SYRACUSE — Law firm Hiscock & Barclay, LLP of Syracuse is forming a new practice area aimed at work in white-collar criminal defense and government investigations. Daniel French, a former U.S. attorney, and his partner, Lee Alcott, have both joined Hiscock as of counsel. French will co-chair the new group with Gabriel Nugent, a current […]
SYRACUSE — Law firm Hiscock & Barclay, LLP of Syracuse is forming a new practice area aimed at work in white-collar criminal defense and government investigations.
Daniel French, a former U.S. attorney, and his partner, Lee Alcott, have both joined Hiscock as of counsel. French will co-chair the new group with Gabriel Nugent, a current Hiscock partner.
French and Alcott will remain principals of their existing firm, French-Alcott, PLLC of Syracuse.
French-Alcott and Hiscock have been working together on white-collar cases for about six years now, Nugent says. Consistent demand for the work prompted the firms to formalize their relationship.
The practice will focus on criminal and civil cases at the federal, state, and local level, Nugent says. It could include everything from cases involving mortgage regulations, allegations of health-care fraud, insider trading, and more.
Prosecutors have been dusting off a number of older laws in those areas recently and using them to pursue new and different targets in investigations, Nugent adds.
“Really, that’s occurring all throughout the country in a number of different areas,” he says.
Attorneys will also try to help clients avoid ending up under investigation in the first place, French says. Regulations in fields like health care change all the time, he notes.
“A decent portion of what we do is communicate with our clients and make sure they understand the current regulatory framework,” he says.
Hiscock & Barclay’s new white-collar defense and government-investigations practice includes nine attorneys, including former prosecutors and a former regional director of a state Medicaid fraud unit. The group will also work with attorneys in other Hiscock practice areas if needed.
“It complements a lot of different areas,” Nugent says.
Hiscock may look to add more lawyers to the group in the future, especially in areas that require specialized expertise like cybercrime and matters involving imports and exports, Nugent adds.
In addition to his work as U.S. attorney for the Northern District of New York, French was an assistant U.S. attorney as well as a law clerk for a federal judge. He has also served as a deputy staff director to the U.S. Senate Finance Committee and executive assistant to U.S. Sen. Daniel Patrick Moynihan.
Alcott previously served as director of the litigation department at another Syracuse law firm and was also chief trial counsel for the city of Syracuse.
Hiscock & Barclay has 200 attorneys in 31 practice areas. The firm has offices in Albany, Buffalo, New York City, Rochester, Boston, Toronto, and Washington, D.C.