William J Codinha

Practice Areas

Moving between the public and private sectors, Bill Codinha has led some of the highest profile governmental investigations conducted in the past 20 years and now defends corporations and individuals caught up in similar investigations. Bill brings his unique and effective experience to the defense of all of his clients.

Career

I leverage my years of experience defending individuals and corporations who are the subject of government investigations. As a prosecutor, I tried jury trials in all of the courts in Massachusetts and ran major investigations for the federal government in Washington, DC. Currently, I focus on the defense of investigations and cases brought by myriad federal agencies and United States Attorneys’ offices as well as investigations and cases brought by the various state attorneys general offices and various state offices of the Inspector General (OIG).

Congressional Investigations

I spent five years in Washington, DC, as chief counsel to two Senate investigative committees. The first was leading the Senate Select Committee Vietnam POW/MIA investigation (the Kissinger hearings, leading to the ultimate reopening of normalized U.S./Vietnam relations after the Vietnam war) and next was as chief counsel to the Senate Banking Committee, leading the Whitewater investigation (involving President Clinton and the Madison Guarantee Trust). Relatively few lawyers have actual experience running these investigations, nor do they know the senators and congressman (and their aides who assist the committees) and thus do not know how to best defend their clients during the investigation. I, and others at NP, have this experience.

Other Federal Investigations

I’ve successfully defended clients against False Claims Act (FCA), civil and criminal securities fraud, and RICO as well as numerous other civil and criminal charges. I have defended domestic and international Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) cases, including foreign companies alleged to have committed U.S. securities fraud violations. I also recently defended a foreign citizen alleged to have committed U.S. Arms Export Control Act violations.

State Investigations

As the federal government has refocused many of its investigation priorities, the various state attorneys general offices and offices of the Inspector General have also become much more aggressive, routinely issuing Civil Investigative Demands and subpoenas requiring extensive discovery of potential wrongdoing. I recently defended a Fortune 75 company, located in Minnesota, against alleged bid rigging and false claims allegations. The risk assessment of potential damages to this multinational company could have run well into the billions of dollars had a prosecution and debarment occurred. The case was successfully resolved with no admission of liability.

Trials

Fundamentally, I remain a trial lawyer, having tried over 100 jury trials during the course of my career, from organized crime cases as a prosecutor, to civil trials obtaining multi-million-dollar verdicts for my clients. I have taught trial tactics and trial strategy locally and at the national level.

Professional Memberships

• Board Member, Huntington Theater Company - Diversity and Community Outreach; Executive committee

• Board Member, Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals - Gala committee; Community Outreach

Personal

Boston University School of Law, J.D.

Ohio Wesleyan University, B.A.