EDITORIAL REVIEW

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A master in white-collar matters, he continues to defend the former CFO of Broadcom and former Embarcadero Technologies leader Raj Sabhlok.



This savvy white-collar pro wins summary judgment for executives charged by the SEC, but is best known as Mr. Backdating from his defense of Brocade’s former CEO and the former CFO of Broadcom.


This white-collar guru nabbed the spotlight with his work defending Brocade’s former CEO on backdating claims.


When the government launches investigations into alleged corporate fraud, Merrill Lynch, Gemstar-TV Guide execs and many others call him.




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Partner
Litigation, SEC Enforcement and White Collar Crime

Richard Marmaro is the head of Skadden’s West Coast SEC enforcement and white collar defense practice and has offices in Los Angeles and San Francisco. Mr. Marmaro is a fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers, as well as the International Academy of Trial Lawyers. Mr. Marmaro has been called the “go to” white collar lawyer by the Daily Journal, and for the past seven years that publication has recognized him as one of the “Top 100” attorneys in California. The Daily Journal also has recognized Mr. Marmaro as one of the leading white collar and SEC enforcement defense attorneys in California and the Los Angeles Business Journal has included him on its list of “Who’s Who in L.A. Law.” In addition, Mr. Marmaro consistently is recognized as a “leading lawyer” by Chambers Global The World’s Leading Lawyers for Business and Chambers USA: America’s Leading Lawyers for Business, and he repeatedly has been selected for inclusion in The Best Lawyers in America. Recently, Mr. Marmaro was one of eleven attorneys named to The National Law Journal’s annual “Winning” feature, which profiles successful litigators; named “Litigator of the Week” by The AmLaw Litigation Daily; was named “Attorney of the Year” by The Recorder; was recognized as a “Litigator in the Spotlight” by The American Lawyer, and was a finalist in the Chambers USA Awards for Excellence in the area of Litigation: White Collar Crime & Government Investigations. Mr. Marmaro also was a recent winner in California Lawyer magazine’s California Lawyer Attorneys of the Year Awards (CLAY), which recognizes lawyers throughout the state whose legal work has made a profound impact.

For almost 30 years, Mr. Marmaro successfully has defended individuals and corporations, both nationally and internationally, in all phases of complex civil, criminal and regulatory matters, including those involving allegations of insider trading, accounting and disclosure irregularities, stock options backdating, market manipulation, financial frauds and wrongful termination. Mr. Marmaro has tried many cases in federal and state courts around the country, and he has conducted numerous internal corporate investigations for Fortune 500 companies, involving allegations of stock options backdating, insider trading, tax violations and corporate opportunity issues. Mr. Marmaro has represented clients in their most formidable and difficult lawsuits and investigations, including the following:

• successfully defended William J. Ruehle, the former CFO of Broadcom, in the largest stock options backdating case brought by the federal government. In what only can be described as an extraordinary result, after a jury trial lasting nearly two months, Judge Cormac J. Carney of the Central District of California dismissed the indictment against Mr. Ruehle, dismissed the stock options backdating indictment against Broadcom co-founder Henry T. Nicholas, withdrew Broadcom co-founder Henry Samueli’s guilty plea and dismissed the case against him, and dismissed the pending SEC case against Mr. Ruehle, Drs. Nicholas and Samueli, and David Dull, the former general counsel of Broadcom;
  
  
• represented Greg Reyes, the former CEO and chairman of Brocade in criminal, SEC and civil litigation in the first stock options backdating case to go to trial. The Ninth Circuit unanimously reversed Mr. Reyes’ conviction in his first trial based on prosecutorial misconduct;
  
  
• co-lead counsel in the successful defense of the former CEO and chairman of Columbia Savings & Loan who was acquitted on all 45 criminal counts following a two-month jury trial;
  
  
• successfully defended the former CEO of Gateway in an SEC enforcement action where Mr. Marmaro prevailed at summary judgment; and
  
  
• represented executives of several leading corporations in SEC enforcement matters, including Critical Path (defense of former CEO); Gemstar-TV Guide (defense of former CFO of TV Guide); Peregrine Systems (defense of former controller); and Netopia (defense of former VP of sales).

In addition, Mr. Marmaro routinely is retained by broker-dealers in connection with criminal and regulatory investigations by the DOJ, SEC, FINRA and the New York attorney general. Recent representations have involved IPO allocations, market timing and revenue recognition issues. Mr. Marmaro also has represented audit and special committees of public companies in connection with internal investigations into various allegations.

Mr. Marmaro has appeared on CNN, KNBC and CNBC as an “expert commentator” on SEC enforcement and white collar criminal issues. He is quoted frequently in such publications as The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Los Angeles Times, Washington Post, USA Today and Fortune magazine on issues relating to white collar criminal defense and SEC enforcement. He also is a frequent speaker at conferences and bar groups on trial techniques and defending SEC and white collar cases.

Mr. Marmaro has been on the faculty of the Attorney General’s Advocacy Institute at the U.S. Department of Justice, where he participated in training assistant U.S. attorneys from around the country. In addition, he has served as the president of the Los Angeles Chapter of the Federal Bar Association. He has served as the co-chairman of the Central District’s Attorneys Delegation to the Ninth Circuit Judicial Conference and as the co-chairman of the Trial Practice Committee of the ABA’s Litigation Section. Mr. Marmaro also has taught civil trial practice at Southwestern Law School.

Prior to entering private practice in 1984, Mr. Marmaro served as a law clerk to a federal judge in the Southern District of New York and as an assistant United States attorney in the Central District of California, where he was an assistant chief of the Criminal Division. As a federal prosecutor, Mr. Marmaro conducted and supervised numerous grand jury investigations and successfully prosecuted many individuals and companies on business-related crimes, as well as successfully argued numerous appeals before the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.

