Areas of Practice
Whether your organization seeks to improve its compliance efforts or needs independent legal advice on how to respond to an incident of misconduct, Ms. Villarreal will help your team navigate to a cost-effective, timely solution. Delivering legal insight with a business outlook is a hallmark of her practice. Ms. Villarreal defines success for her practice in terms of how well she helps your team stay focused on your core business. That means doing her work efficiently to keep costs down. Her experience covers multiple sectors and industries, including aerospace and defense, secondary and higher education, government and public sector organizations, retail, food services, healthcare, banking and finance, technology, and transportation and logistics, among others. Here are some of the ways Villarreal Law can generate value for your organization . . .
Internal Investigations
When you learn of an allegation of employee or executive misconduct, one of the most important roles of outside legal counsel is to help leaders determine the appropriate scope of the company's response. Not all matters require a "leave no stone unturned" approach and the mark of an excellent lawyer is knowing how to tailor the response to one that the circumstances reasonably justify. By giving decision-makers the critical and timely advice they need to navigate the path forward, Ms. Villarreal helps teams move beyond the cloud that misconduct can create. Her investigative expertise quickly delivers the facts in-house counsel, a board or audit committee needs to safeguard organizational integrity against allegations of misconduct involving:
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and Anti-Corruption
False Claims Act and Whistleblower Matters
Program and Contracting Fraud
Bribery, Kickbacks and Gratuities
Bid Rigging and other Procurement Fraud
Conflicts of Interest
Code of Ethics Violations
Workplace Misconduct
Compliance Programs and Assessments
To accomplish its function, a compliance program must be tailored to the unique risks a business or organization faces. That means taking into account not only the industry and geographic areas of its operations, but the specific types of risk inherent in its operations. Whether designing a new compliance program for your organization or assessing your existing one, Ms. Villarreal will ensure that your team has the practical knowledge needed to proactively identify and respond to risks. The result will be a realistic compliance program that accomplishes its chief objective--safeguarding integrity by preventing and detecting misconduct.
Neutral Monitorships
When resolving allegations of corporate fraud or misconduct, the government often requires as a condition of settlement that a company retain the services of an independent monitor to oversee compliance measures. Ms. Villarreal is available for appointment as a neutral monitor in those circumstances. With decades of investigative experience in both the public and private sectors, including 14 years as a federal criminal prosecutor, she brings the skill set, integrity and neutrality necessary to ensure fairness to all parties.
Responding to Government Action
Grand jury subpoenas, search warrants, and requests for interviews by law enforcement agents or prosecutors are sensitive matters that require the assistance of highly experienced counsel. Ms. Villarreal will help your organization ascertain the status of the entity and its executives or employees as subjects or targets of the investigation and develop the appropriate response. Her vast experience sitting on both sides of the federal prosecutor's desk in corporate investigations gives her invaluable insight into the process to ensure her clients’ rights are protected.
Trial Strategy Consultation
Prevailing in court requires a persuasive trial strategy that connects with the judge and jury both logically and intuitively. As an experienced trial lawyer who has successfully tried numerous federal jury trials, Ms. Villarreal brings the perspective of a seasoned advocate to your team, fine tuning strategy and communications to create the most impactful of presentations.