Brian J Hennigan

Practice Areas

As one of the nation’s leading litigators, Brian Hennigan partners closely with clients to help them navigate civil and criminal litigation and obtain outstanding results. He has achieved those outcomes for corporations and individuals—including professional athletes, leaders of various religious denominations, doctors, lawyers, accountants, and business executives—in numerous high-profile federal criminal matters. Most recently, he defended clients against allegations under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, the Securities and Exchange Commission Act, the Internal Revenue Code, and the Sherman Act.

In addition to his white collar defense practice, Mr. Hennigan represents clients in civil actions, including securities and class action matters, patent licensing, antitrust, contracts, and unfair business practice cases. He has also defended law firms and individual lawyers in malpractice claims with regard to complex tax matters.

Mr. Hennigan has earned significant praise from clients and colleagues for his white collar practice. Chambers USA has ranked him in Band 1 every year since 2008 in the White Collar Crime & Government Investigations category, lauding him as a “creative thinker and problem solver” and “a terrific attorney because of his great ability to communicate with judges and juries.” In 2018, Mr. Hennigan received the California Lawyer Attorney of the Year (CLAY) recognition, which singles out lawyers whose work has had a significant impact on public policy, the law, and the profession. Benchmark Litigation has also recognized him as a Top 20 Trial Lawyer in California and among the Top 100 Trial Lawyers in America.

Before co-founding Hueston Hennigan, Mr. Hennigan was a partner at Irell & Manella. Prior to entering private practice, he served as an assistant U.S. Attorney in the Central District of California, where he was an assistant division chief for the office’s Criminal Division. In this position, he conducted numerous grand jury investigations, served as lead trial counsel in more than 30 trials, and successfully represented the U.S. in multiple appeals before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. Mr. Hennigan received commendations for his work in the U.S. Attorney’s Office from the U.S. Department of Justice and numerous other government agencies.