Professionals

Paul is a highly experienced and talented attorney. His practice is unique in that he has substantial experience in complex criminal and civil litigation matters, in both federal and state court. As both a federal prosecutor and as a defense attorney, Paul has successfully handled a wide array of criminal cases ranging from complex fraud and public corruption matters to violent crimes, including armed robbery and murder. Paul has also successfully represented individuals and organizations in complex business disputes, including those involving professional malpractice, corporate fiduciary duties, real estate, and contract disputes.

Before forming Flannery | Georgalis, LLC, Paul most recently served as an Assistant United States Attorney in the Northern District of Ohio. As a federal prosecutor, Paul gained significant experience in the investigation and prosecution of federal criminal violations, especially those involving wire, mail, and bank fraud, health care fraud, securities fraud, public corruption, tax offenses, and identity theft. Paul was regularly trusted with handling some of the District’s most sensitive and complex cases, including, among others, the trial of a businessman charged with bribing the former director of the Cleveland Veteran’s Administration, and a $54 million securities fraud case—the largest in the District’s history.

Before becoming a federal prosecutor, Paul spent seven years in private practice at a prestigious mid-size law firm in Baltimore, Maryland, focusing on white collar criminal defense and complex business litigation. There, he gained substantial defense experience representing individuals and businesses charged with a variety of white collar criminal offenses. Paul was also a member of the Criminal Justice Act panel, a select group of criminal defense attorneys appointed to represent indigent defendants in federal criminal matters. In that role, Paul defended individuals charged with serious federal crimes, including narcotics violations, weapons violations, and racketeering murder.

Education

Cleveland – Marshall College of Law (J.D., 2007)
John Carroll University (B.A. Economics, 2001)

Admissions

Ohio
Maryland
Northern District of Ohio
Southern District of Ohio

Chris focuses his practice on federal criminal defense representations, internal investigations and compliance, and complex civil litigation. Chris gained extensive investigation, trial, and appellate experience as a federal prosecutor in the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Ohio. As an AUSA in Cleveland, Ohio from 2010 – 2017, he investigated and prosecuted many of the highest profile criminal matters in the District. These cases ranged from matters of national security, theft of trade secrets, terrorism, export controls, and cyber security, which are the highest profile and highest priority cases in the U.S. Department of Justice, to massive, multi-defendant fraud conspiracies. Chris also investigated and prosecuted multi-million dollar health care fraud cases, including multi-doctor defendant conspiracies.

He also acted as SEC point of contact for the U.S. Attorney’s Office and held primary intake discretion for all FCPA, corporate, securities, food stamp fraud, and mail and wire fraud investigations. During his tenure, he served as an instructor to federal prosecutors and federal agents at national training facilities in Columbia, South Carolina. As an AUSA, Chris also lectured to groups of corporate counsel on matters of corporate compliance from the perspective of the prosecution.

Prior to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Chris was an attorney for five years at the Cleveland office of one of the largest, international law firms in the world where he focused on corporate criminal investigations and complex civil litigation. While there, he represented financial institutions, audit committees, Fortune 500 companies, and senior corporate executives and personnel in matters before the DOJ, SEC, and several State attorneys general, to name a few. He played a central role in conducting internal corporate investigations in matters involving allegations of earnings management, insider trading, mortgage fraud, and federal defense contractor fraud, among numerous others. Chris maintained an equally sophisticated civil litigation docket, representing clients in matters ranging from professional malpractice and contract disputes, to the Fair Credit Reporting Act and habeas corpus petitions, to name just a few.

Education

Cleveland – Marshall College of Law (J.D., 2005, Law Review, Moot Court)
Cleveland State University (MBA, M.A. Economics, 2005)
Case Western Reserve University (B.A., 2001)

Admissions

Ohio
Pennsylvania
Northern District of Ohio
Southern District of Ohio
Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals

Government Service

Served with the U.S. Department of Justice as Assistant United States Attorney (2010-2017) in the National Security & Cyber Unit and the Major Fraud & Corruption Unit;
Judicial Extern for the Honorable John M. Manos, District Court Judge for the Northern District of Ohio

Honors And Distinctions

In 2018, Chris was awarded one of the highest honors in the Department of Justice, the Director’s Award for Superior Performance in Criminal Matters, for his work as lead prosecutor in the national security matter United States v. Terrence McNeil. This case involved novel issues related to McNeil’s use of social media in support of a terrorist organization and it has served as a model for several successful prosecutions of national security threats since it was charged.

