Suzanne Jaffe Bloom, Partner

Suzanne Jaffe Bloom is a litigation partner in Winston & Strawn’s New York office.  Ms. Bloom represents public and private companies, special board committees, financial institutions, investment firms, and individuals in all aspects of white collar criminal and regulatory matters, complex civil litigation, and internal investigations, involving a wide range of issues, including alleged violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, the False Claims Act, and the Anti-Kickback Statute, as well as alleged accounting irregularities, tax fraud, insider trading, embezzlement, money laundering, corruption, health care fraud, securities fraud, commercial fraud, bribery and obstruction of justice.  In addition, Ms. Bloom represents clients in connection with qui tam / whistleblower litigation and complex civil litigation, including corporate governance litigation, and counsels clients on the development, implementation and enhancement of compliance and remediation programs.  She also served as counsel to a state regulator in connection with its monitoring of several large insurance brokerage firms following a multistate investigation of allegations of bid-rigging and other wrongdoing. 

Ms. Bloom’s clients benefit from her wealth of prior government experience.  Ms. Bloom served as a prosecutor in both the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York, where she was Deputy Chief of the Long Island Criminal Division, overseeing its corporate fraud and complex white collar matters. During her 12 years as a federal prosecutor, Ms. Bloom conducted numerous grand jury investigations and federal jury trials, and successfully investigated and prosecuted sophisticated white collar crimes, including those involving public corruption, money laundering, tax offenses, bank fraud, and securities fraud. In addition, Ms. Bloom served as a member of the Eastern District of New York’s Complex White Collar/Corporate Fraud Committee and U.S. Attorney’s Advisory Committee.

Ms. Bloom is ranked in Chambers USA 2012 as one of New York’s top lawyers in white collar and government investigation practice; is recognized as a “Super Lawyer” in the 2009, 2010, 2011 and 2012 editions of New York Super Lawyers; and was honored with the Burton Award For Legal Achievement in 2007. She is also recognized in the 2012 List of Top Women Attorneys in the New York Metro Area (New York Times Magazine - December 30, 2012) and in the “October 2011 Legal Elite” list of “Top Women Attorneys” (Avenue Insider). 

Ms. Bloom earned a J.D., cum laude, from Harvard Law School and graduated summa cum laude from the State University of New York at Binghamton, where she received a Bachelor of Science in Business Management and the Horwitz Award for Excellence in Business Management.  

Prior to becoming a federal prosecutor, Ms. Bloom was in private practice in Manhattan, where she represented institutional, corporate, and individual clients in connection with complex commercial litigation, including class action and antitrust litigation.

Representative Matters

• Health Care – Representation of a public company in connection with criminal and civil investigations by U.S. Attorney’s Offices and State Attorney General’s Offices of alleged violations of the Anti-Kickback Statute and the False Claims Act and related qui tam litigation, preventing criminal charges against client and securing favorable resolution of various civil proceedings.
• Financial Fraud; Theft; Embezzlement – Representation of a private company in connection with a federal criminal investigation involving allegations of fraud, theft, and embezzlement, successfully preventing criminal charges against client.
• Official Corruption – Representation of private equity firms in connection with a nationwide investigation by the SEC and State Attorney General’s Offices of allegations of official corruption related to public pension funds, successfully avoiding charges against clients.
• Tax – Representation of an international financial institution in connection with a federal grand jury investigation and related civil litigations involving allegations of violations of civil and criminal tax laws, securing favorable resolutions.
• Securities – Representation of individuals in connection with federal criminal investigations of allegations of insider trading and obstruction of justice, successfully avoiding charges against clients.
• Corporate Governance; Investor Litigation – Representation of an  investor in a biotechnology company in connection with civil litigation involving organizational governance issues, securing favorable resolution.
• FCPA – Representation of an executive of a public company with worldwide operations in connection with a Department of Justice investigation of alleged violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.
• Health Care – Representation of a public company with global operations in connection with a federal investigation of alleged violations of the False Claims Act.
• Accounting Fraud; Securities – Representation of the Audit Committee of a public company with international operations in connection with an internal investigation of allegations of accounting and securities fraud.
• Securities – Representation of the Board of Directors of a public software company in connection with an internal investigation of the conduct and stock trading activities of the company’s CEO.
• FCPA; Money Laundering; Securities – Representation of the Audit Committee of a group of global advertising and marketing service companies in connection with the oversight of more than 40 internal investigations conducted worldwide, involving allegations of violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, money laundering, and accounting irregularities; the issuance of related financial restatements; and related SEC inquiries.
• Financial Fraud; Theft; Embezzlement – Representation of individuals in connection with civil litigation involving claims of financial fraud and theft, obtaining dismissal of all claims.
• Official Corruption – Representation of a managing director of a financial institution in connection with an internal investigation of allegations regarding official corruption, securing favorable resolution.
• Tax; Organizational Governance; Compliance Counseling – Representation of the Executive Committee of a large professional services firm in connection with its internal investigation of allegations of wrongdoing and the development and implementation of a remediation and compliance program.
• Compliance Counseling – Counseling the Audit Committee of a group of global advertising and marketing service companies in connection with the development and implementation of worldwide compliance and remediation plans concerning, among other things, compliance with the FCPA, related anti-bribery laws and anti-money laundering laws, following worldwide internal investigations.
• Insurance; Compliance Monitoring – Representation of a state regulator in connection with the examination and compliance monitoring of several insurance brokerage companies in the wake of a multistate investigation of alleged wrongdoing and the resulting settlement agreements.

