Global White Collar Practice Launched
Veterans Cooney, Engel Join Rapidly Expanding New York Office
March 2, 2009 NEW YORK - Responding to explosive growth in financial fraud and white collar matters, corporate investigations, and government regulatory and enforcement actions, national litigation firm McKool Smith today announced a major expansion of its white-collar capabilities with the addition of Jack Cooney and Thomas E. Engel, both prominent former federal prosecutors in New York.
Cooney and Engel, who served together in the renowned US Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York, will lead the firm’s new International White Collar practice, and form the cornerstone of a burgeoning commercial litigation practice in McKool Smith’s rapidly growing New York office.
Following their years together as federal prosecutors, Cooney and Engel built broad private practice resumes representing corporate, multinational and individual clients on sensitive issues of vital concern. Cooney joins McKool Smith from the firm of Davis Polk & Wardwell. Engel was previously a partner at Howrey, where he opened the New York office, prior to which he led his own firm for more than 20 years.
“Jack Cooney and Tom Engel give our clients access to the very top tier of white-collar and commercial representation at a time when these matters are not merely proliferating, but growing more complex and absolutely crucial to our clients’ future,” said Mike McKool, the firm’s co-founder. He added that a special benefit to the new partners is the relative absence of client conflicts which often inhibit flexibility in representing important clients at larger traditional firms.
Additionally, as close friends and colleagues throughout their professional lives, they were attracted to the opportunity to work together once again. “The go get ‘em spirit at McKool Smith makes it a great place to practice,” said Mr. Engel, “This is a chance to work alongside some of the finest trial lawyers in the country, now including Jack Cooney. This is an ideal platform for the two of us – great clients, a great culture, and a can-do spirit. It doesn’t get any better than this.” Engel and Cooney are indeed close – in fact, each is godfather to a daughter of the other. Even more ironically, when McKool Smith was laying initial plans to augment its white collar practice last year, the pair discovered serendipitously that each of them had been in talks with the firm.
Said New York office head Robert A. Cote, “We’re growing fast in IP and commercial litigation, as are all our offices, but we expect robust growth in our business and our roster of attorneys over the next year, and the white collar practice is part of the bedrock of our expansion strategy here.”
Underlining this point of view, Cooney added, “There is no doubt that the growth trend in government enforcement and white-collar matters is here to stay – not just in the US, but worldwide.” Continued Cooney, “More and more, we see clients faced with bet-the-business situations they simply cannot afford to lose. Tom and I came to McKool Smith to provide these clients with their best chance to win and get back to business.”
According to co-founder McKool, the firm’s expansion is being fueled by its distinctive approach to client service. “We have enormous confidence that our plans to grow the New York office will be a valuable asset for our clients,” he said. “Clients tell us they find that our approach to litigation -- stressing trial-ready, cost-effective outcomes, and client and case based pricing -- is well-suited for the times, and positions us to make a real mark on the litigation scene in New York in their favor.”
McKool Smith has more than 100 attorneys in Dallas, Austin, Marshall, New York and Washington, D.C., specializing in high-stakes litigation for national and international clients. The firm is recognized as one of the premier litigation law firms by such leading third party authorities as Chambers USA, and has earned high-profile courtroom victories for such Fortune 500 clients as American Airlines, Ericsson, Electronic Data Systems, Lockheed Martin, Medtronic, Inc. and Sony Ericsson.