Chris’s work has led to his recognition by Ohio Super Lawyers as a Rising Star and multiple accolades from the Department of Justice. He is also a distinguished member of the William K. Thomas Inn of Court.

Justin Withrow is a Partner at Flannery | Georgalis focusing his practice on complex criminal, regulatory and civil matters at the federal, state, and local levels. Justin has developed a nationwide practice representing dentists and other medical professionals and practice groups in a variety of sensitive matters including federal and state regulatory investigations, federal and private payor billing audits, professional licensing matters, and complex business litigation. He regularly counsels dentists and other medical professionals on state and federal regulatory compliance issues. Justin currently serves as a member of the litigation counsel for a national dental specialty organization. In addition to his dental practice, Justin also has significant experience representing individuals and businesses in complex business disputes, fraud, public corruption, and other sensitive matters.

Justin also regularly assists licensed professionals and individuals seeking to seal/expunge criminal convictions from their record that jeopardize professional licenses, security clearances, employment opportunities, and international travel. Prior to joining Flannery | Georgalis, Justin worked for a highly regarded criminal defense attorney where he gained extensive experience in a wide array of federal, state, and local complex criminal, regulatory, and professional licensing matters.

Justin is licensed to practice law in Michigan, Ohio, the United States District Court for the Northern District of Ohio, the United States District Court for the Southern District of Ohio, the United States District Court for the Western District of Michigan, the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit and the United States Supreme Court.

Education

University of Detroit Mercy Law School (J.D., 2011)
Michigan State University (B.S., Political Science – Pre-Law, 2008)

Admissions

Ohio
Michigan
West Virginia
Northern District of Ohio
Southern District of Ohio
Eastern District of Michigan
Western District of Michigan
Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals
United States Supreme Court

Honors And Distinctions

2018-2022 Ohio Super Lawyers Rising Star
2018-2019 Cleveland Metropolitan Bar Association, Criminal Law Section Co-Chair
2017-2018 Cleveland Metropolitan Bar Association Leadership Academy Member

Professional Memberships

Ohio State Bar Association
Cleveland Metropolitan Bar Association – Bar Admissions Committee Member
Geauga County Bar Association

John “Jack” Sammon’s unique background consists of over 33 years of government experience focusing on sophisticated white-collar matters, including criminal tax, money laundering, and other complex financial crimes. Jack’s experience is unlike most others in that he served as both a federal special agent and a federal prosecutor.

Jack began his career as a special agent with the IRS Criminal Investigation (CI) division, investigating criminal tax offenses and other complex financial schemes. After a successful 11-year term as a special agent, Jack became a federal prosecutor for the United States Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Ohio.

During his distinguished 22-year career as federal prosecutor in the Northern District of Ohio, Jack served in supervisory roles as the Bank Fraud Coordinator, and the Director of the Organized Crime Unit. In these roles, Jack investigated and prosecuted many complex sophisticated white-collar criminal matters, including tax evasion, wire fraud, bank fraud, health care fraud, money laundering, and bank secrecy matters.

During his tenure, Jack led some of the highest profile white-collar investigations and prosecutions in the Northern District of Ohio. Jack was the lead prosecutor in United States v. Michael Monus, one of the largest corporate fraud cases in United States history with a fraud amount exceeding $1 billion. Jack was also the lead prosecutor of a massive conspiracy involving 20-plus co-conspirators who defrauded a Cleveland credit union of more than $70 million, the largest such case in United States history.

After his decorated career in government service, Jack transitioned to white-collar criminal defense where he has defended many clients in federal, state and local courts.

