Derrelle Janey
Founder and Managing Partner
646-289-5276
[email protected]
Biography
Derrelle Janey has substantial litigation experience that is on regular display at courthouses across the country, where he is either admitted to courts in those jurisdictions or admitted for those particular cases. In addition to New York State and Federal courts within the Second Circuit, he is admitted to practice in the United States District Courts for the Eastern District of Michigan, the Western District of Michigan and the District Court for Colorado. He has also appeared pro hac vice in federal and state courts in Florida, Massachusetts, New Jersey and Alabama, as well as California and Nevada.
Mr. Janey’s litigation experience in financial services and securities litigation is noteworthy and has been reflected in his ability to successfully navigate challenging legal issues in both complex civil matters, including SEC investigations that were resolved prior to any enforcement actions being filed, and white collar defense matters involving allegations based on intricate financial transactions. He is defense counsel in the largest automotive-oriented private equity fund fraud in the history of the United States. In 2018, he co-led with his former partner Robert Gottlieb the Ponzi scheme trial of sports radio talk show host Craig Carton, resulting in a substantially reduced sentence from the Government’s recommendation to the court.
Over the past eight years, Mr. Janey has increasingly become a “go-to” lawyer for individuals and wholesale distributors across the United States from the health care industry in either complex civil matters where they have been sued by large pharmaceutical companies for trademark infringement or trafficking in counterfeit products, as well as those charged by law enforcement in federal prosecutions for violating health care fraud statutes, such as violating the federal anti-kickback statute.
In this area, Mr. Janey has successfully blocked the attempt by a large pharmaceutical company to seize assets of a judgment debtor in the post-judgment collection phase of the litigation. He also successfully defeated civil RICO and fraud claims by large pharmaceutical companies. In the white collar context, in 2022, Mr. Janey co-led the historic criminal trial of Larry Doud, the former chief executive officer of Rochester Drug Cooperative, who was charged with drug trafficking in connection with his business selling controlled substances to pharmacies in the face of what the Government alleged to be “red flags” of diversion.
In 2022, Mr. Janey was recognized for excellence by Super Lawyers. He has been recognized as one of America’s Top 100 “high stakes” litigators. In both 2022 and 2021, Mr. Janey was listed in the New York Times as among the Lawyers of Distinction’s “Power Lawyers.” In 2017, the New York Law Journal named Mr. Janey as among the 22 “Distinguished Leaders” in the New York legal industry.
Representative Matters
Representative matters where Mr. Janey has either led or co-led include the following:
Federal trial representing the chief executive officer of a $2 billion revenue drug distributor charged criminally by the Department of Justice with drug trafficking based on his company’s sale of controlled substances in the face of alleged “red flags” of diversion.
Federal trial representing a high-profile defendant charged criminally by the Department of Justice in a Ponzi scheme conspiracy.
Federal trial representing a bankruptcy trustee on behalf of a broker-dealer against the BD’s former officers and managers on claims of fraudulent conveyance.
Represented wholesale health care product distributors sued by large pharmaceutical companies alleging fraud, racketeering, trademark infringement and trafficking in counterfeit products.
Represented senior private equity executive in parallel federal criminal and SEC enforcement actions alleging conspiracy to commit fraud and, in connection therewith, filed stay motions in 10 related civil actions across the United States.
Represented a foreign exchange trader in a global rate-fixing probe.
Represented municipal chief attorney in parallel federal criminal prosecution and SEC enforcement action alleging fraud in the municipality’s bond issuances.
Served as U.S. counsel to an international company under investigation by the U.S. Department of Justice Division of Antitrust.
Represented a broker-dealer in parallel Department of Justice and SEC Foreign Corrupt Practices Act violation cases and led the internal investigation on behalf of the broker-dealer.
Credentials
Education
- University of Michigan Law School (J.D., 1996)
- Kenyon College (B.A. in Political Science, 1993)
Admissions
- New York
- United States District Court for the Northern District of New York
- United States District Court for the Southern District of New York
- United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York
- United States District court for the Western District of New York
- United States District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan
- United States District Court for the Western District of Michigan
- United States District Court for Colorado
- United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit
- United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit