Justice for violations of the New Source Review, Prevention of Significant Deterioration provisions of the Clean Air Act

Extortion

• Individual charged in federal indictment with extortion

False Statements

• Executive of a company under investigation by the Department of Justice for making false statements to the United States Congress and other governmental agencies

Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and Other Anti-Bribery Laws

• Ms. Hays has represented international corporations needing assistance with the preparation of an anti-bribery compliance program and third party due diligence to ensure compliance with the FCPA, the United Kingdom's Bribery Act, and other anti-bribery laws

Health Care Fraud

• Doctor in federal investigation of alleged billing improprieties
• Executive charged in federal indictment with participating in a scheme involving the illegal sale of prescription medications over the Internet

Public Corruption

• Chicago public entity and its employees during a federal investigation of alleged bribery
• A government agency in the state of Illinois in connection with the federal investigation of former Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich

Securities Fraud

• Oil and gas trader charged in a federal indictment with artificial manipulation of the price of propane
• Executive charged in a federal indictment with making false statements to investors in an oil well drilling program
• Partner and managers of accounting firm during a federal investigation and trials related to their former client's alleged misrepresentations to investors
• Individual under federal investigation for making false statements to investors related to a commercial real estate development project

Tax Fraud and Other Tax Violations

• Individual charged in a federal indictment with participating in a multi-million dollar tax fraud scheme
• Public company for the purpose of assessing whether representations made by company executives to the Internal Revenue Service would be accurate; interviewed numerous executives and employees of the company as part of the investigation; presented findings and recommendations to the company's general counsel

Publications

"Communication Is the Key to Avoiding e-Discovery Pitfalls," (co-author) National Law Review (May 4, 2010)

"Corporate Officials Beware: Knowledge May No Longer Be Required for FCPA Liability," (co-author) Bloomberg Law Reports - Risk and Compliance (April 2010); Republished in Bloomberg Law Reports - Corporate Counsel (May 2010)

"Grease Payments are a Thing of the Past as the Reach of the FCPA Continues to Expand," (co-author) Bloomberg Law Reports - Risk and Compliance (March 2010)

Pro Bono Activities

Ms. Hays represents criminal defendants through the Federal Defender Program.

Previous Experience

Ms. Hays formerly served as an Assistant United States Attorney in the Northern District of Illinois. In that capacity she prosecuted crimes involving fraud, public corruption, illegal guns, narcotics and other violations of federal law. She acted as first chair in 11 federal jury trials and second chair in three federal jury trials, and received the Department of Justice Special Achievement Award in 2002, 2003, 2006 and 2007, as well as a Department of Justice award related to a particular narcotics investigation in 2007.