Education

Cleveland-Marshall College of Law (J.D., 1985)
John Carroll University (B.S.B.A., Accounting, 1970)

Admissions

Ohio
Northern District of Ohio
Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals

Honors And Distinctions

Director’s Award, Department of Justice, 1995
Wings of Excellence, Federal Executive Board, 2012
Numerous others from IRS and Department of Justice

David is a highly experienced trial and appellate attorney, corporate counsel, and problem solver. He represents private companies, public sector employees, and individuals in complex federal and state civil litigation. He also advises on business issues and represents entities and individuals before the EEOC, Civilian Board of Contract Appeals, and other administrative arenas.

His significant trial experience includes matters involving the Ohio Consumer Sales Practices Act, claims brought under the ADA, ADEA, and Title VII, defamation, toxic torts, and product liability matters.

His trial victories at both the federal and state level have resulted in significant financial awards for his clients.

David’s experience extends to the appellate courts having successfully represented individuals and companies in both the 8th District Court of Appeals and the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals.

Education

Cleveland-Marshall College of Law (J.D., 2000)
Ohio University (B.A., Economics, 1996)

Admissions

Northern District of Ohio
Southern District of Ohio
Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals
United States Supreme Court

Community Involvement

Volunteer Magistrate Judge, South Euclid Municipal Court Juvenile Diversion Program

Professional Memberships

Ohio State Bar Association
Cleveland Metropolitan Bar Association

Edward is Of Counsel and focuses his practice on criminal and complex civil litigation at the Federal, State, and Local levels. Edward has practiced at both the trial and appellate court levels throughout the state of Ohio. He is a highly experienced trial attorney, having personally tried nearly a hundred cases.

Prior to joining Flannery | Georgalis, LLC, Edward had a distinguished career as an Assistant Prosecuting Attorney for Cuyahoga County. As an APA for over eight years, Edward gained experience in an array of sensitive State matters, handling some of the highest profile and complex matters in the County that ranged from Sexual Assaults to Murders to felony DUIs.

Having built a strong reputation in violent crime investigations and prosecutions, Edward was assigned to the Major Trial Unit and the Sexual Assault Kit Task Force. In Major Trial, Edward was assigned to both the Juvenile Division and the Adult Division. He was responsible for investigations and prosecutions for violent juvenile crimes involving Aggravated Robbery and Murder. Additionally, Edward handled a variety of cases involving child victims. As a member of the Sexual Assault Kit Task Force, Edward was responsible for the prosecution of rape cases dating back to 1995.

Education

Case Western Reserve University School of Law (J.D., 2009)
Denison University (B.A., Economics, 2006)

Admissions

Ohio
Northern District of Ohio

Sean is an experienced litigator and problem solver with a broad range of experience representing private companies and individuals in civil litigation, corporate investigations, and white-collar criminal defense.

Sean’s civil litigation experience includes matters in federal and state courts involving breach of contract, fraud, product liability, trade secret protection, copyright infringement, ethics investigations, civil conspiracy, employment matters, civil RICO, and business disputes. His white-collar criminal defense experience includes the defense of corporate entities and individuals charged with, or investigated for, bank fraud, mail and wire fraud, criminal RICO, public corruption, theft, money laundering, tax fraud, immigration offenses, health care fraud, firearms offenses, ethics violations, and environmental crimes.

After law school, Sean served as a judicial law clerk in both the Cuyahoga County Court of Common Pleas and Ohio Eighth District Court of Appeals. Following his clerkships, Sean entered private practice and worked for a leading boutique litigation firm in Cleveland, Ohio, representing individuals and corporate entities in all areas of complex civil litigation and white-collar criminal defense.

Education

Cleveland-Marshall College of Law (J.D., 2001)
John Carroll University (B.A., Sociology, 1998)
University College Galway, Ireland (1996)

Admissions

Ohio
Northern District of Ohio
Southern District of Ohio
Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals
United States Supreme Court

Honors And Distinctions

Ohio Super Lawyer, 2018-2022

Professional Memberships

Ohio State Bar Association
Cleveland Metropolitan Bar Association
John M. Manos Inn of Court
Irish Law Society of Cleveland

Emmett Robinson is Of Counsel to Flannery Georgalis. His work focuses on litigating appeals and high-stakes trial-court motions in complex criminal and civil matters. Emmett has represented clients in criminal matters seeking to overturn their convictions or reduce their sentences on direct appeal or via habeas corpus, petition for post-conviction relief, or other collateral attack. He has also represented civil clients across the country in private securities actions, actions for breach of contract, consumer class actions, tort actions, qui tam actions, and a wide range of other matters. Emmett has developed a well-known and well-deserved reputation for his creative motions and appeals practice, with a proven track record of success.

