Paul Weiss
2001 K Street, NW
Washington, DC 20006-1047
202-223-7377 (direct)
202-204-7377 (direct fax)
202-223-7300 (firm)
202-223-7420 (firm fax)
A partner in the Litigation Department, Mark Mendelsohn is co-chair of the FCPA Group, and a member of the White Collar Crime and Regulatory Defense, Internal Investigations, and Securities Litigation Practice Groups. Prior to joining Paul, Weiss, Mark served as the deputy chief of the Fraud Section of the Criminal Division of the United States Department of Justice (DOJ), and is internationally acknowledged and respected as the architect and key enforcement official of DOJ’s modern Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) enforcement program.
Mark's practice emphasizes white collar criminal matters, internal corporate investigations, and compliance counseling. He regularly represents clients in FCPA and corruption-related internal investigations, designing and implementing compliance programs, transactional anti-corruption diligence, and responding to and defending against government investigations, prosecutions, and trials on behalf of both business entities and individuals.
Mark's experience includes representation of the following:
Public and Private Companies
a public real estate and financial services company in connection with an internal FCPA investigation of conduct in its Indian subsidiary;
a private financial services firm in connection with an internal FCPA investigation of conduct in its China affiliate;
a commodities trading company in connection with an internal FCPA investigation of conduct in its joint venture in a South American country;
a private equity fund in connection with an anti-corruption risk assessment and the design and implementation of an anti-corruption compliance program;
a technology company in connection with an anti-corruption risk assessment and the design and implementation of an anti-corruption compliance program;
a global non-profit organization in connection with a DOJ FCPA investigation of its operations in Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union;
a multilateral development bank in connection with an internal investigation of corruption by one if its directors; and
numerous companies, private equity funds, and financial institutions in connection with third-party and transactional diligence in Africa, Asia, Europe, North, Central and South America, and the Middle East.
Individual Executives
the general counsel of a public oil and gas drilling services company in connection with an internal FCPA investigation; and
executives and managers of the Indian subsidiary of a listed U.S. company in connection with DOJ and SEC FCPA investigations.
As deputy chief of the Fraud Section from 2005 to 2010, Mark was responsible for overseeing all DOJ investigations and prosecutions under the FCPA, and for supervising a team of trial attorneys with respect to investigations and prosecutions of a wide variety of federal white collar crimes including money laundering, mail and wire fraud, procurement fraud, Arms Export Control Act and International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) violations, and violations of economic and trade sanctions laws and regulations, including with respect to the United Nations Oil for Food Program. During his tenure, Mark handled hundreds of voluntary disclosures of illicit corporate payments, worked closely with attorneys in the Division of Enforcement at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, helped establish and worked closely with the Federal Bureau of Investigation's FCPA squad at the Washington Field Office, negotiated numerous corporate plea, deferred and non-prosecution agreements on behalf of DOJ, and participated in the appointment of, interaction with, and reporting by more than 16 corporate compliance monitors. Mark led an effort to forge closer working relationships with foreign regulators in connection with transnational bribery cases, resulting in coordinated settlements with the Munich Public Prosecutor in Germany in the Siemens prosecutions and coordinated settlements with the U.K.'s Serious Fraud Office in the BAE and Innospec prosecutions, among others. Mark was also responsible for administering DOJ's FCPA Opinion Release Procedure, including issuing the seminal opinion on FCPA transactional diligence and successor liability (Op. Rel. 08-02).
In addition to case-related responsibilities, Mark had significant policy responsibilities, including principal policy responsibilities related to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) Anti-bribery Convention. As a member of the U.S. delegation to the OECD Bribery Working Group, Mark served as a lead examiner for the follow-up review of Japan's implementation of the OECD Anti-bribery Convention, played a key role in peer review of the United Kingdom including consultation regarding its Bribery Act of 2010, negotiated the 2009 Anti-Bribery Recommendation, and played a leading role in the drafting and adoption of the OECD's "Good Practice Guidance on Internal Controls, Ethics and Compliance."
During his tenure administering the DOJ's FCPA enforcement program, the DOJ brought more than 50 prosecutions against corporations for violations of the FCPA and related offenses, resulting in more than $1.5 billion in criminal penalties. During that same period, DOJ brought approximately 80 prosecutions against individuals. Among the notable prosecutions were the following: U.S. v. Siemens AG, et al.; U.S. v. Kellogg Brown & Root, LLC and U.S. v. Albert "Jack" Stanley; U.S. v. Congressman William J. Jefferson; U.S. v. BAE Systems plc; U.S. v. Baker Hughes, et al.; U.S. v. Titan Corp.; U.S. v. Statoil ASA; U.S. v. Monsanto; Lucent Technologies, Inc.; U.S. v. Willbros Group, Inc., et al.; U.S. v. Christian Sapsizian, et al.; U.S. v. Viktor Kozeny and Frederick Bourke, Jr.; U.S. v. Gerald and Patricia Green; U.S. v. Innospec, Inc.; and U.S. v. Daimler AG.
