Focus Areas
Examples of Joan’s experience include:
- Representing the special committee of a Fortune 100 manufacturing company’s board of directors in connection with a six-year global investigation involving the company’s agents and distributors, which was resolved with a guilty plea by a subsidiary.
- Representing a technology company involved in processing mortgage-related documentation for major financial institutions during the financial crisis in connection with a highly publicized investigation by federal and state authorities.
- Obtaining a favorable settlement with the U.S. government for one of the world’s largest snack food companies following a multi-year overseas investigation of one of the company’s subsidiaries.
- Serving as co-lead counsel for a publicly traded Latin American petrochemical company in an investigation by two federal agencies of FCPA violations in Brazil.
- Securing a favorable settlement with the SEC for a major beverage company following an investigation of a foreign subsidiary’s distribution channel activities.
- Achieving a settlement with multiple law enforcement agencies for a Latin American aerospace manufacturer in a multijurisdictional investigation of is operations in Latin America, Asia and the Middle East. The matter was selected and cited as a landmark case in U.S. and international publications.
- Obtaining a declination of charges by the U.S. government for a professional infrastructure and environmental services company in connection with allegations of corruption involving a recently acquired foreign subsidiary.
- Securing a declination of charges by the U.S. government for a software company in connection with activities within the company’s foreign distribution chain.
- Representing a former executive of a major financial institution in civil litigation before a federal banking agency involving allegations of unsafe and unsound business practices.
- “A Decade After the Milberg Weiss Scandal: Does History Repeat Itself?” New York Law Journal, March 2021
- “White House Due Process Memo Could Reform Enforcement,” Law360, September 2020.
- “DOJ’s False Claims Act Recoveries in Fiscal Years 2020 and 2019,” Thompson Hine Government Contracts Update, September 2020
- “DOJ’s Fraud Section Issues Revised Corporate Compliance Guidelines,” Thompson Hine White Collar Criminal Practice Update, June 2020
- “SEC’s Enforcement Focus on Pandemic-Related Misconduct,” Thompson Hine COVID-19 Update, May 2020
- “Supply Chain Disruptions Bring Compliance Risks to the Forefront,” Thompson Hine COVID-19 Update, April 2020
- “U.S. Alleges Huawei Involved in Long-Running Scheme to Steal Trade Secrets,” Thompson Hine White Collar Update, February 2020
- “U.S. Probes Scientists and Academics with Overseas Ties, Targets Trade Secret Transfers,” Thompson Hine White Collar Update, January 2020
- Co-author, “Justice Department Emphasizes Antitrust Enforcement Through Creation of Multi-Agency and Bid-Rigging Strike Force,” Thompson Hine Antitrust & Government Contracts Update, November 2019
- Co-author, “Corporate Settlement Tools, Deferred Prosecution Agreements, Non-Prosecution Agreements and Cooperation Agreements,” Bloomberg Law, 2018
- Author, Mexico chapter of From Baksheesh to Bribery: Understanding the Global Fight Against Corruption and Graft, 2019
- Co-author, “Decreased Enforcement Expected From SEC Regarding Conflict Minerals Regulations – For Now,” NACD BoardTalk blog, 2017
- Co-author, “Cross-Border Information Flows: Existing and Developing Challenges,” NACD BoardTalk blog, 2016
- “One Year After Yates Memo: The DOJ’s Yates-Lite Approach,” Law360, 2016
- “The Evolving Calculus of Corporate Voluntary Disclosure in FCPA Cases,” The Review of Securities and Commodities Regulation, 2016
- Panelist, “The end of an affair: Economic and trade sanctions against entities and the global corporate response,” Russia’s attack on Ukraine, WisteV, 2022
- Panelist, “Ethical Issues Hypo: Critical Compliance Topics,” The Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and International Anti-Corruption Developments, PLI, 2022
