Morrison & Foerster, a leading global law firm, is pleased to announce that Edward A. Imperatore has joined the firm as a partner in its Investigations + White Collar Defense Group, based in the New York office. Mr. Imperatore joins Morrison & Foerster from the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York (SDNY), where he has served as Assistant United States Attorney (AUSA) since 2012 and a senior member of the Office’s Securities & Commodities Fraud Unit. Mr. Imperatore brings to the firm nearly a decade of experience investigating, prosecuting, and trying cases involving securities and accounting fraud, insider trading, market manipulation, corporate fraud, cybercrime, and violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA).
During his career at the United States Attorney’s Office for the SDNY, Mr. Imperatore tried more than a dozen jury trials to verdict, all of which resulted in convictions. Among them were 10 complex, multi-week white-collar trials, including six trials in the Securities & Commodities Fraud Unit. He also argued 11 Second Circuit appeals.
Mr. Imperatore’s arrival follows the addition of dozens of top former U.S. law enforcement and regulatory agency officials to the firm in recent years, including William Frentzen, Adam L. Braverman, Brian K. Kidd, Brandon Van Grack, Katherine Driscoll, and Nathan Reilly in just the past year. These additions underscore the strength of Morrison & Foerster’s expanding multijurisdictional Investigations + White Collar Defense practice and ability to meet the growing client demand for defense of securities fraud, FCPA matters, and cybersecurity incidents as well as increased demand for white-collar investigative teams comprised of multiple former prosecutors, including from the SDNY.
“Ed is a highly regarded and accomplished prosecutor with an exceptional track record of investigating and trying some of the most sophisticated and high-profile white-collar cases at one of the top United States Attorney’s Offices in the country,” said Carrie H. Cohen, an alumna of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the SDNY and co-chair of Morrison & Foerster’s Investigations + White Collar Defense Group. “Ed’s addition to our partnership further deepens our already impressive strength in investigations and white-collar defense at a time of increasing government enforcement, particularly in relation to securities and accounting fraud, insider trading, market manipulation, and other financial crimes. His prosecutorial experience involving parallel investigations by the SDNY and the SEC, CFTC, and other regulators will be invaluable to our clients.”
Mr. Imperatore most recently served as a senior member of the SDNY’s prestigious Securities & Commodities Fraud Unit. Prior to that, he worked in the Office’s Complex Frauds & Cybercrime Unit. During his almost 10-year tenure as an AUSA, Mr. Imperatore investigated and prosecuted several high-profile corporate fraud and FCPA cases, including three of the 10 largest FCPA criminal resolutions, resulting in nearly $3 billion in penalties, and a $900 million criminal resolution with a major automotive company relating to a vehicle ignition switch defect. He also led numerous prominent white-collar prosecutions and trials, including an investigation and month-long accounting fraud trial during the COVID-19 pandemic of the CEO and COO of a public biomedical company for fraudulently inflating revenue, an investigation and three-week-long accounting fraud trial of the CFO of a public real estate investment trust for manipulating non-GAAP earnings metrics, an investigation and month-long trial of a film producer for a complex securities fraud and investment advisor fraud involving a New York hedge fund, and the investigations and multi-week insider trading trials of a Wall Street analyst and an investment fund owner.
“Morrison & Foerster is known worldwide for its stellar reputation, international expertise, and outstanding group of lawyers and clients,” said Mr. Imperatore. “I am thrilled to join the firm’s renowned litigation and white-collar practices and look forward to using the experience and skills I have developed as an SDNY prosecutor and litigator to help our clients navigate their most complex matters.”
Mr. Imperatore earned his J.D., magna cum laude, from Georgetown University Law Center, where he served as senior editor of the Georgetown Law Journal, and his B.A., magna cum laude, from Amherst College. Following law school, he clerked for the Honorable Robert A. Katzmann, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, and before that, for the Honorable Lewis A. Kaplan, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York. Earlier in his career, he also served as a litigation associate at two leading New York law firms. Mr. Imperatore is admitted to the New York State and New Jersey Bars.
