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Closing with a Clincher

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Please join us for a panel discussion on the art of closing argument, featuring Hon. Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers and litigators Wil Frentzen and Mary McNamara.

<p><span>Please join us for a panel discussion on the art of closing argument, featuring Hon. Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers and litigators Wil Frentzen and Mary McNamara. First, the panel will provide their insights into the nuts and bolts of closing arguments and the strategies that litigators should keep in mind when preparing their closings. Next, Wil and Mary will deliver short closing arguments. Judge Gonzalez Rogers will provide feedback in real time, and we will solicit audience reactions as well. Don’t miss this interactive and engaging session.</span></p><h4>Panelists</h4><div><ul><li><strong>William Frentzen </strong><span>– Partner and trial attorney in Morrison Foerster's Securities Litigation, Enforcement, and White-Collar Defense group</span></li></ul></div><ul><li><strong>Mary McNamara </strong><span>– Former President of the San Francisco Bar Association of San Francisco and founding Partner of Swanson & McNamara LLP</span></li><li><strong>Honorable Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers </strong><span>– Judge in the Northern District of California</span></li></ul><h4>Moderator</h4><div><ul><li><strong>Ryan Keats</strong> <span><span></span>– Partner and member in Morrison Foerster's Securities Litigation, Enforcement, and White Collar Defense group</span></li></ul></div><hr>

