Casey E. Donnelly

Casey Donnelly is a partner in the Litigation Department and the Firm's White-Collar Defense Practice Group. Ms. Donnelly’s practice focuses on representing both companies and individuals in white collar criminal defense, securities enforcement matters, internal investigations, and in complex commercial litigation and trials.

Ms. Donnelly has been involved in some of the nation’s most high-profile white collar cases. In 2022, she was part of the trial team that secured an acquittal on all counts for Tom Barrack, founder of Colony Capital, in a highly publicized jury trial alleging illegal foreign lobbying, obstruction of justice, and other charges. In addition, she successfully represented shipbuilding executive Jean Boustani in a significant jury trial victory in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York, where he had been charged with participating in wire fraud, securities fraud, and money laundering conspiracies in connection with an alleged $2 billion fraud and kickback scheme involving Mozambique state-backed loans. Ms. Donnelly was also a senior member of the team that won a landmark victory dismissing all charges in the first US London Inter-Bank Offered Rate (LIBOR) manipulation case before the Second Circuit Court of Appeals. She has also represented individuals and companies in white-collar investigations brought by the US Department of Justice (DOJ), the US Securities & Exchange Commission (SEC), and the UK Serious Fraud Office (SFO), among others, successfully persuading those agencies that formal charges were not appropriate and should not be brought.

Ms. Donnelly also has a robust pro bono practice, which involves practice on behalf of a number of disadvantaged groups, including victims of domestic violence and incarcerated individuals. She was recognized by the New York State Bar Association as an “Empire State Counsel®” honoree for her pro bono contributions in 2015, 2016 and 2017.

Selected notable highlights of Ms. Donnelly’s practice have included:

• Securing an acquittal on all counts for Tom Barrack, founder of Colony Capital, who had been charged with acting as an illegal agent of the United Arab Emirates, as well as obstruction of justice and false statements, in a highly publicized jury trial in the Eastern District of New York. 
• Securing an acquittal on all counts for shipbuilding executive Jean Boustani for charges of alleged securities fraud, wire fraud, and money laundering arising from allegations of bribery to win large contracts in Mozambique in the closely followed case of United States v. Jean Boustani (E.D.N.Y.). This major victory was profiled in The American Lawyer, “Willkie Team Wins Big with Art of Storytelling.” The Willkie team also topped Law360’s “Legal Lions” list in recognition of the victory.
• Winning a landmark victory dismissing all charges in the first US LIBOR manipulation case before the Second Circuit Court of Appeals in United States v. Allen.
• Representing Adidas sports marketing head against federal criminal charges relating to alleged payments to recruit student athletes to college basketball programs in United States v. Gatto, et al. (S.D.N.Y.).
• Representing a former employee of an international bank in successfully resolving an investigation by the DOJ and SFO concerning alleged market manipulation violations.
• Representing a former senior executive of a Fortune 500 company in successfully resolving an investigation by the SEC and the DOJ concerning alleged FCPA violations.