Beveridge & Diamond (B&D) proudly announces that Louis (Lou) J. Manzo joined the firm’s Washington, DC, office as a Principal. He will expand the firm’s robust white collar litigation and investigations capabilities.

Lou will provide strategic counsel on high-stakes matters, focusing on complex and large-scale white collar litigation, investigations, and government enforcement (including environmental advertising and marketing claims such as greenwashing and carbon credit fraud). At the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), he litigated some of the country’s highest-profile matters. In addition to being one of the lead attorneys on the Oath Keepers investigation, Lou prosecuted health care fraud and illegal opioid prescribing in Appalachia, the country’s largest CARES Act pandemic fraud conspiracy, and the largest federal investigation into the carbon credit offset market.

"Lou will have an immediate impact for our clients, working with the members of our deep team on investigations and prosecutions, particularly where there is a potential or actual criminal allegation," said Kathy Szmuszkovicz, B&D’s Firm Chair. “He continues our longstanding tradition of having former senior government enforcers join our practice to support our clients’ needs.”

Evynn Overton, co-chair of B&D’s White Collar, Environmental Crimes, practice, added, “After the successful addition of Principal Alyse Adamson to the firm two years ago, we are very excited to have another DOJ alum join our white collar team. I look forward to working with Lou to help our clients assess risks, investigate criminal allegations, and ably respond to inquiries from regulators and other government authorities on environmental, ESG, chemical, product-related issues, and more.”

Lou’s arrival is a continuation of B&D’s growth in key practices such as white collar, litigation, and enforcement – areas in which B&D has proudly assisted clients for the past 50 years. At DOJ, Lou worked closely with Principal and former AUSA Alyse Adamson (Washington, DC), who joined the firm in 2021. Alyse and Lou were part of the DOJ team that prosecuted the first defendants in the January 6^th U.S. Capitol insurrection.

B&D has long represented clients in white collar and environmental crimes matters, and our practice in this area is rapidly expanding in light of increased government enforcement. In recent years, the firm has counseled clients in defending municipalities in federal investigations, running internal investigations into potential regulatory fraud and kickbacks, working with clients through federal agency investigations, and preparing clients for government proffers. Lou’s arrival also augments B&D’s capabilities in ESG-related enforcement matters surrounding environmental advertising and marketing claims such as greenwashing and carbon credit fraud.

Examples of B&D’s white collar experience include:

• Defending a company in an EPA criminal investigation of potential Clean Air Act violations at an industrial facility. Our client received a declination of criminal prosecution from EPA.
• Responding to an EPA and U.S. Attorney investigation into stormwater compliance-related issues, negotiating a resolution that did not include criminal charges.
• Representing a small, family-owned business facing felony charges for alleged FIFRA violations relating to marketing claims, ultimately negotiating the case to a misdemeanor resolution, avoiding jail time.

Lou stated, “After nearly 10 years in government, both as an Assistant United States Attorney in DC and as a Trial Attorney in the Fraud Section at the Department of Justice, I am thrilled to join the leading environmental defense firm. I look forward to using my deep inside knowledge of federal investigations, gained from over thirty trials across the country, to help clients navigate and, when necessary, confront government regulators. I’m excited about maintaining B&D’s leading reputation in environmental law and helping to expand the practice to assist clients on all types of sensitive internal and white collar investigations.”

B&D’s White Collar, Environmental Crimes lawyers counsel firm clients on high-stakes enforcement and compliance matters, particularly in complex environmental investigations. The team’s expertise encompasses responding to search warrants, navigating grand jury subpoena responses, and negotiating with federal and state criminal agents and counsel to facilitate (when possible) early resolution of criminal inquiries. Our Environmental Crimes, White Collar team works closely with the firm’s Audits, Risk and Compliance Assessments practice group, and environmental subject matter practice groups to counsel companies on compliance management system design, assess and evaluate compliance risks, and prepare policies, procedures, and controls to manage and mitigate those risks.

Law360 covered Lou's arrival here.