Related Practices

• Litigation
• White Collar Crime
• Government Enforcement Litigation
• Securities Enforcement and Compliance
• Foreign Corrupt Practices Act Defens
• Government Enforcement and White Collar Crime
• Class Action Litigation
• Health Care and Life Sciences
• Accounting
• Crisis Management

Bar Admissions

• California
• New York

Education

• J.D., New York University School of Law, 1975 (Executive Editor, Journal of International Law and Politics)
• B.A., George Washington University, 1972 (magna cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa)

Professional Experience

• Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Central District of California, Criminal Division, U.S. Department of Justice (1980-1984)

Associations/Affiliations

• Attorney Delegate, Central District of California attorney delegation to the Ninth Circuit Judicial Conference
• President, Los Angeles Chapter, Federal Bar Association, 2001-2002

See Library Tab for articles, publications and presentations
by Richard Marmaro

Biography Title: Firm: Law School: Graduation:   Notable case(s), past or present (include date if possible):   Selected clients: Areas of Expertise:   Bar Memberships:   Clerkships:   Honors:

Q&A Best moment of career:   Worst moment of career:   Attorney you most admire:   Favorite activities (besides the Law):   Favorite Sports Team (if you have one), or Favorite Theater or Museum, etc:   If you weren’t a lawyer, what would you be?:   What do you read most often:   Notable law school classmates:   Why are you proud to be a lawyer?:

Lawdragon News

• The Lawdragon 500 Leading Lawyers in America
  2009
  
  
• The Lawdragon 500 Leading Lawyers in America
  2008
  
  
• The Lawdragon 500 Leading Lawyers in America
  2007
  
  
• The Lawdragon 500 Leading Lawyers in America
  2006
  
  
• The Lawdragon 500 Leading Litigators in America

News

• 03.01.10 - Richard Marmaro Wins California Lawyer "Attorneys of the Year" (CLAY) Award
  
  
• 06.22.10 - Richard Marmaro Named Among "Winning" Litigators
  
  
• 02.22.10 - Richard Marmaro Named "Attorney of the Year" by The Recorder
  
  
• 12.17.09 - Charges Against William Ruehle Dismissed in Backdating Case
  
  
• 12.17.09 - Richard Marmaro Named "Litigator of the Week" by The AmLaw Daily
  
  
• 01.02.08 - The American Lawyer Honors Skadden Litigation Department
  
  
• 04.20.07 - Rich Marmaro Discusses Reyes Defense
  
  
• 03.13.07 - The Wall Street Journal's Law Blog Lawyer of the Day: Skadden, Arps's Richard Marmaro

Authorships

• "Dodd-Frank Act Tempts Securities Law Whistleblowers with Lucrative Cash Bounties, Highlighting the Need for Effective Compliance Procedures"
  Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP
  July 22, 2010
  
  
• "SEC Enforcement Director Robert Khuzami Announces New Initiatives and Outlines Enforcement Priorities"
  Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP
  August 12, 2009
  
  
• "DOJ Revises Corporate Charging Guidelines: Principles of Federal Prosecution of Business Organizations"
  Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP
  September 4, 2008
  
  
• "Significant Ruling on Attorney-Client Privilege and Internal Investigations"
  Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP
  December 10, 2007
  
  
• "SEC Statement Details Framework for Imposing Civil Penalties Against Corporations in Settlements"
  Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP
  January 11, 2006
  
  
• "How to Get an Indictment Dismissed After a Tainted Government Search," Business Crimes Bulletin, Compliance and Litigation, Vol. 6, No. 5 (June 1999)
  
  
• "Aberrant Behavior Can Mean a Lighter Sentence," Business Crime Bulletin: Compliance and Litigation, Vol. 4, No. 12 (January 1998)
  
  
• "Contract Fraud: Minimizing Corporate Damage," Defense Contract Litigation Reporter, Vol. 5, No. 9, (May 1992)
  
  
• "Government Procurement Fraud: The Ever-Expanding Scope of Liability and Methods of Damage Control," Corporate Criminal Liability - Representing Corporations, CEOs, Corporate Officers and the Impact of Sentencing Guidelines, P.L.I. (1991)
  
  
• Co-Author, "The Procedural Rights of Third Parties in RICO's Post-Forfeiture Third-Party Ancillary Hearing," White-Collar Crime Reporter, Vol. 3, No. 10 (November-December 1989)
  
  
• "Protecting the Results of Internal Corporate Investigations," White-Collar Crime Reporter, Vol. 1, No. 4 (July 1987)
  
  
• "The Criminal Law and Technology Protection: Prosecuting a Dishonest Employee," The Computer Lawyer, Vol. 2, No. 12 (December 1985)
  
  
• "Domestic Criminal Proceedings Against Product Counterfeiting," Product Counterfeiting: Remedies, P.L.I. (1984)

Events

• Successfully Litigating the 'Bet-the-Company Case'
  September 24, 2010
  
  
• Broadcom: The Story Behind the Trial
  April 7, 2010
  
  
• Skadden Hosts Annual Securities Litigation and Regulatory Enforcement Seminar
  March 23, 2010
  
  
• Association of Business Trial Lawyers, Northern California
  March 16, 2010
  
  
• United States v. Ruehle and Successfully Litigating the Bet-the-Company Case
  March 16, 2010
  
  
• Richard Marmaro Discusses Largest Backdating Case
  March 2010
  
  
• Fact-Finding in White Collar Criminal Prosecutions
  February 10, 2010
  
  
• Broadcom: The Story Behind the Trial
  February 9, 2010