News

27 Apr 2011

DLA Piper adds team of 10 leading litigation attorneys in Northern California

Group from Stevens, O’Connell & Jacobs strengthens firm’s White Collar and Special Matters practice on the West Coast

Press Release

DLA Piper today announced that, effective May 1, a team of 10 lawyers will join the firm’s Litigation practice in the Sacramento office. The group comes to DLA Piper from the premier litigation firm Stevens, O’Connell & Jacobs LLP and includes co-founders and former US Attorneys Charles J. Stevens and George L. O’Connell, and partners Matthew G. Jacobs and Bradley A. Benbrook.

“Chuck, Matt, Brad, George and their team add immediate depth on the West Coast to our already leading global white collar and government and internal investigations practice,” said J. Terence O’Malley, DLA Piper US Managing Partner. “They are highly regarded throughout Northern California and bring an unmatched level of notable experience and credentials to the firm.”

Led by former US Attorneys, the group brings a variety of internal investigative, white collar criminal defense, special matters, and civil litigation experience to DLA Piper:

• Stevens was President Clinton’s appointee as US Attorney for the Eastern District of California and previously served as an Assistant US Attorney in Los Angeles. Before co-founding Stevens, O’Connell & Jacobs, he was partner in charge of the Sacramento office of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP.  He is listed in Chambers USA: America’s Leading Lawyers for Business (Band One), Northern California Super Lawyers, the International Who’s Who of Business Crime Lawyers, and is recognized in The Best Lawyers in America in three categories (Bet-the-Company Litigation, Commercial Litigation, and White Collar Criminal Defense).  
• Jacobs returns to DLA Piper after joining Stevens, O’Connell & Jacobs in 2008.  Previously, he served as First Assistant US Attorney and Chief of the Criminal Division of the US Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of California; Chief of the Special Prosecutions Unit of that office; and Honors Graduate Trial Attorney in the US Department of Justice’s Antitrust Division in Washington, DC.  He is also listed in Northern California Super Lawyers.  
• O’Connell, who joins DLA Piper as senior counsel, was President George H.W. Bush’s appointee as US Attorney for the Eastern District of California from 1991 until 1993. Prior to his appointment as US Attorney, he served as an Assistant US Attorney in the Eastern District and headed the Special Prosecutions Unit. Previously, he served as an Assistant US Attorney in the Special Prosecutions Unit of the Los Angeles US Attorney’s Office and in the Sacramento US Attorney’s Office as Chief of the White Collar Crime Unit.  He is listed in The Best Lawyers in America, Who’s Who Legal, Chambers USA: America’s Leading Lawyers for Business, and California Super Lawyers.
• Benbrook, who previously worked at Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati, has developed vast experience handling a variety of state administrative and government investigation matters, often involving government contract disputes and bid protests, False Claims Act matters, insurance matters, and campaign finance and election law. 

They are joined by experienced litigators and of counsel David A. Cheit, a Boalt Hall School of Law graduate; Craig C. Allison, a U.C. Davis Law School graduate with an M.P.H. in environmental health sciences from the University of California, Berkeley; Todd M. Noonan, a Boalt Hall School of Law graduate and an editor of its law review; Steven S. Kimball, a Boalt Hall School of Law graduate; Alexander M. Medina, a graduate of Loyola Law School; and associate Daniel J. Croxall. 

“Stevens, O’Connell and Jacobs has long been recognized as the go-to resource in Northern California for complex internal and regulatory investigation issues and white-collar matters,” said Gilles S. Attia, Managing Partner of DLA Piper’s Sacramento office. “We are pleased to welcome attorneys of this caliber to our Sacramento office.”

“This is a highly talented and experienced group of litigators that has developed a premier white collar and special matters litigation practice,” said David Gross, Regional Chair of DLA Piper’s US Litigation practice group. “DLA Piper’s platform, combined with our strong national and international litigation practice, provides a unique opportunity for the group to expand its practice nationally and abroad.”   

U.S. News & World Report recently recognized Stevens, O'Connell & Jacobs as a top tier firm for white collar criminal defense in its first ranking of law firms nationwide.  

About the Lawyers

Charles J. Stevens has extensive experience representing businesses in internal investigations and special matters involving governmental investigations or claims in the civil, legislative, criminal, or administrative context. He also handles complex business litigation matters, including unlawful business practices, fraud, unfair competition, trade secrets, and qui tam False Claims Act cases.

Stevens serves on a number of boards and committees, including as a member of the Judicial Selection Committee of Senator Dianne Feinstein; member of the Board of Directors of the Boalt Hall School of Law Alumni Association; member of the Board of Directors of the National Association of Former US Attorneys; and as Secretary and General Counsel of Something Special, Inc., a non-profit organization that supports teens in foster care. In addition, he has taught a class in business crime investigations as an adjunct professor at U.C. Davis School of Law, has served as a district delegate to the Ninth Circuit, and served as an advisor to then President-Elect Obama’s Department of Justice Transition Team Advisory Committee.

He received a B.A. from Colgate University and a J.D. from Boalt Hall School of Law at the University of California, Berkeley. 

Matthew G. Jacobs focuses his practice on civil and criminal litigation, trials and arbitrations, and crisis management. He represents corporations, individuals, and public entities in high stakes cases and special matters.

A frequent lecturer and author on litigation and enforcement defense issues, Jacobs is a member of Senator Barbara Boxer’s Judicial Selection Committee for the Eastern District of California, a mediator for the Eastern District’s Voluntary Dispute Resolution Program, a past president of the Federal Bar Association - Sacramento Chapter, and a former co-chair of the Eastern District’s Lawyer Representatives Committee to the Ninth Circuit Judicial Conference. From 1997 through 2002, he served on the Sacramento City Planning Commission and, in 2001, served as its Chair. He also serves on the Board of Directors of WEAVE, Inc., an agency that supports victims of domestic violence and sexual assault.

He received a B.S., cum laude, in business administration from the University of California, Berkeley, and a J.D., cum laude, from the University of Michigan Law School.

George L. O’Connell specializes in complex civil litigation and sophisticated white collar criminal cases. He represents corporations and individuals in a wide range of sophisticated matters, including civil, administrative and criminal actions brought by federal and state government agencies. He also has experience representing corporations and individuals in highly complex civil cases, ranging from securities fraud matters to unfair trade and trademark violations, employee fraud, tax fraud, products liability and other complex litigation.

He received a B.A., summa cum laude, from Purdue University and a J.D., cum laude, from Harvard Law School.

Bradley A. Benbrook handles litigation matters for companies and individuals in a variety of areas, often involving governmental investigations or administrative claims. He handles a variety of civil matters, including government contract disputes, administrative disputes, election and campaign finance matters, real estate matters, disputes among business partners, corporate governance and fiduciary duty disputes, and qui tam False Claims Act claims.

He received an A.B. from Stanford University and a J.D. from Boalt Hall School of Law at the University of California, Berkeley.