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. Ms. Hays also has advised board members, compliance officers, general counsel and senior management employees on how to develop, implement, and maintain effective compliance programs, including FCPA and health care compliance programs.

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

• Company investigating improprieties related to holding back credits to artificially inflate revenue figures
• 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
• Multiple investigations involving potential FDIC regulatory violations, including improper lending and underwriting practices, appraisal procedures, and loan monitoring and failure to respond to FDIC regulatory warnings

Employment Law Violations

• Company investigating allegations of employment discrimination and employee privacy and safety violations
• Company investigating potential employee conflict of interest violations

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

• Development of anti-bribery compliance policies and programs for corporate clients
• Pre-acquisition due diligence and due diligence on subsidiaries and third party agents of corporate clients to ensure compliance with the FCPA, the United Kingdom's Bribery Act, and other anti-bribery laws
• Corporate employee training on the FCPA and the United Kingdom’s Bribery Act
• Investigation of potential violations of the FCPA

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; lead attorney in a three-week federal jury trial
• Public company investigating whether representations made by company executives to the Internal Revenue Service would be accurate.

Publications

"FIRREA: An Old Acronym is Turning into the Government’s New Hammer on Banks and Other Financial Institutions," (co-author) The Banking Law Journal (July/August 2012)

"Foreign Corrupt Practices Act — What Insurance Brokers and Investment Banks Have in Common: Closer Scrutiny of Their Anti-Bribery Compliance Programs," Bloomberg BNA — Securities Regulation & Law Report (May 2012)
 

"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)

Speeches and Presentations

"Current Developments in FCPA Enforcement," Panelist for the annual Journal of International Law and Business Roundtable at Northwestern Law School (April 2013)

"Ensuring Compliance with the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and Other Anti-Bribery Laws," Corporate In-House Training (March 2013)

"The Clean Water Act, Clean Air Act, and Endangered Species Act: Environmental Compliance," Corporate In-House Training (March 2013)

"Addressing Whistleblower Risk," Corporate In-House Training (February 2013)

"Whistleblowers in Today’s Workplace," (panelist) Corporate In-House Training (January 2013)

"Ensuring Ethical and Corruption Free Practices," Panelist for BankersAcuity Presentation (October 2012)

"How to Conduct Internal Investigations," Corporate In-House Training (April 2012)

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.

Awards

Illinois Rising Star — Criminal Defense: White Collar, Illinois Super Lawyers