Education
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American University Washington College of Law, J.D., cum laude, 1996
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Yale University, B.A., 1992
Bar Admissions
Court Admissions
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U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit
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U.S. District Courts for the Eastern and Southern Districts of New York
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U.S. Bankruptcy Courts for the Eastern and Southern Districts of New York
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New York State Court
Awards and Honors
- Director’s Award for Superior Performance, U.S. Attorney’s Office, for racketeering case (2003)
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Todd Harrison is a litigation partner who handles white-collar criminal defense and related regulatory issues, including Congressional investigations and compliance matters, and complex civil litigation. Mr. Harrison is a highly experienced trial lawyer who has served as lead counsel in numerous jury trials, including high-profile and complex multi-defendant cases. Mr. Harrison has held lead or first-chair responsibility in more than 40 jury trials in both federal and state courts, and he has argued frequently before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit.
Mr. Harrison has successfully represented clients in criminal and regulatory investigations conducted by the United States Department of Justice (DOJ), the U.S. Attorney’s Offices for the Southern District of New York and the District of New Jersey, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA), the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the New York and New Jersey Attorney General’s offices, the Manhattan District Attorney’s office, the Department of Environmental Protection, the New York State Insurance Department, the New York State Commission of Investigation and other state and federal agencies.
Mr. Harrison has repeatedly warded off indictments and regulatory charges on behalf of companies and individuals, utilizing a combination of meticulous investigation and preparation and a deep understanding of how government agencies operate.
Mr. Harrison has a wealth of experience in both the public and private sectors. Mr. Harrison served as a partner in the firm from 2008-2011, at which time he became the Chief Counsel for Oversight and Investigations for the powerful Energy and Commerce Committee in the U.S. House of Representatives. As Chief Counsel, Mr. Harrison led investigations into numerous issues under the Committee’s broad-ranging areas of jurisdiction, which included energy and power, health care, telecommunications, environmental, and manufacturing and trade. Mr. Harrison conducted oversight of numerous executive branch agencies, including the Department of Energy (DOE), the Department of Commerce (DOC), the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), the Consumer Products Safety Commission (CPSC), the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) and others. As Chief Counsel, Mr. Harrison led the Congressional investigation into the failure of Solyndra, a solar energy company, and the related loss of over one half of a billion dollars of taxpayer funds. Mr. Harrison also led investigations into:
- Energy – numerous issues related to the expansion and modernization of the national energy grid; “fracking” and the increasing production of natural gas; the increasing production and use of clean energy sources such as wind, solar, geothermal; cyber security issues related to government agencies and the energy grid; the safety and effectiveness of nuclear power in the wake of the Fukushima disaster; pipeline safety issues; fraud in the renewable fuel credits market; management of wholesale electricity markets by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC); management of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission; management of the Yucca Mountain nuclear storage facility; and management of nuclear research and nuclear storage facilities by the Department of Energy (DOE);
- Health care – numerous aspects of the new health care reform law; oversight of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS); the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) approval process for medical devices and pharmaceuticals; food safety and outbreaks of foodborne illnesses; the contamination of the nation’s food and drug supplies; Medicare fraud and the management of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS);
- Telecommunications – internet privacy issues; the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) regulation and licensing of the spectrum; wireless broadband issues; FCC process reform; waste, fraud and abuse in the Universal Service Fund and other telecommunications subsidy programs;
- Environment – the impact of environmental regulations on regulated companies and the economy.
Through his extensive experience in both the public and private sectors, Mr. Harrison has developed a strong sense of how to guide a company safely through government investigations and around regulatory obstacles.
Before joining Patton Boggs, Mr. Harrison served in the Department of Justice for nearly six years as a federal prosecutor in the Eastern District of New York. Previously, Mr. Harrison served as an assistant district attorney for five years in the New York County District Attorney’s Office under Robert M. Morgenthau. Mr. Harrison has handled many complex and high-profile matters involving a wide range of federal and state crimes, including insider trading, securities violations, racketeering, conspiracy, money laundering, bank fraud, mortgage fraud, bankruptcy fraud, bribery, environmental crimes, terrorist financing, racketeering, mail and wire fraud, obstruction of justice, false statements, murder and public corruption.
As Deputy Chief of the Terrorism Section in the U.S Attorney’s Office, Mr. Harrison supervised a team of prosecutors responsible for the investigation and prosecution of the district’s terrorism and terrorist financing cases, which included money laundering, tax offenses, fraud and other financial crimes. In that capacity Mr. Harrison dealt extensively with many international law issues, including extraterritorial use of federal law, the Bank Secrecy Act and the USA PATRIOT Act, specifically the regulatory aspects of the anti-money laundering provisions. Mr. Harrison also handled several complex RICO prosecutions of organized gangs.
In 2003, the DOJ recognized Mr. Harrison’s outstanding trial work when he received the Director’s Award for Superior Performance by an Assistant U.S. Attorney for the trial of a major racketeering case.
Mr. Harrison is recognized as an authority in many areas of criminal law, and has been quoted in numerous publications regarding criminal matters. He has also lectured on various aspects of trial advocacy and courtroom techniques.
Representative Matters
- An international bank in relation to an investigation into money laundering.
- A hedge fund in relation to an SEC audit/investigation.
- A multi-billion dollar hedge fund in an insider trading investigation conducted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York and the SEC.
- A hedge fund in relation to an investigation by the New York State Attorney General's Office into allegations of fraud/kickbacks.
- An insurance company in a criminal fraud investigation conducted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York.
- An international financial services company in an SEC enforcement action regarding allegations of securities fraud.
- An investment bank in civil litigation regarding the enforcement of a services contract.
- A mortgage broker in several mortgage fraud investigations conducted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of New Jersey and the New Jersey State Attorney General’s Office, as well as numerous related civil actions.
- A large national financial services company in a mortgage fraud investigation conducted by a New York State investigative agency.
- A Russian national in relation to money-laundering charges brought by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York.
- An officer of a joint city/state land development concern in a fraud/bribery investigation conducted by the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office.
- An insurance company in an investigation conducted by the New York State Insurance Department regarding numerous licensing and regulatory issues.
- A large national medical services company in a fraud and false advertising investigation conducted by the New York State Attorney General’s Office.
- A dry-dock company in an environmental crimes investigation conducted by the New Jersey State Attorney General’s Office and the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection.
- An employee of a broker-dealer in an investigation by FINRA into allegations of fraud related to “soft dollars” collected by the broker-dealer.
- A large automaker in a civil lawsuit regarding allegations of civil RICO and violations of various environmental statutes and regulations.
Professional Affiliations:
- American Bar Association – Member, Criminal Justice Section
- Federal Bar Council
- Association of the Bar of the City of New York – former member, Criminal Law Committee
- Association of Assistant United States Attorneys
- Eastern District Association
- Morgenthau Alumni Group
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