Overview

Our team of government enforcement attorneys at Stumphauzer Kolaya Nadler & Sloman is uniquely situated to defend clients facing investigations and enforcement actions by federal and state authorities.  In government-facing matters, it is critical to understand the government’s priorities, investigative methods, and internal deliberative processes.  To that end, experience working inside the government is invaluable.  We always staff civil and criminal government enforcement matters with at least one former federal prosecutor who understands the dynamics of government decision-making firsthand.  As a result, we are often able to resolve government regulatory enforcement matters discreetly, through negotiation with the government before a formal action is filed, protecting our clients’ privacy and reputation.

Our experience is your greatest asset.

We understand that civil enforcement proceedings can have a devastating effect on our clients’ professional and personal lives.  Regulators have authority to impose fines, exclude clients from government programs, and restrict a client’s ability to work in regulated industries.  Our attorneys have extensive experience dealing with government authorities and regulatory bodies in the securities, civil fraud, and health care fields, including the United States Department of Justice (DOJ), the Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General (HHS-OIG), the Medicare Fraud Control Units (MFCUs), the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the Commodities Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA), , and the State of Florida Office of Financial Regulation (OFR).

We know the healthcare industry.

We have defended a broad range of health care providers including hospitals, diagnostic laboratories, pharmacies, physician groups, Managements Service Organizations, and skilled nursing facilities against “bet-the-company” government enforcement actions.  We understand that government investigations can have devastating collateral consequences for health care providers, and therefore craft defense strategies that minimizes business disruption and reputational harm, all with a goal of resolving the government’s concerns without a formal lawsuit.

Ryan Stumphauzer served as the Deputy Chief of the Health Care Fraud Unit at the United States Attorney’s Office in the Southern District of Florida, the nation’s most active enforcement district.  In that capacity, Mr. Stumphauzer dealt extensively with CMS, HHS-OIG, MFCU, and Program Integrity Contractors.  This experience gives our firm unique insight to guide clients over the many hurdles involved in healthcare enforcement actions, including on-site inspections, program integrity audits and reviews, overpayment determinations and appeals, prepayment reviews, and program exclusion and revocation matters.

Securities Litigation and Enforcement Proceedings – Our experienced, multi-disciplinary team covers all your litigation needs.

Our securities law litigators handle securities disputes throughout the country, with responsibilities that range from responding to regulatory inquiries and pre-complaint investigations to litigating claims of securities fraud.  We routinely defend underwriters, financial advisors, and corporations, including their officers and directors, against class action litigation, shareholder derivative actions, actions arising out of mergers and acquisitions, suits arising out of failed securities offerings and other complex matters involving the Securities Act, proxy suits, appraisal actions, the Exchange Act, and the Investment Company Act of 1940. We also represent registered broker-dealers and other professionals in regulatory proceedings and arbitrations involving the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) with an eye towards limiting our clients’ financial, reputational, and licensing exposure.

Securities litigation often is accompanied by investigations and enforcement proceedings brought by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), and other government agencies, as well as self-regulatory proceedings by the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB) and the FINRA or self-regulatory organizations.  When facing a parallel investigation or proceeding, our clients – public companies, financial services firms, audit firms and their senior management, partners and employees, investment advisers, broker-dealers and other market professionals – can count on our team of former federal prosecutors and white-collar lawyers to deftly guide and represent them through internal investigations, enforcement proceedings, government agency inquiries, congressional inquiries, grand jury proceedings, and criminal trials.

Our white-collar lawyers have extensive experience defending corporate executives, licensed professionals and corporate entities under investigation by regulatory bodies, including the SEC, DOJ, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, the Florida Department of Financial Regulation and other state and federal security regulatory commissions.   

Our firm has built a solid reputation for skillfully defending clients in high-profile, high-stakes securities and investment fraud cases. We are known for our keen ability to work with regulators to resolve our clients’ cases swiftly and effectively.

We represent clients in a diverse range of civil and criminal securities and investment fraud cases, including allegations of:

• SEC/Grand Jury Subpoena Response
• Penny Stock Fraud
• Market Manipulation
• Securities Fraud
• Unregistered Investment Contracts
• Offering Fraud
• Insider Trading
• Unauthorized Trading
• Ponzi Schemes
• Account Churning
• Unsuitability of Investment Advice

Our firm is also regularly retained by public company boards, audit committees and special committees in internal investigations in response to allegations of accounting irregularities, foreign payment issues and other misconduct.

A Comprehensive Defense Strategy

Regulatory enforcement proceedings are often coupled with parallel criminal investigations, which are independently investigated and prosecuted by state or federal authorities.  Our firm has the ability to develop and execute a comprehensive regulatory defense strategy, which includes a well-defined plan to mitigate ongoing or potential criminal prosecution.      

Receiverships and Special Master Appointments

Litigation in federal courts can become unwieldy and voluminous.  Under these circumstances, judges can invoke Rule 53 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure or equivalent state rules to appoint private attorneys as “special masters” to oversee certain aspects of the litigation.  Our lawyers have experience handling these unique engagements.  For example, Ryan Stumphauzer was appointed to serve as Special Master overseeing discovery and other matters in the multibillion-dollar Takata Airbag Products Liability Multidistrict Litigation, MDL No. 2599, in the United Stated District Court for the Southern District of Florida. 

In addition, federal and state courts, upon request by the Securities Exchange Commission, Federal Trade Commission (FTC), United States Department of Justice and other interested parties, also appoint private attorneys to administer entities subject to fraud investigations.  These “receivers” manage the business affairs, funds, and property of entities when the entity’s owners are subject to fraud allegations.  Our attorneys have served as court-appointed receivers in matters involving fraud-based claims against large financial institutions and international companies. 

Our lawyers also represent financial institutions, secured and unsecured individual creditors, business debtors in financial reorganizations, lenders, owners, claimants and other interested parties in various types of receivership proceedings.