- Presenter, “Practical Advice for Antitrust and Privacy Compliance in the Biden Era,” Thompson Hine Webinar Series, March 2, 2021
- Presenter, “White Collar Crime – Recent Developments and Emerging Risks Part I,” Thompson Hine Webinar Series, February 18, 2021
- Panelist, “Setting the Stage: Government Investigation in High-Tech Industries,” Bloomberg Law In-House Forum West, 2019
- Panelist, Sanctions, Export Control and National Security Conference, Global Investigations Review, 2019
- Panelist, “Anti-Corruption Issues When Doing Business in Latin America,” The Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and International Anti-Corruption Developments, PLI, 2019
- Speaker, “Enforcement Developments in Latin America,” PLI, 2018
- Panelist, Developments in Brazil Conference, Latin America American Conference Institute, 2017
- Panelist, Transparency International Corporate Forum, 2017
- Speaker, “The SEC Whistleblower,” Corporate Counsel Webcast, 2017
- Speaker, “The Role of the General Counsel in the Remediation Process,” Corporate Counsel Seminar, 2017
- Speaker, Ethisphere Roundtable, 2017
- Speaker, NACD Roundtable, 2016
- Speaker, Compliance Seminar, District of Columbia Bar, 2016
- Panelist, American Conference Institute FCPA Panel, 2016
- Presenter, SEC Whistleblower Program, ABA, 2016
- Speaker, National Association of Real Estate Investment Managers Political Donations/Lobbying Compliance Seminar, 2016
- Speaker, “Voluntary Disclosures in Corporate Investigations,” ABA Panel, 2016
- Speaker, Leading Minds of Governance Forum, NACD, 2016
- Listed as a Litigation Star by Benchmark Litigation, 2022
- Listed in The Legal 500 (Corporate Investigations and White Collar Criminal Defense), 2021, 2022
- Selected to Law360’s Compliance Editorial Advisory Board, 2021, 2022
- Selected for inclusion in The Best Lawyers in America© 2021, 2022 for Criminal Defence: White-Collar Crime
- Top 5 Global Investigations Practice (as D.C. chair of Baker McKenzie’s Compliance & Investigations practice), Global Investigations Review (2016 & 2017)
- 100 Most Influential People in Corporate Governance and the Boardroom, National Association of Corporate Directors (2016 & 2017)
- Elite FCPA Practice (as D.C. chair of Baker McKenzie’s Compliance & Investigations practice), Global Investigations Review (2016)
- Deal of the Year, Latin Lawyer (2016)
- Department of Justice Director’s Award
- National Award from the Center for Missing and Exploited Children
Professional Associations
- American Bar Association
- Chicago Bar Association
Education
- Loyola University Chicago School of Law, J.D.
- Creighton University, B.A.
Bar Admissions
- District of Columbia
- Illinois
- Michigan
Court Admissions
- U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois
- U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia
- U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit
- U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit
- A Decade After the Milberg Weiss Scandal: Does History Repeat Itself?”,
New York Law Journal
, March 26, 2021 - White House memo puts burden of proof back on agency for administrative enforcement,
Federal News Network
, October 8, 2020 - White House Due Process Memo Could Reform Enforcement,
Law360
, September 21, 2020 - DOJ’s False Claims Act Recoveries in Fiscal Years 2020 and 2019,
Government Contracts Update
, September 15, 2020 - DOJ Fraud Section Issues Revised Corporate Compliance Guidelines,
White-Collar Criminal Practice Update
, June 3, 2020 - SEC’s Enforcement Focus on Pandemic-Related Misconduct,
COVID-19 Update
, May 20, 2020 - FCPA Flash Podcast – A Conversation With Joan Meyer And Matthew Ridings About Privilege Issues In Internal Investigations, May 18, 2020
- Supply Chain Disruptions Bring Compliance Risks to the Forefront,
COVID-19 Update
, April 30, 2020 - U.S. Alleges Huawei Involved in Long-Running Scheme to Steal Trade Secrets,
White Collar Update
, February 20, 2020 - U.S. Probes Scientists and Academics with Overseas Ties, Targets Trade Secret Transfers,
White Collar Update
, January 31, 2020