After graduating first in his class from Cedarville University, Emmett completed his first year of law school at the Ohio State University Moritz College of Law, where he ranked first in his class of 241 law students. He completed his J.D. study at Harvard Law School, from which he graduated cum laude. At Harvard, Emmett served as an executive editor of the Harvard Journal of Law & Public Policy.

While in law school, Emmett worked for the U.S. House of Representatives Office of the Legislative Counsel—the Office tasked with drafting legislation for members of Congress. After law school, he served as a law clerk to Judge Sara Lioi of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio and to Justice Stephen Markman of the Michigan Supreme Court.

Following his work as a law clerk, Emmett practiced for more than five years with the Jones Day law firm, where he gained a reputation as a stand-out legal writer and analyst, briefing cases before the U.S. and Ohio Supreme Courts and before federal trial and appellate courts across the country. While at Jones Day, Emmett developed an impressive track record. His clients prevailed in the vast majority of cases in which he was lead brief writer.

Emmet is also a former Jeopardy! champion.

Admissions

Ohio
Northern District of Ohio
Southern District of Ohio
Eastern District of Missouri
Federal Circuit Courts (across the country)

Kelsey is an Associate Attorney in the Cleveland office. She earned her Juris Doctor, summa cum laude, from Cleveland-Marshall College of Law. During law school, she served as Managing Editor of Cleveland State Law Review, worked as a Research Assistant to a legal writing professor, and was named to the Dean’s List every semester. Kelsey also worked as a law clerk for a sophisticated personal injury law firm, obtaining valuable experience in brief writing and motion practice. Prior to law school, Kelsey worked in the insurance industry.

Education

Cornell University (B.S. Industrial and Labor Relations, 2014)
Cleveland-Marshall College of Law (J.D., summa cum laude, 2021)

Honors And Distinctions

Dean’s List
Numerous CALI Excellence for the Future Awards

Olivia is an Associate Attorney in the Cleveland Office. She graduated at the top of her law school class, earning her Juris Doctor, summa cum laude, from Cleveland State University College of Law. During law school, Olivia served as an Articles Editor of the Cleveland State Law Review, was a member of the Moot Court Team, served as a Peer Tutor for several classes, and was named to Dean’s List every semester. Olivia was a judicial extern for the Honorable Donald J. Nugent and as a research assistant at a criminal law office. Prior to attending law school, Olivia taught 5thGrade Science in Houston, Texas.

Before joining Flannery | Georgalis, Olivia gained valuable experience in the commercial law and securities groups at a regional law firm headquartered in Cleveland.

Education

Cornell University (B.A., 2015)
Cleveland State University College of Law (J.D., summa cum laude, Law Review)

Susan is an Associate Attorney in the Cleveland office. She works on complex criminal defense and internal investigation matters, but also has a unique focus on defamation, cybersecurity, and data privacy matters, and other complex litigation. Before joining Flannery | Georgalis, Susan practiced at a boutique internet defamation law firm helping clients who were victimized by online defamation, cyberbullying and harassment, extortion, and other invasive privacy issues.

Susan graduated summa cum laude from Cleveland-Marshall College of Law, served as the Articles Editor on the Cleveland State Law Review, and also obtained a Cybersecurity and Data Privacy Certificate. She achieved Dean’s List recognition every semester and earned CALI awards for highest grades in Torts, Contracts, Estates & Trusts, Constitutional Law, and Cybersecurity. While attending law school, Susan was a judicial extern for the Honorable Michael P. Donnelly of the Ohio Supreme Court. She later served as bailiff for the Honorable Richard A. Bell in the Cuyahoga County Court of Common Pleas as well as a paralegal for the Cuyahoga County Prosecutor’s Office in the Special Investigations Division.

