Tim McCarten is counsel in the Washington, D.C. office of Latham & Watkins, where he is a member of the firm’s Litigation & Trial Department.
With more than a decade of white collar defense experience, Tim is a trusted advisor to scores of companies, senior executives, and other well-known individuals. Tim helps clients navigate government investigations, white collar criminal and civil litigation, internal corporate investigations, and other sensitive situations. He has broad experience before the US Department of Justice (DOJ), US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), US Congress, and a range of other US federal and state authorities.
Drawing on years of experience in high-profile global investigations, Tim has extensive experience in cross-border matters. Tim’s practice encompasses matters involving allegations of financial crimes or other misconduct, which frequently implicate the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) and similar anticorruption laws; securities laws; criminal tax laws; anti-money laundering (AML) laws; and the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA); as well as other federal laws and rules governing lobbying, campaign finance, and government ethics.
Complementing his government-facing investigations practice, Tim also regularly counsels companies, private equity firms, and investment firms on regulatory compliance, including in the context of transactional due diligence.
Tim received a law degree from the University of Virginia School of Law, where he served on the managing board of the Virginia Law Review. While in law school, Tim worked at the US Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Virginia, and served as a Governor’s Legal Fellow in the Office of Virginia Governor Timothy M. Kaine.
Experience
Tim’s work reflects the caliber and complexity of his practice. He has represented clients in a range of matters, including:
Financial Institutions and Corporate Clients
Multiple leading Swiss financial institutions, in US authorities’ investigations of secret offshore accounts
Nissan Motor Co. Ltd. in DOJ and SEC investigations relating to alleged financial misconduct by Carlos Ghosn, Nissan’s former CEO and Chairman of the Board
An SEC-registered investment adviser in SEC investigations relating to crypto and other digital assets, as well as decentralized finance (DeFi) platforms
A hospital company in parallel DOJ criminal and civil False Claims Act matters, involving alleged violations of the federal Anti-Kickback Statute
A global financial institution in multi-jurisdictional investigations stemming from the Panama Papers and similar disclosures
Individuals
Hunter Biden in an investigation involving the US Attorney’s Office for the District of Delaware and DOJ’s Tax Division
An individual in investigations involving various DOJ offices and components, including the Public Integrity Section, the Fraud Section’s FCPA Unit, and the US Attorney’s Offices for the Southern and Eastern Districts of New York
An individual in the Special Counsel’s Office’s investigation into interference with the 2016 presidential election
Precious metals traders at a global bank in a DOJ spoofing investigation
An individual (the co-founder and former Chairman of a company) in an SEC investigation that culminated in charges against the company and another co-founder (no action pursued against client)
Civil Litigation and Disputes
Edmond de Rothschild (Europe) S.A. (EDR Luxembourg) in civil litigation in New York state court, Fortinvest Investments Holding S.A. SPF v. Oblonsky et al., Index No. 655263/2020 (Sup. Ct. N.Y. County), in which plaintiff sought more than US$100 million in damages from EDR Luxembourg. The Commercial Division of New York’s Supreme Court dismissed plaintiff’s complaint in its entirety, with prejudice, both to enforce a mandatory forum-selection clause and under the doctrine of forum non conveniens.
Qualifications
Bar Qualification
District of Columbia
Virginia
Education
JD, University of Virginia School of Law Development Editor,Virginia Law Review
Firm honored by Law360 for advising startups, financial institutions, VCs, digital asset and Web3 participants, and corporations on their most innovative and complex transactions, investigations, litigation, and regulatory matters.
Notice: We appreciate your interest in Latham & Watkins. If your inquiry relates to a legal matter and you are not already a current client of the firm, please do not transmit any confidential information to us. Before taking on a representation, we must determine whether we are in a position to assist you and agree on the terms and conditions of engagement with you. Until we have completed such steps, we will not be deemed to have a lawyer-client relationship with you, and will have no duty to keep confidential the information we receive from you. Thank you for your understanding.