We are pleased to announce the continuing growth of our Newark office with the arrival of Lee Cortes as partner in the firm's White Collar Defense & Investigations practice, resident in our Newark and New York offices. Lee, who spent almost 14 years in the United States Attorney's Office for the District of New Jersey, brings extensive experience overseeing the full range of complex criminal, civil, and appellate matters.
Lee's multifaceted white collar defense and investigations experience includes representing corporate and individual clients in the health care space. As the Executive Assistant U.S. Attorney — the office's third highest position — Lee was a member of the senior leadership team and was responsible for all criminal, civil, and appellate matters. Before his promotion to the front office, Lee served as Chief of the Health Care Fraud Unit, where he led investigations and prosecutions of wide-ranging, complicated health care fraud schemes, violations of the Anti-Kickback Statute and the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, as well as civil False Claims Act matters. Prior to his role as the leader of that unit, Lee was Deputy Chief of the Special Prosecutions Division, where he both worked on and supervised public corruption and criminal civil rights matters.
With his deep experience as a first chair lawyer in complex and high-profile white collar cases, Lee builds upon our firm's sophisticated and highly regarded white collar team. We look forward to leveraging his experience with the U.S. Attorney's Office, the U.S. Department of Justice, and other federal and state enforcement authorities.