Education

Winona State University (Legal Studies/Paralegal (B.S.) & English Literature (B.A.) with Minor in Applied and Professional Writing, 2015)
Cleveland-Marshall College of Law (J.D., summa cum laude, 2020)

Bar Admissions

State of Ohio

Professional Memberships

Cleveland Metropolitan Bar Association, Member

Accolades/Awards/Certifications/Recognitions/Boards

Certificate in Cybersecurity and Data Privacy
Super Lawyers “Rising Star” (2023)

Patrick is an Associate Attorney in the Cleveland office. Before joining Flannery | Georgalis, Patrick spent four years as a law clerk to the Honorable Christopher A. Boyko of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio.

Prior to his clerkship, Patrick worked in private practice at a civil litigation boutique for three years, representing both individual and commercial clients in various business litigation in both state and federal court. He graduated summa cum laude from Cleveland-Marshall College of Law, served as the Symposium Editor for the Cleveland State Law Review, and assisted Dean Craig Boise as a Research Assistant in Patrick’s final year in law school.

Education

Miami University (B.A., Political Science, cum laude, 2012)
Cleveland-Marshall College of Law (J.D., summa cum laude, 2015, Law Review)

Government Service

Law Clerk, Hon. Christopher A. Boyko, U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio (2018-2022)
Extern, Hon. James S. Gwin, U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio (2014)

Admissions

Ohio
Northern District of Ohio

Professional Memberships

Cleveland Metropolitan Bar Association
Federal Bar Association

Awards & Recognitions

Cleveland State Law Review Editor of the Year (2014-2015)
Ohio State Bar Association Student Achievement for Meritorious Writing in the Field of Labor & Employment Law (2014)
CALI Awards for academic excellence in the courses of Contracts, Local Government, Estates & Trusts
The Howard White Award, Political Science (2012)
Outstanding Criminology Minor (2012)

Publications

Top Secret – The Defense of National Security Whistleblowers: Introducing a Multi-Factor Balancing Test, 63 CLEV. ST. L. REV. 237 (2014) (note)

Community Service

Take a Lap Foundation, Board Member
Miami University Rugby Football Club Alumni Association, Board Member
Cleveland Crusaders Rugby Club, Board Member
Cleveland Rugby Academy, Coach
Young Catholic Professionals, Former Board Member & President (2016-2018)

Scott is an Associate Attorney in the Cleveland Office. Prior to joining Flannery | Georgalis, Scott worked for a national firm in New York City, defending a variety of licensed professionals against malpractice claims. He honed his legal research and writing skills by drafting numerous pre-trial motions.

Scott obtained significant experience in criminal investigations and prosecutions as an Assistant District Attorney in the Bronx County District Attorney’s Office. He partnered with state and federal law enforcement officials on long-term investigations of criminal organizations involved in narcotics trafficking, firearms trafficking, schemes to defraud, and acts of violence including robberies and non-fatal shootings. These investigations involved the use of court-authorized eavesdropping, undercover law enforcement personnel, confidential informants, subpoenas, and search warrants into physical locations and electronic devices. Scott simultaneously maintained an active caseload of violent, narcotics-related, and white-collar felony offenses where he developed courtroom skills through directing and cross-examining witnesses during hearings and grand jury presentations.

Scott attended Notre Dame Law School, where he graduated cum laude. During law school, Scott was a law clerk in the Cuyahoga County Prosecutor’s Office and the United States Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Ohio. This role provided him the opportunity to draft appellate briefs, habeas briefs, responses to pre-trial motions, and sentencing memoranda. He also externed for the St. Joseph County Public Defender where he represented indigent defendants charged with misdemeanor and traffic offenses.

Education

Notre Dame Law School (J.D. cum laude, 2019)
The Ohio State University (B.A. summa cum laude, 2016)

Admissions

New York

Honors And Distinctions

Dean’s List
Dean’s Award for the highest grade in Business Associations

Dan provided more than 30 years of excellent service conducting complex investigations of sophisticated financial crimes as a special agent with the Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation. His dedication to thorough and complete investigations guided him then, and he now continues to provide that same level of dedication and expertise to Flannery | Georgalis, LLC.

