Rachel Riley, a Litigation associate in the Dallas office, sat down with The Texas Lawbook to discuss topics ranging from her career path, interesting cases she has worked on and recent enforcement trends.
Rachel noted that while she did not start out wanting to be a criminal defense attorney, opportunities throughout her career and people she has worked with helped pave the way. She stated, "I've had the good fortune to work under fantastic former AUSAs my entire career and their insights have served to further deepen my passion for criminal justice along the way." She credits her time as a lawyer-on-loan to the Dallas District Attorney's office as getting her out of her comfort zone and providing invaluable courtroom experience.
Discussing recent cases of note, Rachel shared that she is working on an appeal with First Amendment implications involving the public-corruption conviction of a self-made billionaire who was convicted of bribery based on campaign contributions that he made to an elected state official. Rachel noted a recent win in a health care fraud case where the jury acquitted the physician on seven of the eight fraud charges and hung on the eighth count as a highlight for her.
Regarding enforcement trends stemming from the Biden Administration, Rachel stated, "The Department of Justice (DOJ) has doubled down on emphasizing the prosecution of individuals involved with corporate misconduct. When companies are under investigation, they can no longer cherry-pick which names or details to provide DOJ if they want to obtain full cooperation credit. There has also been a renewed focus on 'gatekeeper liability.' Specifically, we are seeing more prosecutions of doctors, executives, lawyers and accountants than before."
Rachel noted there are other trends to watch for from the DOJ and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). "At DOJ, we continue to see an expanding focus on various aspects of healthcare (from durable medical equipment, to laboratory billing to compound pharmacies, and so forth). A significant amount of my practice revolves around the defense of health care-fraud charges, so we keep a close eye on the enforcement activity in this area. Meanwhile, the SEC has increased focus on the digital-asset markets — for example, cryptocurrencies and non-fungible tokens — so we closely monitor the evolving regulatory field in this area."
"Q&A with Katten's Rachel Riley," The Texas Lawbook, April 7, 2022
*Subscription may be required for article access.
Dallas
