Dan Shallman

Counsel

Daniel N. Shallman, a counsel in O'Melveny's Los Angeles office, is a member of the White Collar Defense and Corporate Investigations Practice and the Business Trial and Litigation Practice. Dan's practice focuses on civil and criminal trial practice, corporate internal investigations, and white collar criminal defense. Prior to joining O'Melveny & Myers, Dan served for over seven years as an Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Central District of California in Los Angeles, where he was the lead prosecutor in numerous federal jury trials and led sensitive grand jury investigations as a member of the Public Corruption & Government Fraud Section. In 2006, Dan received the U.S. Department of Justice’s distinguished “Director's Award” for leading a major public corruption prosecution and securing, what is to date, the longest jail sentence ever imposed against a public official for corruption in office. 

A well-respected trial lawyer, Dan recently helped lead an O’Melveny trial team on behalf of Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling in securing a victory in a high-profile copyright fair use trial against RDR Books concerning the proposed publication of an unauthorized Harry Potter “lexicon.”

Illustrative Professional Experience

Private Practice

• Counsel for an international airline in an industry-wide DOJ criminal antitrust investigation and parallel civil class actions;

• Trial counsel for Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling and Warner Bros. in a highly publicized federal copyright trial;

• Counsel for a high-ranking executive of a public company in DOJ and SEC investigations into alleged stock option backdating;

• Counsel for a private manufacturer in a government investigation of alleged ITAR/export law violations;

• Counsel for an entertainment company in a DOJ investigation into alleged violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA); conducted internal investigation and prepared and implemented FCPA compliance and training program;

• Counsel for a major home builder in conducting an internal investigation regarding a "cash-out" mortgage-fraud scheme perpetrated by 3rd-party real estate brokers; provided compliance counseling and training to company executives;

• Counsel for a leading high-technology company in developing a corporate compliance program for conducting internal investigations;

• Counsel for a major software company in a sensitive due diligence investigation assessing the potential criminal exposure of acquisition target;

• Counsel for a leading energy company in a grand jury investigation of alleged regulatory violations; investigation resulted in no criminal or civil charges being filed;

• Counsel for "earn-out" shareholders of a leading medical device company in obtaining permanent injunctive relief against acquiring company for violations of a merger agreement;

• Counsel for a leading sporting goods company in obtaining summary judgment in a shareholder derivative action.
  

U.S. Attorney’s Office

• United States v. Richards: Led a two-year grand jury investigation into political corruption in Southeast Los Angeles County resulting in a 39-count indictment against the former Mayor of Lynwood and three associates. The jury returned guilty verdicts on all counts—including money laundering, honest services mail and wire fraud, and bribery—following a six-week trial. The lead defendant received the longest federal sentence ever imposed against a public official for corruption in office (188 months);

• United States v. Cortes: Supervised an FBI sting operation and obtained convictions against four federal correctional officers for accepting bribes in exchange for smuggling contraband to inmates;

• United States v. Acosta: Obtained wire fraud and money laundering convictions following a three-week jury trial against a real estate developer who perpetrated a $50 million mortgage-fraud scam;

• United States v. Hwang: Led a grand jury investigation and sting operation into a bribe scheme by a real estate developer/casino operator. Obtained bribery convictions against the lead target for agreeing to pay bribes to a local mayor to win support for a $100 million development.

Professional Activities

Admitted to Practice, U.S. District Court, Central District of California; U.S. Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit
Speaker, "Conducting Effective Cross-Examination," Bet Tzedek (2008); “Oral Arguments to Win,” Bet Tzedek (2007); "Foreign Corrupt Practices Act: Staying Out of the Government's Crosshairs," Strafford Publications, Inc. (2007); "Direct Examination and Witness Preparation," Bet Tzedek (2007); "Federal Prosecution of State and Local Corruption," Independent Cities Association Annual Conference (2006)
Author, "Cooperation is Libby's Other Get Out of Jail Card," Daily Journal, June 26, 2007
Community Service, Co-Chair of EMET, the Young Lawyers Division, Jewish Federation of Greater Los Angeles (2007-08); Member of the Executive Committee of the Legal Division of the Jewish Federation of Greater Los Angeles (2007-08); Co-Chair, Geller Leadership Project, Jewish Federation of Greater Los Angeles (2006)