Cranfill Sumner Launches MBM in Washington, D.C., with Partners Patrick Mincey and Stephen Bell and Christina Zaroulis Milnor, Former Assistant Secretary of the SEC
May 01 2024 - 11:09AM
Business Wire
Affiliate boutique group will focus on white
collar, regulatory enforcement, and high-stakes litigation
North Carolina-based law firm, Cranfill Sumner LLP,
announced today it has brought on former Assistant Secretary of the
Securities and Exchange Commission, Christina Zaroulis
Milnor, to launch an affiliate boutique group and its new
Washington, D.C., office with well-known white collar partners,
Patrick M. Mincey and Stephen Bell. The new group,
Mincey Bell Milnor (MBM) will focus on white collar,
regulatory enforcement, high-stakes civil litigation, and
representation of whistleblowers before federal agencies.
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From left: Stephen Bell, Patrick Mincey,
and Christina Zaroulis Milnor. (Photo: Business Wire)
“Our firm’s strategic vision is to have one of the leading white
collar and regulatory enforcement groups in the country,” said
Marshall Wall, managing partner of Cranfill Sumner. “With
MBM, we have landed a prominent government official, just exiting
the SEC, paired with two nationally known white collar litigators.
We set it up this way so these lawyers could have the visibility of
a boutique group with the platform of our larger firm. We plan to
continue to grow the practice from here.”
Milnor has held significant roles at the SEC for more than a
decade. She helped shape the Commission’s whistleblower program and
brings an intimate understanding of securities law, how the SEC
works and works with other federal agencies, and unique insight
into the regulatory landscape.
“I am thrilled to work with Patrick and Stephen, who are two of
the country’s best white collar practitioners and are already
assisting compelling whistleblowers in sharing their intelligence
with the government,” Milnor said. “This launch is a fabulous first
step after my 11 years of government service, and I am certain that
this group will take on some of the most impactful, and
high-profile, whistleblower representations in modern history.”
In addition to the three partners, Associate Cameron
Ervin and Of Counsel Chad Rhoades will also join MBM,
and all will remain attorneys at Cranfill Sumner. The group’s
clients will have all the benefits of a focused boutique group,
with access to the infrastructure, staffing and resources of
Cranfill Sumner and its more than 80 attorneys, enabling them to
seamlessly take on matters that require the assistance of large
attorney teams, the management of terabytes of data, and
significant document production.
“We are reinventing traditional white collar work,” Mincey said.
“Just as we have done with several high-profile cases to date, we
handle white collar defense matters where our clients face criminal
and sometimes civil charges, and we think differently about them.
In those cases, we conduct investigations that expose questionable
and often covered up practices, and they end up becoming
whistleblower cases instead.”
Bell added: “With Christina, MBM will have the best,
most-experienced lawyers in this area – working at the intersection
of business and government in D.C.”
Mincey and Bell represent prominent corporations and
professionals in their most challenging criminal, civil, and
regulatory cases—including at jury and bench trials and on
appeal—before federal and state courts throughout the United States
and investigative forums around the world. They represent qui tam
relators and individuals in government whistleblower actions and
have represented some of the most notable and high-profile
whistleblowers in recent times under the False Claims Act, SEC’s
Whistleblower Program, FinCEN, and related federal programs.
Their most prominent whistleblower cases include separate
matters involving two candidates for president of the United
States. One involves whistleblower Will Wilkerson in parallel
investigations by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern
District of New York and the SEC concerning Trump Media &
Technology Group, former President Donald J. Trump’s social media
company that owns and operates Truth Social, alleging securities
violations and suspicious loans into Trump’s company with ties to
the Kremlin and a Vladimir Putin ally. The second case, in parallel
multi-billion-dollar investigations by the U.S. Federal Reserve,
FinCEN, Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, DOJ, and SEC—as
well as numerous foreign government counterparts—involves
whistleblower Mark Coffey, a former registered investment advisory
chief compliance officer who exposed an alleged $2 billion
international conspiracy involving Venezuela’s Oil Minister and
United Nations Ambassador to launder stolen money from Petróleos de
Venezuela, S.A. (PDVSA) through major U.S. financial
institutions.
Milnor began her legal career at the international law firm
WilmerHale. Between 2013 and March of this year, she worked in
various positions at the SEC, including with its Division of
Enforcement, where she focused on its then nascent whistleblower
program, its Office of General Counsel, and most recently as the
Commission’s Assistant Secretary with greatest oversight of
enforcement and litigative matters. She received her B.A. from
Harvard University and her J.D. from the University of
Virginia.
About Cranfill Sumner LLP
With more than 80 attorneys and 27 practice areas, Cranfill
Sumner LLP attorneys serve business and professional clients
throughout North Carolina and across the country. Founded in 1992,
the firm was built on the foundation of teamwork, client service,
and reputation, and it continues that legacy today. The firm has
offices in Raleigh, Charlotte and Wilmington, North Carolina, and
Washington, D.C., and represents clients in all stages of
litigation before federal and state courts in North Carolina, as
well as select administrative agencies. Whether it’s for privately
held companies, municipal entities, small-business owners or
partnerships, the “Cranfill way” includes practical and efficient
representation tailored for each client. For more information,
visit www.cshlaw.com.
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McKenna Hixon 847.946.9403 office/mobile
mhixon@baretzbrunelle.com www.baretzbrunelle.com