During his tenure with the IRS, Dan regularly worked with IRS Revenue Agents, DOJ Tax Division attorneys, IRS Office of Chief Counsel, Assistant U.S. Attorneys, and many other federal law enforcement components. Dan led complex financial investigations of individuals and businesses in tax evasion, money laundering, and other financial crimes. His experience also included developing some of the largest securities fraud, mortgage fraud, and food stamp fraud cases in the Northern District of Ohio.

As a special agent, Dan provided critical evaluations of complex financial transactions through detailed analysis of bank, legal, and corporate documents. He also testified in various federal criminal proceedings, including jury trials and grand jury proceedings. Dan repeatedly displayed his abilities to coordinate complicated financial investigations over the course of his career when he worked on multi-agency criminal investigations with the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Department of Homeland Security, the Department of Agriculture, and the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Because of his unrivaled record as an IRS special agent, Dan was selected to work on the Swiss Bank Program, a United States Department of Justice and IRS collaborative effort focusing on the role of foreign banks in offshore tax evasion. Dan was presented with the Department of Justice-Tax Division Special Act Award for this work.

Dan graduated with an Accounting degree from the University of Dayton, and he has received many distinctions during his career at IRS, including the IRS-Criminal Investigation Excellence Award.

Education

University of Dayton (Accounting)

Christina is a highly experienced business leader and law firm administrator. Her experience spans both privately held and publicly traded organizations, specializing in both professional service-based and private-equity industries.

She began her career with a large multinational manufacturing company focusing on global finance and treasury functions. During her 25+ year career she has been directly involved in the negotiation of multi-million-dollar acquisitions and financings, and has provided tax consulting and financial services to several Partnerships, Sub S Corporations, C Corporations, Non-Profit Organizations, Individuals, and Commercial Properties.

Christina has extensive experience as a law firm administrator managing multi-site locations and leading a variety of functions to include finance, IT, HR, facility operations and strategic growth initiatives. During her tenure she has led a number of projects focused on multi state expansion efforts, streamlining operations, driving standardization, and implementing scalable infrastructures. She has also served as an officer on three professional organization boards, Northern Ohio Association for Financial Professionals (NOAFP), the Cleveland Chapter of the Association of Legal Administrators (ALA), and the BMBWAV Ski Patrol as a Deputy Patrol Director.

Education

Lake Erie College (MBA, Summa Cum Laude, 2011)
John Carroll University (BSBA-Finance Major, Beta Gamma Sigma Honor Society, 1989)

Honors And Distinctions

Named “VIP Woman of the Year” by National Association for Professional Women (2015)
Registered Tax Return Preparer (2012)
Certified Cash Manager/Certified Treasury Professional (1989)

Community Involvement

National Ski Patrol
OEC Instructor & BMBWAV Jr. Ski Patrol Advisor

Professional Memberships

National Association for Professional Women (NAPW)
Association of Legal Administrators (ALA)
Cleveland Association of Legal Administrators
Association for Financial Professionals (AFP)
National Association for Tax Professionals (NATP)
Northern Ohio Association for Financial Professionals (NOAFP)

Laurie is a highly skilled investigator with decades of experience conducting examinations, audits, and investigations at the state and federal levels. Laurie started her distinguished professional career with the Ohio Department of Commerce, Division of Savings and Loans, as a field examiner. She was with the State of Ohio for 15 years, participating in joint examinations with Federal regulators to ensure compliance with state and Federal regulations as well as to review the safety and soundness of the operation of the institutions. Laurie was an examiner in charge of examinations for 13 years, rising to senior field examiner during her time with the state. She was frequently assigned to the examinations of troubled institutions and examinations that involved fraudulent activity on the part of bank officers and employees.

Her tenure with the state encompassed the national savings and loan crisis during the late 1980s and early 1990s when almost a third of the thrifts nationwide were closed. Laurie was the state examiner in charge of four examinations that resulted in the failure and closure of the institutions. Her participation in the prosecution of several officers and directors of one of these failed institutions led to her employment with the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Ohio in the office’s white collar unit.

