I practice law and write about white-collar criminal defense, civil enforcement, corporate compliance and business ethics. Sometimes, I write about crime fiction, cocktails and theology, all of which are relevant to the defense and prosecution of white-collar crime.
What else? I’m a member of several state bars (Alabama, Mississippi, Georgia and the District of Columbia), and I was in school for a long time: undergraduate degree from Washington & Lee University; a graduate degree from the Institute for European Studies (Geneva, Switzerland); a Master of Fine Arts in Fiction Writing from Washington University in St. Louis; and a law degree from Harvard University. While at Harvard, I was Editor-in-Chief of the Harvard Journal of Law & Public Policy, which was more fun than class.
Out of law school, I was a judicial clerk to Judge David B. Sentelle, United States Court of Appeals, District of Columbia Circuit—wonderful man, great judge, powerful influence on me and best man in my wedding. Then I practiced at Covington & Burling (also in Washington, D.C.) before I became Special Counsel to the House Banking Committee (now called the Financial Services Committee). As Special Counsel to the Committee for its Whitewater investigation, I oversaw a team whose work culminated in four days of nationally-televised hearings in August 1995.
Sometimes, I teach: I’ve been an Adjunct Professor of Law at Washington & Lee University and the University of Alabama, and I have helped out with a course on Electronic Discovery at Cumberland School of Law.
Professionally, I belong to the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, the White Collar Crime Committee of the ABA Section on Criminal Justice, the Alabama Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers and the Committee on Criminal Litigation of the ABA Section of Litigation. When I worked in Washington, I was a member of the Edward Bennett Williams American Inn of Court in Washington, D.C., an Inn devoted solely to white collar fraud matters. Currently, I’m a Barrister of the Birmingham American Inn of Court. As a member of the Alabama State Board of Bar Examiners, I graded a lot of bar exams. I’m also a former Group Chairman of the Birmingham Bar Association's Grievance Committee.
As a former president of the Washington & Lee University Alumni Association (1997-1998), I remain active in W&L projects. I’m married, the father of two children, and I serve in various lay capacities at my church. To the extent that hard work and enthusiasm can overcome inexperience, I love to coach youth lacrosse teams.
