Brian Kelly

Practice Areas

Brian Kelly defends corporations and executives in federal and state investigations of all sorts including healthcare fraud cases, False Claims Act (FCA) allegations, SEC inquiries, internal corporate investigations, insider trading charges, white-collar criminal defense, and NCAA compliance matters. He has tried numerous federal cases including, most notably, the James “Whitey” Bulger case to a successful conclusion. He also recently defended a parent in a month long federal trial arising from the Varsity Blues investigation.

Career

With 25+ years of experience in government investigations and white-collar defense, Brian is a nationally recognized former federal prosecutor and high-profile trial attorney. His seasoned judgment and strategic counsel come from years of experience in the U.S. Attorney’s Office in both Boston and San Diego.

As a federal prosecutor, Brian handled some of the most sensitive and complex government trials and investigations, including RICO, healthcare fraud and abuse, public corruption, bank fraud, money laundering, mail and wire fraud, labor racketeering, union corruption, and Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) violations. He also achieved successful results in running major federal investigations in well-known, high-profile cases involving official misconduct, embezzlement, obstruction of justice, perjury, extortion, and homicide.

Brian’s background gives him a unique perspective and allows him to protect his clients’ interests by proactively identifying risks and providing an objective assessment of the severity of possible violations, as well as the likely response from government investigators and prosecutors. He helps his clients develop and implement strategies to mitigate their exposure and damages to their reputations and businesses.

In addition to the trials mentioned above, other representative experience includes:

• Representing the founder and former CEO of a prescription opioid manufacturer on federal and state litigation matters.

• Representing the City of Boston on multiple litigation matters.

• Advising DraftKings, a fantasy sports business, with respect to responding to various regulatory inquiries and assisting in various litigation matters across the country.

• Successfully defended a national hospice company in a DOJ probe of a qui tam action.

• Successfully represented a business in a government inquiry regarding allegations of campaign finance fraud.

• Obtained summary judgment for an investment banker in Rhode Island Federal Court against the SEC’s allegations of securities fraud. At issue was a $75M bond offering by the state of Rhode Island to finance a pre-revenue video game company, 38 Studios LLC, which was owned by former Red Sox pitcher Curt Schilling.

• Successfully resolved NCAA compliance and corruption investigation.

• Represented a Fortune 500 company in a federal investigation conducted by the Boston U.S. Attorney’s Office and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The investigation was closed with no finding of wrongdoing by the company.

• Represented the Massachusetts Port Authority in the successful resolution of a lawsuit regarding the installation of an electric transmission cable between the Main Ship Channel and the Reserve Channel in the Boston Harbor.

• Represented a Fortune 100 technology company in an internal investigation into possible FCPA violations.

• Involved in the efforts to recover $500M worth of artwork stolen from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in 1990.

• Handled charges of financial fraud involving Boston’s Big Dig project, a massive, years-long highway construction project.

Professional Memberships

Admissions:

• Massachusetts

• California

• U.S. Court of Appeals, First Circuit

• U.S. Court of Appeals, Third Circuit

• U.S. Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit

• U.S. Supreme Court

Personal

• University of Pennsylvania Law School, J.D.

• Dartmouth College, B.A., magna cum laude