Jeff Schenk, former Assistant U.S. Attorney and Chief of the San Jose Branch of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of California, will join the Firm as a partner in the Investigations & White Collar Defense Practice. Mr. Schenk will be based in the Silicon Valley Office.
Mr. Schenk spent the last 17 years working for the Department of Justice at the intersection of regulatory and criminal enforcement. For more than 15 years, he served as a federal prosecutor and supervisory attorney in Northern California, where he led government investigations and prosecutions of a number of complex and high-profile matters. He was the lead trial lawyer in recent cases that captured international attention related to Silicon Valley startup Theranos, Inc., including the investigation of the company and the successful indictments and convictions of its two leaders, Elizabeth Holmes (Founder, Chairwoman, and CEO), and Ramesh “Sunny” Balwani (President and COO).
He also co-led the high-profile government investigation and prosecution of Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E) Company for willful violations of the Federal Pipeline Safety Act and for obstruction of justice, stemming from a pipeline explosion in San Bruno, California. The government obtained convictions in the trial and, as part of the sentence, the Court placed PG&E under a corporate monitorship for five years. Mr. Schenk participated in the monitor selection process and represented the Department of Justice throughout the monitorship.
“Jeff’s extensive trial experience, highlighted by his role as the lead federal prosecutor in two of the most important recent criminal trials in California, will provide clients with a strategic resource for addressing their most sensitive and complex legal issues,” said Karen Hewitt, Partner-in-Charge of Jones Day’s California Region, and former U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of California. “He is an important addition to our deep bench of former government prosecutors at Jones Day and we are delighted to welcome him to the Firm.”
“Jeff’s wide-ranging experience as a federal prosecutor gives him the professional insights to assess and address complex white-collar crime issues that impact companies, their boards, and executives,” said Ted Chung, leader of the Firm’s Investigations & White Collar Defense Practice. “His lead roles spanning investigations, charges, trials, and monitorships stand out at a time when corporate clients are in need of exceptional legal skills and sound strategic advice in high-stakes criminal and regulatory enforcement matters. Our corporate clients will also benefit from his substantial experience coordinating with federal and state regulatory agencies conducting parallel investigations. He is an excellent addition to Jones Day.”
At Jones Day, Mr. Schenk joins a global practice that has helped clients with many of the most significant U.S. and cross-border investigations and white-collar criminal defense matters in recent decades. He will work alongside a team of experienced lawyers around the world to counsel companies with respect to complex enforcement and regulatory issues, and to defend companies and individuals against allegations relating to all areas of white-collar crime. Mr. Schenk’s practice will encompass criminal, civil, and administrative litigation, including trials, internal corporate investigations, representing clients in connection with federal and state investigations and enforcement actions, and assisting companies in the assessment of their corporate compliance programs.
“Jeff has cultivated an excellent reputation in the Northern California legal community as a highly skilled lawyer and an accomplished federal prosecutor,” said Brian Selden, Partner-in-Charge of the Firm’s Silicon Valley Office. “He has a deep understanding of all aspects of white-collar criminal law and is a great addition to our team here in Silicon Valley.”
Mr. Schenk has investigative and trials experience that covers a broad range of subject matters including: securities fraud; bank, mail and wire fraud; computer fraud and abuse; money laundering, structuring, and tax fraud; honest services fraud; bankruptcy fraud; and regulatory violations.
“I am grateful for the opportunity to have served the Department of Justice for nearly two decades as a federal prosecutor and I am now ready to take on new challenges advising clients as a lawyer in the private sector,” said Mr. Schenk. “It was important to me that I join a law firm where my values are aligned with the Firm’s approach to client service, commitment to the rule of law, and track record of professional excellence. Jones Day is the ideal fit for me and for the work that I aspire to do in this next phase of my career.”
Mr. Schenk is a frequent speaker at law schools and other industry events. He is also involved in community service, including serving on a committee at Hope Services, Inc., a San Jose-based organization committed to providing job training and other services to persons with developmental disabilities.
A native of Detroit, Michigan, Mr. Schenk earned his law degree from Boston University School of Law and his undergraduate degree in political science from the University of Michigan. Mr. Schenk began his legal career as a summer associate in Jones Day’s Shanghai Office in 2003.