<p>Tips for Delivering a Compelling Closing Argument</p>

<p>Closing with a Clincher</p>

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<p>William Frentzen is a trial attorney and partner in Morrison Foerster’s Securities Litigation, Enforcement, and White Collar Defense Group and is the former chief of the Corporate and Securities Fraud Unit for the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of California (NDCA).</p><p>William represents companies and their executives in internal and government investigations, white collar criminal defense matters, and parallel civil litigation related to allegations of corporate fraud, securities fraud, public corruption, intellectual property crimes, crisis response related to cyber breaches, money laundering, healthcare fraud, digital currency crimes, tax crimes, cybercrime, Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organization (RICO) Act violations, and environmental crimes, among others. William has represented cryptocurrency platforms and other companies through exploit and cybersecurity attacks and asset recovery, including representing a company through the largest digital asset recovery in decentralized finance history. He also serves as an advisor for the capital fund of Haun Ventures, an investment firm focused on web3 ventures, tokens, and projects related to blockchain technology, digital currency, and crypto assets.</p><p>Over the course of his career, William has successfully tried over 40 federal criminal and civil jury trials around the country, including some of the longest and most complex criminal cases in the NDCA. His trial capabilities were recognized through his appointment as Senior Trial Counsel for the NDCA, a position created in acknowledgment of William’s unique ability to try cases. William’s trial experience includes securing conviction of a chief financial officer related to accounting and securities fraud charges arising out of the $11 billion sale of a software company, the largest fraud case in the history of the NDCA. He has also achieved several high-profile criminal resolutions, including the first-ever criminal prosecution for violating the Lobbying Disclosure Act against an infamous lobbyist and the conviction of two corrupt federal agents for stealing and extorting digital currency during their investigation of the Silk Road dark market website. He also served as an Adjunct Professor at UC Berkeley School of Law, where he taught Civil Trial Practice.</p><p>Before joining MoFo, William spent over 20 years at the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), where he most recently served as chief of the Corporate and Securities Fraud Unit for NDCA. Prior to that he also served as chief of the Corporate Fraud Strike Force, as Senior Trial Counsel, and as chief of the Organized Crime Strike Force for that office, and he also developed and supervised the country’s first cryptocurrency crime coordinator position within a U.S. Attorney’s Office. William has also served as an Assistant United States Attorney (AUSA) in the U.S. Attorney’s Offices for the District of Columbia and the Southern District of Georgia and as Associate Independent Counsel in the Office of Independent Counsel.</p><p>Since joining private practice, William has been recognized by leading industry and business publications, including <em>Financial Times</em>, which named him a “Commended Individual” in the Innovative Lawyers in Cyber Security & Data Protection category of its 2023 North America Innovative Lawyers report. He was recognized for his role in negotiating the return of nearly $200 million in digital assets for Euler, three weeks after these assets were stolen, completing one of the largest recoveries in decentralized finance history. Further, William was named to <em>Daily Journal</em>’s 2024 list of Leading Commercial Litigators relating to the successful handling of multiple civil litigation matters, including a jury trial victory, a granted summary judgment motion, and his work on the Euler matter mentioned above.</p><p>William also received numerous awards for his exceptional trial work at DOJ, including, among others, the Attorney General’s Distinguished Service Award, the DOJ Director’s Award for Superior Performance by a Criminal AUSA, and the FBI Director’s Award for Excellence, in addition to various other awards and commendations from federal and state agencies. He was also recognized as a California Attorney of the Year by <em>The Recorder</em> following a five-month racketeering jury trial.</p><p>Throughout his time as a prosecutor, William has coordinated with a variety of state, local, and federal law enforcement partners, including the U.S. Securities Exchange Commission (SEC), Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Internal Revenue Service (IRS), Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), Federal Trade Commission (FTC), Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), and Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), among others. He has also worked with numerous global law enforcement agencies, including INTERPOL, Europol, the UK Serious Fraud Office, and the UK National Crime Agency, among others.</p><p>William received his J.D. cum laude from Tulane Law School, where he also received a certificate in environmental law, and his B.A. from New College of the University of South Florida.</p><h4>Representative Experience</h4><h5>Private Litigation Experience</h5><ul><li>Obtained a rare jury verdict in a Clean Water Act trial in the Central District of California involving allegations of years of runoff into navigable waters, applying a recent Supreme Court decision regarding pollution point sources.</li><li>Obtained a complete defense victory through summary judgment for a leading transportation technology company against a prominent venture capital fund that alleged fraud and contractual interference.</li><li>Secured a favorable settlement after jury selection in a trial for a major biosciences company and founders, executives, and board members in a lawsuit filed in San Diego Superior Court alleging fraud, breach of contract, and tortious interference claims, which sought damages of $400–700 million.</li><li>Negotiated the return of more than $220 million in digital assets for a leading decentralized finance (DeFI) platform, three weeks after these assets were stolen, completing one of the largest recoveries in DeFi history.</li><li>Representation of a decentralized crypto exchange in relation to a major exploit resulting in the misappropriation of over $110 million, including negotiating return of most of the funds; assisting in identifying the attacker, leading to his arrest; and bringing a lawsuit against the attacker for return of remaining funds.</li><li>Negotiated the safe return of Tigran Gambaryan, a former decorated IRS Criminal Investigations agent responsible for countless big cases and recovering billions of dollars in successful forfeiture and restitution, who was unlawfully lured, detained, and prosecuted by the Nigerian government. The matter involved coordination with local counsel in Nigeria as well as other law firms and entities in the United States to raise awareness of his detention, bring pressure for his release, craft his legal strategy and trial defense, and pursue legal recourse against those who unlawfully detained him. All charges were dismissed against the client.</li><li>Representation of companies and executives through investigations and cases brought by the U.S. Department of Justice.</li><li>Representation of companies and executives in regulatory investigations and cases brought by the CFTC and the SEC.</li><li>Representation of companies through investigations by state and local law enforcement.</li><li>Representation of companies in highly sensitive matters involving internal fraud investigations and involuntary and negotiated departures of chief executive and other senior officers.</li></ul><h5>Government Experience</h5><ul><li>Brought accounting and securities fraud charges against a chief executive officer, chief financial officer, and founder arising out of the $11 billion sale of a software company, which led to the conviction of the chief financial officer and became the largest fraud case in the history of NDCA.</li><li>Brought money laundering, conspiracy to commit international money laundering, and operating an unlicensed money exchange charges against an unregistered digital currency exchange and its primary operator.</li><li>Seized billions of dollars in digital currency, one of the largest seizures in U.S. history, related to the Silk Road digital black-market platform.</li><li>Brought money laundering, computer intrusion, and conspiracy to commit wire fraud charges against the perpetrators of a major cyber breach involving VIP customer accounts of a large social networking service and cryptocurrency fraud. This was one of the most rapidly investigated and charged cyber incidents of recent times.</li><li>Conducted an investigation into conspiracy to commit money laundering and conspiracy to distribute narcotics into the largest and longest-running darknet market, which accounted for approximately 80% of all cryptocurrency transactions on the darknet generally.</li><li>Brought securities fraud charges against an online cryptocurrency investment manager and its principal related to a fraudulent investment scheme valued at US$20 million.</li><li>Brought theft of trade secrets charges against the chief engineer of a multinational transportation company regarding the misappropriation of self-driving vehicle technology.</li><li>Brought public corruption charges against the heads of various municipal and public utilities operations in California.</li><li>Brought bribery and honest services charges against a California state senator.</li><li>Brought violation of the Anti-Kickback Statute charges against over 30 doctors, healthcare professionals, and a large home health provider related to illicit patient referrals.</li><li>Brought securities and healthcare fraud charges against the founder and president of a medical testing startup related to fake COVID testing, which was the first case in which securities fraud charges were brought in the context of COVID.</li><li>Brought charges of novel Lobbying Disclosure Act violations and fraud related to a multimillion-dollar Initial Coin Offering against a prominent lobbyist. This is the only prosecution ever for criminal violations of the Lobbying Disclosure Act.</li><li>Brought obstruction of justice charges again the chief security officer of a multinational transportation company regarding a significant data breach.</li><li>Brought bid-rigging, bribery, obstruction of justice, and wire fraud charges resulting in trial against a San Francisco politician, political consultants, and developers related to federal and state government contracts.</li><li>Brought environmental crime charges related to falsifying oil-water separator books and records by a large international oil tanker dumping oil in the Atlantic Ocean.</li><li>Brought environmental crime charges related to illicit hunting practices.</li><li>Brought RICO Act charges and prosecuted trials against dozens of notorious international organized crime syndicates.</li><li>Brought novel securities fraud charges against a founder and CEO for defrauding investors related to award-winning artificial intelligence (AI) technology.</li></ul>

