Alston & Bird has expanded its white-collar defense and corporate investigations capabilities with the addition of former federal prosecutor Joseph Burby, who rejoins the firm as partner in Atlanta. He arrives from Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner LLP, where he was a partner for 13 years.

“We are delighted to welcome Joey back to the firm,” said Kristy Brown, Alston & Bird partner and co-leader of the firm’s Litigation & Trial Practice Group. “At a time of increasing government enforcement activity, Joey brings a proven track record and strong pedigree in defending clients in contentious civil and criminal matters involving claims of fraud, corruption, and other misconduct.”

An accomplished trial lawyer with more than 20 years of experience, Burby regularly defends companies and individuals in criminal and civil investigations by the U.S. Department of Justice and U.S. attorneys’ offices around the country, as well as in regulatory investigations and related enforcement actions by the Securities and Exchange Commission and other federal and state agencies. He has significant experience handling matters involving securities fraud, insider trading, health care fraud, the False Claims Act, antitrust violations, bribery, the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, tax fraud, and environmental violations, among other subjects.

Burby also conducts internal investigations on behalf of public and private organizations and their boards, counseling them on remedial actions and disclosure decisions.

Additionally, Burby is an experienced and respected trial lawyer, having served as lead counsel in more than 30 jury trials in both federal and state courts.

Burby’s recent client work includes representing the Florida Board of Governors in an independent investigation of the University of Central Florida that uncovered the misuse of nearly $100 million in state funds; defending eClinicalWorks, one of the nation’s largest developers of electronic health records software, in a landmark False Claims Act case in which he negotiated a favorable non-admission civil settlement; and representing a former Equifax executive in a widely publicized insider trading case in which the government alleged that the executive had traded on material nonpublic information before the company announced a major data breach.

Burby was previously an assistant U.S. attorney with the U.S. Attorneys’ Office in the Northern District of Georgia. As a federal prosecutor, he investigated and prosecuted a wide range of offenses, focusing primarily on public corruption, health care fraud, and other white-collar crimes. He successfully tried numerous cases, including the first criminal securities fraud trial in Georgia and a capital murder case in which the jury returned a death sentence. Burby also served as a member of the team that successfully prosecuted Centennial Olympic Park bomber Eric Rudolph, for which he received The John Marshall Award, the Justice Department’s highest honor.

Before joining the Justice Department, Burby was an Alston & Bird associate, focusing his practice on white-collar defense and complex litigation.

Burby joins a number of former Justice Department attorneys who have established successful practices at Alston & Bird, including: George Abney, Jeff Belkin, Mark Calloway, Brian Frey, Dan Jarcho, Bill Jordan, Ted Kang, Jenny Kramer, Paul Monnin, Kim Peretti, Spence Pryor, John Snyder, Larry Sommerfeld, Kyle Wallace, and Thomas Walker.

“Joey adds to our deep and dynamic bench of lawyers offering notable government-side experience both here in Atlanta and nationwide,” said Janine Brown, partner in charge of Alston & Bird’s Atlanta office. “His extensive experience acting for individuals and corporations in market-leading mandates makes him a valuable addition to our team as we continue to add exceptional talent for clients seeking attorneys who can represent them in high-profile disputes in courtrooms, hearing rooms, and boardrooms.”

Burby is the third litigation partner to join Alston & Bird this year. He follows partners Stuart Plunkett in San Francisco and Jason Levine in Washington, D.C.