Former CNBC and Wall Street Journal reporter joins from Massachusetts U.S. Attorney’s Office, where he served as Chief of the Securities, Financial & Cyber Fraud Unit.
BOSTON – Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan, LLP, the global litigation powerhouse, today announced that Stephen E. Frank has joined the firm as a partner, resident in the firm’s Boston and New York City offices. A veteran financial crimes prosecutor who served in the Department of Justice for nearly 17 years, Frank joins the firm from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Massachusetts, where he spearheaded the growth of one of the premier white collar units in the country. Among other noteworthy cases, he oversaw the high-profile “Varsity Blues” college admissions prosecutions, the hack-to-trade prosecution of an associate of Russian President Vladimir Putin, and the prosecution of several high-ranking State Street Corporation executives for defrauding the bank’s pension fund clients.
As Chief of the Securities, Financial & Cyber Fraud Unit, Frank led a team of more than a dozen federal prosecutors and investigators responsible for investigating and prosecuting a variety of complex financial crimes, including securities and investment fraud, tax fraud, money laundering, and violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA).
Frank personally served as lead trial counsel in some of the District’s most significant white collar prosecutions. They include: “Operation Varsity Blues,” a groundbreaking case that secured the conviction of more than 50 individuals in the largest college admissions scandal ever prosecuted, for which Frank received the Attorney General’s Award for Distinguished Service; United States v. Vladislav Klyushin, one of the largest hack-to-trade cases ever charged, which led to the conviction of a Russian businessman who was later exchanged for Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich as part of a historic multinational prisoner swap; and United States v. McLellan, et al., one of the most significant prosecutions of senior bank executives in the last decade, which laid bare a scheme by the world’s largest custody bank to overcharge pension funds for billions of dollars’ worth of securities trades. Frank also oversaw corporate resolutions with numerous multinational companies. At Quinn Emanuel, Frank will be a member of the firm’s Investigations, Government Enforcement and White Collar Criminal Defense Group.
“Steve built a team of prosecutors who brought hugely impactful financial crimes prosecutions, and he is nationally renowned for his expertise in white-collar criminal matters and investigations,” said William A. Burck, Global Co-Managing Partner of the firm and head of the Investigations, Government Enforcement and White Collar Criminal Defense Group.
“He is an exceptional trial lawyer whose formidable skills inside and outside the courtroom will make him an invaluable asset to our clients,” Burck added.
Frank, a graduate of Harvard College and Harvard Law School, came to the Massachusetts U.S. Attorney’s Office from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York, where he was a member of the Organized Crime and Racketeering Section. During his time at the Eastern District of New York, Frank was part of the trial teams that secured the conviction and life sentence of the acting boss of the Bonanno Crime Family and the conviction of a captain in the Genovese Crime Family.
Before becoming a prosecutor, Frank represented clients in a variety of complex commercial disputes, including patent, antitrust, and regulatory cases, as a litigation associate at Cravath, Swaine & Moore, LLP, in New York. Frank previously had a successful journalism career as a reporter at the Wall Street Journal and CNBC, where he appeared regularly on the network’s flagship morning program, Squawk Box.
“I am thrilled to be joining Quinn Emanuel,” Frank said. “I’m a huge admirer of their exceptional team of litigators and their relentless dedication to fighting hard for their clients. Quinn’s track record speaks volumes, and I’m eager to contribute to the continued growth and success of their globally renowned practice.”
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Quinn Emanuel is a 1000+ lawyer business litigation firm—the largest in the world devoted solely to business litigation and arbitration with 36 global office locations. Surveys of major companies around the world have named it the “most feared” law firm in the world three times. Firm lawyers have tried over 2,500 cases, winning 86% of them. When representing defendants, Quinn Emanuel’s trial experience gets better settlements or defense verdicts. When representing plaintiffs, Quinn Emanuel lawyers have won nearly $80 billion in judgments and settlements. Quinn Emanuel has also obtained seven nine-figure jury verdicts, four 10-figure jury verdicts, 51 nine-figure settlements, and 20 10-figure settlements.
Quinn Emanuel has been named the No. 1 “most feared” law firm by The BTI Consulting Group three times in its annual “Most Feared Law Firms in Litigation” guide, in which in-house counsel named 46 firms they “want to steer clear of” when it comes to litigation. The American Lawyer named Quinn Emanuel the top IP litigation firm in the U.S. and the firm as one of the top six commercial litigation firms in the country. The UK legal periodical, The Lawyer named us “International Firm of the Year.” Law360 has most recently selected us as having Securities and Cyber Security & Privacy “Practice Groups of the Year.” Managing IP twice recognized us as having the “Best ITC Litigation Practice” and honored us with the “Patent Contentious West” award. Legal Business has named us “US Law Firm of the Year” three times, and our German offices have twice been named both “IP Litigation Firm of the Year” and “Patent Litigation Firm of the Year” by JUVE, Germany’s most prestigious legal publication. Global Investigations Review, a leading legal periodical covering global white-collar investigations, named us the “Most Impressive Investigations Practice of the Year.” Global Arbitration Review named us one of the top 10 best arbitration practices in the world. Global Competition Review named our antitrust and competition practice among the “25 Global Elite,” and has included us in their list of the world’s top 10 competition litigation practices.