During her 25-year tenure with the U.S. Attorney’s office, Laurie worked with agents from virtually every federal law enforcement agency as well as the Assistant U.S. Attorneys assigned to the cases on a wide variety of financial crimes. Her work included tracing the sources and uses of the monies in question, analyzing complex financial records, conducting critical witness interviews, and preparing for and participating in federal criminal trials.

Her case load encompassed almost every type of case handled by the white collar unit, including advance fee cases, bribery, embezzlement, insurance fraud, financial institution failures, health care fraud, identity theft, public corruption, and tax cases. She regularly was assigned to the most complex financial investigations in the office, such as multi-million dollar investment fraud investigations and multi-state, multi-defendant mortgage fraud investigations.

Education

University of Akron (BSA, 1976)

Honors And Distinctions

2002 Director’s Award for her critical work on a major investment fraud investigation

Dee Krupp is the firm’s Paralegal Supervisor. She started her career in a small law firm located in downtown Cleveland focusing on providing support to the firm’s partners in the areas of family law, immigration, and civil litigation. As that firm’s office manager, she was also responsible for overseeing the day-to-day operation of the firm. Dee then worked at the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Ohio where she provided legal support to Chris Georgalis and Paul Flannery in the White-Collar Crime Unit focusing on complex fraud and public corruption matters. When Flannery | Georgalis left the U.S. Attorney’s Office to start their own criminal defense and complex civil litigation practice, Dee was asked to join them to help grow their business, run the office, and to provide legal support for the firm’s attorneys.

Education

Cuyahoga Community College (AAB, Paralegal Studies, cum laude, 2007)

Government Service

Served with the U.S. Department of Justice – U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Ohio as a Legal Assistant (2014-2017) in the Major Fraud & Corruption Unit.

Honors And Distinctions

Dean’s List
Outstanding Academic Achievement
Lambda Epsilon Chi – The National Honor Society in Paralegal/Legal Assistant Studies

Community Involvement

Cleveland Animal Protective League

Professional Memberships

National Federation of Paralegal Associations
Cleveland Metropolitan Bar Association
Cleveland Association of Paralegals

Julia Pivovar is a Marketing Specialist with significant marketing experience. Prior to joining Flannery | Georgalis, Julia co-owned and operated a home healthcare agency where her responsibilities included formulating and implementing the company’s media marketing strategy. Julia has developed and instituted multi-faceted marketing plans for several Ohio businesses.

Education

Cleveland-Monte Ahuja College of Business (BBA, Marketing, 2022)
Associate of Arts (Cuyahoga Community College, 2020)

Honors And Distinctions

Summa Cum Laude
Dean’s List
Graduated with Honors
Professional Sales Certification

Beth is a former federal and state prosecutor with more than twenty years of experience as a trial attorney in high stakes litigation. She has served as an Assistant United States Attorney in the Western District of North Carolina, as an Assistant District Attorney in Mecklenburg County, and as in-house counsel for one of the nation’s largest mortgage lenders. Having tried more than 50 cases to verdict, and resolving hundreds more, Beth brings unique, cross-disciplinary experience to solving client problems across a wide spectrum of highly sensitive matters, including complex criminal matters in both federal and state court, False Claims Act violations, professional licensing, and other regulatory matters. Beth also conducts internal investigations for businesses, using her experience to effectively advocate on behalf of her clients.

As a federal prosecutor with the United States Department of Justice, Beth served on the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force. She prosecuted complex, multi-defendant federal cases involving conspiracy, murder, Hobbs Act robbery, financial crimes, money laundering, firearms offenses, and drug offenses. She was lead counsel on several national and transnational investigations and prosecutions involving narcotics, money laundering, and racketeering (federal criminal RICO) conspiracies, including prosecutions of members of the United Blood Nation and La Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13). As an AUSA, Beth received recognition for her work from the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), and Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), including being lead prosecutor for the team awarded Outstanding Transnational Gang Investigation in 2015 by Homeland Security Investigations.

As an ADA, she prosecuted a wide array of criminal cases involving narcotics and violent crimes. She prosecuted homicides exclusively for seven years, serving on the prosecution team of several high-profile cases and jury trials.

