Breon S. Peace is a partner based in the New York office.
Mr. Peace’s practice focuses on white-collar defense, regulatory enforcement matters and complex civil litigation. He regularly conducts sensitive internal investigations on behalf of boards of directors and management of leading corporations. Mr. Peace represents domestic and multinational corporations and business executives in regulatory and criminal investigations involving allegations of accounting fraud, securities fraud, insider trading, money laundering and violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. He also advises boards of directors and audit committees on corporate governance issues and compliance programs. Mr. Peace frequently handles matters involving the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, various U.S. Attorney Offices, the Department of Justice and FINRA. In addition, he represents corporations, officers and directors in complex commercial litigation matters.
Examples of Mr. Peace’s recent matters include:
- Representing a leading financial institution in connection with SEC investigations into short-selling in advance of the collapses of Bear Stearns and Lehman Brothers.
- Representing BNP Paribas in litigation arising from the Madoff Ponzi scheme, including “clawback” litigation by the bankruptcy trustee and litigation by the Fairfield feeder funds.
- Internal investigations for leading financial institutions related to trading activity in U.S. Treasury securities.
- Internal investigation conducted on behalf of the audit committee of a leading fine jewelry retailer of accounting issues that resulted in a financial restatement.
- Representing former senior executive of a cosmetics company in an FCPA investigation.
- Representing Doral Financial Corporation in SEC and DOJ investigations arising out of earnings restatements.
- Representing former members of the board of directors and officers of R-G Premier Bank in connection with an FDIC investigation into the causes of the failure of the bank and resulting litigation.
- Representing IMAX Corporation in SEC investigations into alleged accounting fraud. The SEC declined to pursue charges against IMAX.
Because of the nature of Mr. Peace's assignments, many of his successful matters have not resulted in public charges and remain confidential.
Recently, the Honorable Nicholas Garaufis of the U.S District Court for the Eastern District of New York appointed Mr. Peace to serve as a Special Master in the
U.S. and The Vulcan Society, Inc., et al. v. City of New York discrimination case involving the Fire Department of the City of New York.
Mr. Peace speaks regularly on white-collar defense and regulatory enforcement matters. He served as faculty for The Conference Board’s Corporate Governance and Compliance Crash Course and presented on the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and U.K. Bribery Act: “What Do They Mean for Board Oversight?”. He recently participated on panels entitled “Securities Enforcement Update: Department of Justice Investigations and Prosecutions”, “Standards for Prosecuting Corporate Fraud by Federal & State Agencies – The Impact of the Revised Justice Department Charging Guidelines” and “Ethical Considerations in Corporate Investigations” for the New York City Bar. He has also presented on “Financial Statement in Legal practice: Enforcement and Litigation Implications and Recent Cases” as part of PLI's How to Read Financial Statements 2013 CLE program and has spoken on the “Enforcement and Compliance” panel at PLI’s Tenth Annual Directors’ Institute on Corporate Governance.
Mr. Peace’s recent publications include “The New FCPA Guidance: Key Points for CCOs” Breon S. Peace and Jonathan Kolodner, published in
Compliance Reporter; “The FCPA Statute of Limitations—A Way Out for Wal-Mart?” Breon S. Peace, Ryan T. Becker and Elizabeth M. Hanly, published in
The U.S. Law Week; “Unanswered Questions: The SEC v. Urban Case Creates Significant Uncertainty Around In-House Counsel’s Liability as Supervisors,” Giovanni Prezioso, Breon S. Peace, and Steven A. Haidar, published in
IFLR; “Recovering Legal Fees and Costs Through Criminal Restitution,” Lewis J. Liman, Breon S. Peace, and Benjamin J.A. Sauter, published in
The White Collar Crime Report; and “The Impact Of EU Data Protection Laws On U.S. Government Enforcement Investigations,” Breon S. Peace and Jennifer Kennedy, published in
The International Adviser and
The Lawyer’s Brief.
Mr. Peace joined the firm in 1996 and became a partner in 2007. From 1997 to 1998, he served as law clerk to the Honorable Sterling Johnson, Jr. of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York. He left the firm in December 1999 to join the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York where he served as an Assistant U.S. Attorney. In that position, he handled a wide array of federal criminal investigations and prosecutions trying cases to verdict and arguing appeals before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. From August 2002 to July 2003, Mr. Peace was an Acting Assistant Professor of Clinical Law at New York University School of Law where he taught the Prosecution Clinic. He rejoined the firm in September 2003.
Mr. Peace received a J.D. degree from New York University School of Law in 1996 where he was an editor of the Law Review. He received an undergraduate degree from the University of California at Berkeley in 1993.
Mr. Peace is a member of the Bar of the State of New York and is admitted to practice before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit and the U.S. District Courts for the Southern and Eastern Districts of New York. He is a trustee of the Federal Bar Council and member of its Second Circuit Courts Committee, a member of the New York Council of Defense Lawyers and a member of the Federal Courts Committee of the New York City Bar. Mr. Peace is also a member of the Board of Directors of The Bronx Defenders.