Palmina M. Fava concentrates her practice on two principal areas: civil litigation and internal corporate inquiries.

Ms. Fava's litigation practice focuses on complex commercial, business tort, and intellectual property disputes. She has served as lead litigation and trial counsel on matters involving breaches of fiduciary duty, breaches of contract, interference with business relationships, commercial misrepresentation, defamation, libel and slander, fraud, negligence, misappropriation of trade secrets, trademark and trade dress infringement, insurance coverage, and employment termination. She has successfully tried and defended cases in federal and state courts and arbitration panels, and represented clients in appellate arguments, mediations and negotiations. Ms. Fava also advises clients on litigation avoidance and preparedness and performs litigation risk assessments on behalf of hedge funds.

In her corporate investigation practice, Ms. Fava conducts internal business inquiries on behalf of senior management and boards of directors involving allegations of fraud, kickbacks, corruption, bribery, and accounting irregularities. Ms. Fava also designs and implements comprehensive corporate compliance programs, provides employee training, and conducts routine audits for clients. Additionally, Ms. Fava provides strategic and general business advice to clients faced with potential criminal investigations, class action lawsuits, and shareholder derivative claims.

Ms. Fava has extensive experience conducting internal investigations and due diligence with respect to the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and anti-corruption and anti-bribery restrictions worldwide. Ms. Fava is known for her ability to lead and coordinate teams in a wide variety of complex matters affecting corporations. She has led investigations and advised multinational clients on matters involving FCPA violations, kickbacks, corruption and fraud in the Middle East, Europe, Africa, Latin America and South America. She works collaboratively with clients’ in-house resources and other third parties to conduct comprehensive inquiries of any allegations of misconduct, and to enhance corporate compliance programs in response to such allegations. Ms. Fava has represented companies in disclosures of FCPA violations, fraud, and corruption before regulators in the US and abroad and in government investigations of misconduct.

Ms. Fava’s clients include publicly traded, privately held, and non-profit companies in the fields of technology; finance and banking; defense contracting; telecommunications and multi-media; drug, industrial, and consumer product manufacturing; hospitality; and insurance.

Ms. Fava is a recipient of the Piper Rudnick Model Citizen Award, Fordham Law School Joseph D. Crowley Award, and the Italian Government’s Distinguished Service Award.

Admissions

• New York
• United States Supreme Court
• United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit
• United States District Court for the Southern District of New York
• United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York
• United States District Court for the District of New Jersey

Memberships

• Association of the Bar of the City of New York
• American Bar Association
• Columbian Lawyers Association

Publications

• Co-author, "Energy Sector Faces Greater FCPA Scrutiny," Energy Sector Alert, June 24, 2008
• Co-author, “Record Penalties for FCPA Claims Signal Increased Government Enforcement,” May 24, 2007
• Quoted, “Crackdown on bribery; DOJ steps up enforcement of Foreign Corrupt Practices Act,” New England In-House, April 9, 2007
• Author, “The Business of Business Development,” New York Law Journal, February 5, 2007
• Co-Author, “Harsher Penalties, More Prosecutions: Coping with the FCPA,” March 23, 2006
  

Seminars

• Panelist, “Ethics and Corporate Compliance,” Practising Law Institute Corporate Compliance and Ethics Institute 2007, August 1, 2007
• Panelist, “Staying Out of the Spotlight: Best Practices for Protecting the Company, Directors and Officers and Yourself,” Martindale-Hubbell Counsel to Counsel, April 24, 2007
• Panelist, “Earnings Struggles between Women and Men,” New Girls Network, January 23, 2007

Prior Experience

• US Attorney’s Office, Southern District of New York, Law Clerk, June 1995-November 1995, New York, New York
• Westchester County District Attorney’s Office, Law Clerk, November 1995-April 1996, White Plains, New York
• Senator Alfonse M. D’Amato, Aide to the Press Secretary, January 1991-May 1992, Washington, DC

Civic and Charitable

• Kidney & Urology Foundation of America, Board of Trustees
• Committee for the Advancement of Italian–American Culture, Board of Trustees