Ex US Prosecutor, UN Corruption Fighter, Joins Day Pitney

(NEW YORK, June 12, 2014)—Robert M. Appleton, a veteran U.S. federal government and United Nations prosecutor who has pursued many corruption charges and white-collar and financial fraud cases on both the national and international levels, has joined Day Pitney’s White Collar and Internal Investigations practice as partner. He is based in the firm’s New York office.

Mr. Appleton has served in national and international leadership positions, more recently, in the United Nations and also as Director of Investigations in the Geneva-based Global Fund To Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, the world’s largest health financier. He has also served as a supervisory Assistant United States Attorney, in the U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the U.S. Attorney for the District of Connecticut, for more than 13 years.

“Bob Appleton has a profound depth of knowledge and experience in white-collar litigation and global anti-fraud and bribery investigations,” said Day Pitney managing partner Stanley A. Twardy, Jr. “We are thrilled to have him as part of our team.”

Mr. Appleton has extensive high-level national and international experience in the areas of litigation, forensic examinations, anti-corruption and internal investigations, with an emphasis on Anti-Money Laundering (AML), anti-Fraud, Bank Secrecy Act (BSA), Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA), and international trade, export and embargo issues, as well as complex white collar fraud and corruption cases. He has appeared in multiple national and international jurisdictions, with trial experience in international arbitration and dispute tribunals and in U.S. courts. He has tried more than 30 cases to a jury in federal courts in the U.S. as lead or sole counsel and has briefed and argued more than 20 appeals before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit.

Mr. Appleton also has deep experience conducting, managing and supervising internal investigations and forensic examinations of major international financial institutions and Fortune 100 companies, international institutions and their officers, NGOs, the United Nations and a former Secretary-General, and foreign government agencies and officials. In 2005, he served as Special Counsel to former US Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker at the Independent Inquiry Committee into the Iraqi Oil for Food investigation. In 2008, Mr. Appleton was selected by the UN Secretary General to serve as Chairman of the United Nations Anti-Fraud Task Force, a first of its kind internal anti-corruption unit designed to address corruption issues within the UN, including with respect to  commercial entities that engage in the more than $6 billion in annual commercial activity with the UN.

He is currently representing large international corporate clients and individual corporate officers in international arbitration and before international administrative tribunals, including the United Nations.

“We are excited to have Bob join our deep bench of white collar defense and internal investigations lawyers,” said Helen Harris, head of Day Pitney’s White Collar and Internal Investigations practice.  “Our team is representing clients on a wide range of enforcement matters and investigations and we look forward to adding his tremendous experience.”

About Day Pitney

Day Pitney LLP is a full-service law firm with close to 300 attorneys in Boston, Connecticut, New Jersey, New York, and Washington, DC. The firm offers clients strong corporate and litigation practices, with experience on behalf of large national and international corporations as well as emerging and middle-market companies and individuals.