Mark Beck

Practice Areas

Since 1981, Mark Beck has defended corporations and individuals in all phases of complex civil, criminal, and regulatory litigation throughout the United States and abroad. Mark’s successful results include obtaining trial victories, winning dispositive motions, securing non-prosecution agreements, and convincing governmental authorities to terminate investigations. Mark also has extensive experience conducting corporate internal investigations and advising company counsel on governance, compliance, and crime-prevention matters.

Career

Mark is a nationally recognized trial lawyer, having been selected as a Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers. For 25 years, he led a boutique white collar firm that was described by the Los Angeles Daily Journal as a “major player in the defense bar.” Mark and his colleagues then joined Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe, where as head of the White Collar Criminal Defense and Investigations practice group he supervised the talented junior and senior criminal defense lawyers at 30-plus Orrick offices worldwide.

In 2017, Mark left Orrick to handle cases and clients around the world that are best handled in a smaller firm setting. In doing so, Mark restarted the boutique firm that had earned him honors, such as being named one of the “top five go-to white collar lawyers” in California by California Lawyer magazine.

In his criminal law practice, Mark has defended companies and corporate officers accused of stealing intellectual property; aerospace and maritime companies and their employees in various investigations; hospitals, doctors and administrators in health care fraud proceedings; companies and their officers in political corruption investigations; and corporations and their executives in securities fraud proceedings. He has also represented various businesses and individuals accused of violating antitrust, environmental, and telemarketing regulations, and the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, and others accused of fraudulent conduct in various industries.

Mark began his career as a federal prosecutor in the United States Attorney’s Office in Los Angeles. Following successful labor corruption and business fraud prosecutions, he was appointed an Assistant Chief of the Criminal Division and received the Department of Justice Special Achievement Award for exceptional service on behalf of the United States.

He has received numerous top honors and industry recognition from Chambers, Best Lawyers in America, Legal 500, Super Lawyers and other publications. In Law 360, the head of white collar defense for an international law firm described Mark as the most formidable defense lawyer he faced while serving as an Assistant United States Attorney.

Professional Memberships

Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers

Education

Clients

As counsel for Sinopec, China’s largest oil and gas company, Mark and co-counsel obtained the dismissal of a $5 billion action brought by the former owner of a competing Chinese energy company who accused Sinopec of destroying his business.

As counsel for the Russian Ministry of Finance, Mark obtained a $165 million judgment following the theft of gold and diamonds from the Ministry’s vaults. More than $50 million in assets were recovered despite the efforts of numerous governmental entities and individuals to seize the stolen property.

As counsel for Dr. Michael Baden, a nationally renowned forensic pathologist sued for defamation by Signal Hill (California) police officers, Mark obtained a directed verdict in Dr. Baden’s favor after a closely watched federal trial.

As counsel for a physician who was sold a $2 million Picasso forgery, Mark worked with the Department of Justice in obtaining full restitution for the client.

As counsel for the second largest public relations company in the world, Mark helped the company navigate the criminal, civil, and administrative law issues that arose when an executive engaged in financial wrongdoing. The company was not sanctioned and was able to put in place safeguards going forward to limit the risk of a recurrence.

As counsel for an international shipping company accused of reimbursing campaign contributions made by employees, Mark was able to obtain a declination of prosecution.

Mark has obtained declinations of prosecution in scores of other matters, including:

chief engineers on cargo ships suspected of illegally discharging oily water into international waters;

a downtown Los Angeles building’s chief engineer accused of discharging toxic chemicals into the sewer system abutting the city’s subway lines;

numerous executives under investigation for stock option backdating; and

engineers at various aerospace companies under investigation for fraudulent billing.

Mark has obtained favorable results at sentencing, including:

a scientist accused of illegally exporting secret codes relating to rocket plume technology; and

a businessman from China accused of stealing corn hybrid secrets from Monsanto and DuPont.