Juan Morillo

Practice Areas

Accounting & Financial Reporting Litigation

Crisis Law & Strategy Group

False Claims Act

Investigations, Government Enforcement & White Collar Criminal Defense Practice

Latin America Practice

Lender Liability & Other Banking Financial Institution Litigation

Transnational Litigation

Languages Spoken

Spanish

Experience

Mr. Morillo is Co-Chair of the White Collar and Corporate Investigations Practice. His practice focuses on criminal defense and civil litigation for major financial institutions, Fortune 500 companies, large international companies, international professional services firms and senior executives, as well as matters on behalf of foreign governments.

Mr. Morillo represents clients in federal, state and congressional investigations involving accounting, financial, securities and tax fraud; bribery; antitrust, environmental, immigration, Office of Foreign Assets Control (“OFAC”) and False Claims Act (“FCA”) violations; and health care fraud and abuse. He frequently advises clients in connection with international extradition matters. In addition, he advises clients in internal investigations and audits involving alleged bribery, fraud and other corporate misconduct; and he advises some of the largest public companies and financial services firms on the development, implementation and testing of their Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (“FCPA”), anti-money laundering and economic sanctions compliance programs. Mr. Morillo also represents clients in class actions and other civil litigation involving the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (“RICO”), the FCPA, the FCA, fraud, tort, breach of contract, breach of fiduciary duty and other civil claims.

Mr. Morillo further assists clients in developing and implementing crisis management and public relations strategies. He has served as the spokesperson for clients in high-profile matters and has appeared on CNBC, CNN, Fox, NPR and Univision and been quoted in Bloomberg, Business Week, Forbes, USA Today, The Wall Street Journal and The Washington Post, among other publications.

Mr. Morillo’s practice has been repeatedly recognized as one of the best. In 2015, the Global Investigations Review (“GIR”), one of the world’s leading industry publications, named Quinn Emanuel’s White Collar Practice the “Most Impressive Investigations Practice of the Year” in the world in recognition of its “stellar year.” GIR highlighted the representation of BSI SA, one of the world’s largest private banks, in the unprecedented Department of Justice program for Swiss banks to resolve their criminal exposure for helping U.S. taxpayers evade taxes. Law360, another leading industry publication, named the practice one of the 2015 “White Collar Practices of the Year.”

Also in 2015, The National Law Journal selected Mr. Morillo as a “Trailblazer” in recognition of his “precedent-setting” cross-border experience and victories, and The American Lawyer has twice (in 2015 and 2016) selected him as one of the finalists for its Transatlantic Legal Awards in recognition of his U.S.-European practice. Similarly, Latino Leaders Magazine named Mr. Morillo one of the “25 Most Influential Hispanic Lawyers” in the United States in 2015 and in 2016 and 2017, Latinvex named him one of the top five attorneys in the world for white collar cases involving Latin America. The Financial Times awarded Mr. Morillo an “Innovative Lawyer” award in recognition of his “landmark” representation of the Federative Republic of Brazil in the prosecution of senior tax officials for corruption.

Mr. Morillo is recognized as one of the leading white collar practitioners by Chambers (highlighting his clients’ praise for Mr. Morillo’s “excellent judgment and ability to handle investigations of any level of complexity”, "Juan Morillo is a great corporate crime and investigations lawyer with a great raft of cases in Latin America."); Legal 500 (quoting clients stating that Mr. Morillo is a “super star”); Benchmark Litigation (identifying Mr. Morillo as a “litigation star” in white collar); and Super Lawyers (Washington, D.C.) (identifying Mr. Morillo as a leading white collar specialist). At the age of 37, The American Lawyer named Mr. Morillo as one of the country’s “Top 50 Litigators Under 45.”

Mr. Morillo has an active pro bono practice, including having advised the Colombian government on matters related to the victims of violence resulting from the long war involving the government, FARC and paramilitaries.

Mr. Morillo received a J.D. degree from the Georgetown University Law Center and an undergraduate degree in history, philosophy, psychology and French from the University of Miami. He served as law clerk to the Honorable Ricardo M. Urbina of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.

Mr. Morillo is admitted to practice in the District of Columbia and Florida. Mr. Morillo is fluent in Spanish.

Mr. Morillo’s clients have included AT&T Inc.; Axis Capital Management; Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd.; Baxter International Inc.; Bilfinger SE; BSI SA; Coöperatieve Rabobank U.A.; Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Limited; DIRECTV; Dubai Islamic Bank; the Federative Republic of Brazil; EIG Global Energy Partners; Fernando and Leopoldo Espinosa Abdalá; Grupo Empresarial Ángeles; Grupo Salinas; ING Group; InnerWorkings, Inc.; Mohawk Industries Inc.; Nordic Trustee ASA; PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP; the Republic of Colombia; the Republic of Equatorial Guinea; R.R. Donnelley; Sharp Corporation; Sorrento Lactalis Inc.; Televisa S.A. de C.V.; Tyson Foods, Inc.; the U.S. Chamber of Commerce; and Watanmal Group.

Publications

Firm Memorandum: DOJ Announces Change to Guidelines Regarding Corporate Cooperation, (December 2018).

“Arbitration Advocacy and Criminal Matters: The Arbitration Advocate as Master of Strategy,” The Guide to Advocacy - Third Edition, Global Arbitration Review (2018)

"Trends in International White Collar Crime Enforcement,” International White Collar Enforcement: Leading Lawyers on Preventative Measures, Regulatory Compliance, and Litigation, Thomson Reuters (2013 edition)