William Frentzen

Partner

<p>Ryan Keats is a member of the firm’s Securities  Litigation, Enforcement, and White Collar Defense Group. He represents public  companies and their officers and directors in securities class actions, shareholder  derivative lawsuits, and other high-stakes litigation. He has litigated at the  trial and appellate court levels, as well as in arbitration proceedings under  the AAA, FINRA, and JAMS rules.</p><p>Ryan has represented clients  across a range of industries including technology, communications, energy,  consumer retail, and financial services. His experience includes defending  claims arising under the Securities Act of 1933, the Securities Exchange Act of  1934, the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act, the Securities Litigation  Uniform Standards Act, the California Corporations Code, and the Delaware  General Corporations Law. Ryan has briefed issues of first impression under  California law, Delaware law, and the federal securities laws.</p><p>Ryan is a graduate of Columbia Law School, where he was a  Harlan Fiske Stone Scholar and served as a senior editor for the <em>American  Review of International Arbitration</em>. Ryan earned his B.A. in Literature at  the University of California, San Diego. He is admitted to practice in  California and New York.</p><h4>Representative Matters</h4><ul><li>Cloudera, Inc. and certain of its officers and directors in securities class actions in California state and federal court as well as derivative litigation pending in California and Delaware federal courts.</li><li>SoftBank Group Corp in lawsuits brought by WeWork co-founder Adam Neumann and a special committee of WeWork’s board of directors seeking $3 billion in damages. Plaintiffs alleged that SoftBank improperly failed to close a tender offer for WeWork shares and alleged that SoftBank breached fiduciary duties owed to other WeWork stockholders. The novel, high profile case was litigated on a compressed schedule, with trial set less than a year after the complaint was filed. The parties settled two weeks before trial, and the settlement helped pave the way for WeWork’s go-public transaction through a SPAC merger.</li><li>Fitbit, Inc. and certain of its directors and  officers in connection with shareholder litigation in California and Delaware.</li><li>Hortonworks, Inc. and certain of its directors  and officers in connection with shareholder litigation in the Northern District  of California and the Delaware Court of Chancery.</li><li>LeapFrog Enterprises, Inc. and certain of its  directors and officers in connection with a securities class action filed in  the Northern District of California.</li><li>Zynga, Inc. and certain of its directors and  officers in connection with a shareholder class action filed in the Delaware  Court of Chancery.</li><li>Member of trial team that successfully defended  a leading financial institution in a two-week AAA hearing arising from the sale  of positions in privately-held and publicly-traded companies.</li><li>Foreign and domestic financial  institutions in litigation related to the Madoff Ponzi scheme.</li><li>Financial institution in connection  with claims for breach of representations and warranties in connection with the  issuance and securitization of Residential Mortgage Backed Securities.</li><li>A U.S.-based public corporation in an  internal investigation concerning alleged violations of the FCPA and other  anti-bribery statutes in countries throughout Europe and the Middle East.  Following the conclusion of the investigation, the SEC and DOJ took no action  against the client.</li></ul>

Ryan M. Keats

Securities Litigation

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Closing with a Clincher

16 Mar 2023

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