U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York

• Led investigation and successful prosecution of 15 present and former police officers and detectives with the New York City Police Department on various federal tax charges, including tax evasion and conspiracy to defraud the United States.
• Responsible for the successful prosecution of corrupt construction contractors and attorneys on charges of bribery relating to construction contracts with the New York City Board of Education and the School Construction Authority.
• Led an investigation of corruption within the International Ladies Garment Workers Union and the Ladies Apparel Contractors Association, resulting in the conviction of several labor union officials and garment contractors on labor racketeering charges, including conspiracy and bribery.
• Responsible for the successful prosecution of a DEA Special Agent and other DEA employees on charges relating to public corruption and narcotics conspiracies.
• Led an investigation of corruption at the New York Office of the U.S. Immigration & Naturalization Services, resulting in arrests and convictions of INS employees and brokers on various charges, including conspiracy, bribery, trafficking in fraudulently obtained INS documents, and establishing a commercial enterprise to evade the immigration laws.

U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York

• Led an investigation of corruption at the Village of Hempstead Housing Authority (“HHA”) resulting in conviction of a former HHA supervisor, the former Director of Public Relations at the Economic Opportunity Commission of Nassau County, and a local contractor on extortion, bribery, and tax charges.
• Led an investigation and prosecution of 53 individuals charged in connection with fraudulent securities offerings attempting to raise more than $48 million nationwide, resulting in convictions on various counts of securities fraud and related charges.
• Led several individual and corporate investigations and successful prosecutions involving conspiracies to defraud the United States and violations of the federal tax laws.
• Led an investigation and successful prosecution of individuals involved in money laundering and fraud on behalf of owners and investors of medical imaging companies; and
• Led a joint federal and state investigation of a nationwide fraud perpetrated by the principals of several loan brokerages and funding companies operating out of New York, resulting in convictions of principals on several counts of conspiracy and mail fraud.
  

Honors and Awards

Activities

Ms. Bloom is a member of the New York State Bar. Ms. Bloom is also a founding member of the New York City Bar Association’s Dewey Medal Committee, which honors outstanding prosecutors from each of the District Attorney’s offices in New York City on an annual basis.

Speaking Engagements and Publications
 
Speaking Engagements:

• PLI: “Internal Investigations 2009 - How to Protect Your Clients or Company,” New York, June 9, 2009.
• PLI: “Internal Investigations 2008 - Legal, Ethical & Strategic Issues,” New York, June 10, 2008.
• PLI: “Internal Investigations 2007 - Legal, Ethical & Strategic Issues,” New York, June 12, 2007.
• Ethics and Compliance Officer Association: “Ask the Regulators,” panel moderator, Santa Ana Pueblo, New Mexico, April 6, 2006.
• “The Roles and Responsibilities of In-House and Outside Counsel in Coordinating Multiple Government Investigations and Related Civil Litigations,” New York, June 8, 2005.

Publications

• “Selective Waiver: Making Sense of the Confusion”, New York Law Journal, July 23, 2007.
• “New Risk in Employee Interviews,” National Law Journal, July 24, 2006.
• “Shoring Up Compliance Programs In the Wake of ‘Booker/Fanfan’,” GC New York, October 11, 2005.