Prior to joining the Fraud Section, Mark was senior counsel in the DOJ's Computer Crime and Intellectual Property Section in Washington, D.C., and prior to that served for nearly six years as an assistant U.S. attorney in the U.S. Attorney's Office in the Southern District of New York. During his service with the U.S. Attorney's Office, Mark tried numerous cases to verdict and argued several appeals before the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. As a federal prosecutor, Mark was a recipient of the Attorney General's Award for Distinguished Service for the "Investigation into Corrupt Payments by Siemens AG," and a recipient of the Assistant Attorney General's Award for "The Safeguarding and Maintenance of Confidence in the American Marketplace." Mark has been recognized by Ethisphere Institute in 2011 as a "Top Gun" among "Attorneys Who Matter," in 2009 as a "Government Star" among "Attorneys Who Matter In Corporate Compliance," and in 2007 and 2008 as one of the "100 Most Influential People in Business Ethics." In 2010 and 2011, Mark was selected as one of the Lawdragon "500 Leading Lawyers in America." Mark is also ranked by Chambers as an International Trade/FCPA expert.
Mark has spoken frequently as a faculty member, panelist and keynote speaker at numerous FCPA, anti-corruption, corporate compliance, securities fraud, money laundering, and white collar crime programs and conferences. He teaches International Criminal Law as a visiting professor at the University of Virginia School of Law and has also been an adjunct lecturer-in-law at Columbia Law School. Mark is member of the Edward Bennett Williams Inn of Court and a member of the Board of Directors of Transparency International-USA.
See Library Tab for articles, publications and presentations by Mark Mendelsohn
Mar 04, 2016 | Publications
The CFPB Enters the Cybersecurity Arena with Its First Enforcement Action
Feb 29, 2016 | Publications
DOJ and SEC Pressure Test Accuracy of Self-Reporting and Cooperation in PTC FCPA Settlement
Mar 02, 2016 | Events
Mark Mendelsohn to Speak at TRACE Forum
Feb 26, 2016 | Publications
VimpelCom Agrees to Landmark $795 Million FCPA Resolution
Feb 25, 2016 | Publications
SEC Settlement Highlights Importance of Third-Party Agent Guidelines
Feb 23, 2016 | Publications
Feb 16, 2016 | Publications
SciClone Pharmaceuticals Settles FCPA Action Over China Business Practices
Feb 01, 2016 | Publications
Jan 20, 2016 | Publications
Oct 28, 2015 | News
Apollo Affiliated Funds Acquire OM Group
Oct 08, 2015 | Publications
Oct 02, 2015 | Publications
Jul 24, 2015 | News
Pro Bono Client Wins Unemployment Benefits Appeal
Jul 07, 2015 | News
Paul, Weiss Client Achieves Successful Result in World Bank Sanctions Hearing
Jul 01, 2015 | News
Apollo Affiliated Funds Acquire Protection 1 and ASG Security
May 28, 2015 | Publications
SEC Extends Application of FCPA Accounting Provisions in BHP Billiton Enforcement Action
May 18, 2015 | News
Apollo Affiliated Funds to Acquire Protection 1 and ASG Security
May 11, 2015 | News
Apr 01, 2015 | News
Searchlight Capital to Acquire TouchTunes
Jan 16, 2015 | News
Grupo Salinas Completes $2.5 Billion Sale of Mexican Wireless Provider
Nov 07, 2014 | News
AT&T to Acquire Mexican Wireless Provider Iusacell for $2.5 billion
Jun 30, 2014 | News
KPS Acquires Anchor Glass Container Corporation
May 06, 2014 | News
William Morris Endeavor Closes Acquisition of IMG
Apr 24, 2014 | Publications
Apr 14, 2014 | News
KPS to Acquire Anchor Glass Container Corporation
Mar 19, 2014 | Publications
March 2014 Private Equity Digest
Nov 04, 2013 | News
Wellspring Acquires Swift Worldwide Resources
Jun 07, 2013 | News
The Carlyle Group Joins Other Investors in $3.7 Billion Focus Media Buyout
Mar 17, 2013 | Events
SIFMA Compliance & Legal Society
Mar 04, 2013 | News
Aurizon Agrees to Acquisition by Hecla Mining
Feb 12, 2013 | Events
Winter Roundtable of the Institutional Investor Legal Forum
Nov 16, 2012 | Events
Criminal Law: The Foreign Corrupt Practices Act
Nov 16, 2012 | Publications
Alert: DOJ and SEC Release Comprehensive Guidance on FCPA Enforcement
Oct 23, 2012 | Publications
Jul 10, 2015
Mark Mendelsohn Recognized by Ethisphere Magazine in Its 2015 “Attorneys Who Matter”
Jun 07, 2013
Chambers USA 2013 Ranks Paul, Weiss Highly
Nov 13, 2012
AVCJ Awards "Private Equity Deal of the Year" to Paul, Weiss
Jun 07, 2012