Jennifer L. Beidel

Financial Services

• In December 2013, Jen successfully concluded the representation of Cantor Fitzgerald in its effort to recover for business interruption losses due to the 9/11 terrorist attacks that killed 658 Cantor employees. Jen was second chair trial counsel for Cantor in its suit in federal court in the Southern District of New York charging American Airlines with negligence in its handling of checkpoint security at Logan Airport on the morning of September 11, 2001. On the eve of the trial in January 2014, Cantor and American Airlines' insurers reached a settlement for Cantor to receive $135 million. This settlement was widely reported in the national media including articles in the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg, Reuters, among others. The case involved novel issues regarding American Airlines' duties in operating checkpoint screening at Logan Airport, the impact of a planned terrorist attack on negligence liability, the applicable standard of care, and the ways to measure business damages separately from the tragic loss of life of so many Cantor employees.
• Defended financial services firms in multi-week Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) arbitrations brought by competitors alleging employee raiding, unfair competition, misappropriation of trade secrets, breach of fiduciary duty and civil conspiracy.
• Successfully avoided charges for several mortgage company employees in a government investigation regarding alleged robo-signing.
• Secured a declination from the SEC for a financial services company and its officers connected to a bid rigging investigation.
• Represented the CFO and other employees of a public employees’ retirement system in an investigation regarding calculations made by the system that affected the contributions required from participating employees.
• Represented an alternative investments company in civil litigation concerning its lending practices.
• Successfully avoided charges for an investment advisor being investigated for financial fraud.
• Successfully represented land investment company in a highly-public investigation into investments by a prominent politician.
• Successfully defended a check cashing agency client in an attorney generals’ office investigation into its financial practices.

Healthcare

• Represented four current and former pharmaceutical company employees in a government investigation regarding current good manufacturing practices (cGMP).
• Represented seven former pharmaceutical company employees in a government investigation regarding off-label marketing.
• Successfully represented a pharmaceutical company in a qui tam action regarding alleged misrepresentations in its patent filings.
• Represented a pharmaceutical company in shareholder derivative lawsuits regarding alleged misrepresentations to investors.
• Successfully avoided charges for a doctor accused of insider trading.
• Played a substantial role in internal compliance audits at two large healthcare institutions.
• Defended a health clinic in a federal investigation into the treatment practices of one of its largest clients
• Represented long-term care pharmacy in its negotiations with the DEA following a routine audit.
• Represented a doctor in a criminal investigation into his clinic’s financial practices.
• Conducted an internal investigation for a provider of disability services.

Education

• Represented The Pennsylvania State University in response to a high-profile, once-in-a-generation legal crisis, the Sandusky scandal. Led a team of associates in civil matters brought by the sexual abuse victims of Sandusky and work included an effort to resolve the majority of victim claims both in the courtroom and through a novel facilitation process involving acclaimed attorney Ken Feinberg. Helped Penn State navigate the myriad other legal issues that arise in a situation with multiple and overlapping federal and state legal proceedings, all against the backdrop of a highly-publicized internal investigative report prepared by former FBI Director Louis J. Freeh and intense national press scrutiny.
• Represented a land-grant research university in connection with a Title IX self-audit.
• Conducted an internal investigation for a prominent private research university into allegations of improper treatment of students on the basis of race and gender in its Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (ROTC) program.
• Represented charter school system in internal and government investigations into allegations of improper treatment of students on the basis of race and gender.
• Conducted an internal investigation for a private liberal arts university into allegations that a professor was a white supremacist and was therefore unfit to continue his job duties.
• Represented Ivy League land-grant research university in connection with the federal legality of its cannabis and hemp programs.
• Currently represent a medical professor and his research assistant in a highly-public multi-agency investigation regarding a potential Alzheimer’s drug.
• Represented a private Catholic university in two investigations – one involving allegations of misconduct by a professor and one involving the criminal conduct of a student.
• Represented a private Catholic university in response to allegations concerning financial impropriety.

Food, Beverage and Cannabis

• Successfully defended a cattle broker charged with seven counts of bad checks in a state criminal trial.
• Advised several cannabis-related companies on the risks of federal prosecution for their activities and provided opinions on the viability of their listing on NASDAQ and the New York Stock Exchange.
• Represented the largest wholesale produce warehouse on the East coast in a series of embezzlement recovery actions following the criminal prosecution of its CEO
• Represented a cannabis company in an SEC investigation into its investment practices

Manufacturing

• Represented a silicone manufacturer that experienced a plant explosion resulting in four fatalities. Led a team coordinating an internal investigation and root cause analysis, responses to the EPA, State EPA, OSHA, Chemical Safety Board and DOJ, and defense of civil wrongful death, injury, and property damage actions.
• Represented a pipe manufacturing company that had an alleged product defect issue in a fire suppression pipe that led to property damage and personal injuries. Conducted an internal investigation and managed the resulting civil recovery actions. 

• Represented a food manufacturer following a fire in its food plant in conducting a root cause analysis and working with insurance and relevant regulators to help the plant resume operations efficiently. 

Energy and Natural Resources

• Represented a sitting state governor in a federal investigation into the governor’s pipeline permitting processes.
• Represented two prominent pipeline companies in several civil disputes regarding its pipeline permitting practices.
• Conducted an internal investigation for an engineering and construction firm faced with potential exposure for the conduct of its employees.
• Conducted an internal investigation for a public utility company.

Government Contracting

• Successfully avoided prosecution of a government contractor who provided security services in a case involving allegations of bid rigging.
• Defended a large defense contractor in civil litigation concerning its contracting practices.
• Successfully avoided charges of three individuals in an investigation into a large public works project for the City of Philadelphia.

Past Federal Prosecution Work

• Led U.S. portion of cross-border investigation into a $55 billion EU-wide stock trading scam, now known publicly as the Cumex Files. Essentially, the perpetrators lent each other shares in large EU-based companies, creating the mirage that there were multiple owners of the shares. All “owners” of the shares would then seek tax refunds from the relevant EU countries for taxes they never paid, massively increasing the tax burden of the EU countries involved. 
• Secured guilty verdicts at trial against the CEO and other high-level officers in a $150 million consumer fraud scheme involving the unauthorized placement of charges on consumers' cell phone bills.
• Prosecuted the CEO, CFO, and other high-level officers of a debt collection company for orchestrating a $31 million fraudulent debt collection scheme.
• Prosecuted five defendants in a $33 million mortgage fraud conspiracy in connection with a debt-elimination scheme to defraud homeowners and banks.
• Secured guilty verdicts at trial against the owner and manager of a company that bilked consumers out of $11 million via a business opportunity scheme.
• Prosecuted the co-founder and CEO of a foreign oil company with a $30 million wire fraud and money laundering scheme.
• Prosecuted an individual who attempted to gain unauthorized access to the computer network of a well-known political organization.
• Secured guilty verdict at trial against a tax preparer on 38 counts of aiding and assisting the preparation of false and fraudulent tax returns.
• Prosecuted the owner of a medical technology company for evading millions in income taxes.
• Prosecuted a New York personal injury and medical malpractice lawyer for evading millions in income taxes.
• Participated in the team monitoring a large automotive manufacturer’s compliance with a deferred prosecution agreement following allegations of unintended acceleration.