As in-house counsel, Beth provided recommendations and advice to the company in resolving complex business litigation, investigations, and administrative complaints. She managed the company’s litigation portfolio and conducted internal investigations.

Education

Norman Adrian Wiggins School of Law, Campbell University (J.D., Order of the Barristers, 1999)
The University of Virginia (B.A. English Literature, 1994)

Admissions

North Carolina
Western District of North Carolina
Middle District of North Carolina
Eastern District of North Carolina
Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals

Government Service

Assistant United States Attorney, Western District of North Carolina
Assistant District Attorney, Mecklenburg County, Charlotte, North Carolina

Professional Memberships

Federal Bar Association
American Bar Association
Women in White Collar Defense, Chapters Committee
Mecklenburg County Bar, Vice Chair of White-Collar Crimes/Government Investigations Section
Women Lawyers of Charlotte

Lambert is a former federal and state prosecutor with extensive criminal law and trial experience. He served as an Assistant United States Attorney in the Western District of North Carolina, as an Assistant District Attorney in Wilson County, and has held two Judicial Law Clerk positions at the North Carolina Court of Appeals. Having conducted dozens of trials, many of them in federal court, Lambert has extensive subject matter knowledge across a wide array of complex criminal matters and litigation, including large-scale narcotics trafficking conspiracies, environmental protection agency investigations, and violent crime investigations.

As an Assistant United States Attorney, Lambert served in the Violent Crimes and Narcotics Sections, where he worked with several local, state and federal organizations including the ATF, FBI, EPA, and HSI. Along with co-counsel and the EPA, Lambert conducted a jury trial involving the illegal dumping of hazardous waste material in violation of RCRA. Lambert also worked with the FBI to lead multiple wiretap investigations of illegal narcotics distribution networks. In an effort to keep communities safe, Lambert led Project Safe Neighborhood and Project Guardian. Lambert also used statistical analysis to monitor violent crime trends in the community and develop solutions to address these problems.

As an ADA, he prosecuted numerous misdemeanor and felony cases before Juvenile, District, and Superior Courts. Annually, Lambert managed hundreds of felony cases involving matters ranging from property crimes to serious violent assaults. He was also lead counsel on approximately 20 jury trials in the North Carolina Superior Court. Lambert worked with law enforcement officers during his time as an ADA as well, where he regularly conducted courtroom readiness training for new law enforcement officers through Basic Law Enforcement Training classes.

As a Judicial Law Clerk, Lambert drafted and edited appellate opinions related to complex criminal and civil matters, along with extensively researching legal matters in the areas of Criminal, Corporate, and Probate Law.

Education

The University of South Carolina School of Law (J.D., 2009)
East Carolina University (B.S. Sociology, 2006)

Admissions

North Carolina
Western District of North Carolina
Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals

Government Service

Assistant United State Attorney, Western District of North Carolina
Assistant District Attorney, Wilson County, North Carolina
Judicial Law Clerk to Judge Cheri L. Beasley
Judicial Law Clerk to Judge James A. Wynn

Perry was a Partner with Flannery | Georgalis, LLC and one of the initial professionals opening F | G’s Charlotte Office in 2019.

Perry had over 27 years of government experience focusing on criminal and civil tax enforcement, money laundering, Bank Secrecy Act matters, and other complex financial crime matters. His experience was highly unique in that he served as both a federal special agent and a federal prosecutor.

Perry had a distinguished career as a special agent with the IRS Criminal Investigation division. He served in supervisory roles in IRS offices in Cleveland and Charlotte, retiring as the special agent in charge of an IRS office in Charlotte. He had extensive experience investigating criminal tax offenses, money laundering violations, and other complex financial crimes.

While in Cleveland, Perry was the first ever IRS special agent to be sworn in as a federal prosecutor as a Special Assistant United States Attorney (“SAUSA”). As a SAUSA, he investigated and prosecuted many complex sophisticated white-collar criminal matters, including tax evasion, wire fraud, bank fraud, health care fraud, money laundering, and bank secrecy matters.

After his highly successful career in government service, Perry worked as a Senior Investigator and Senior Analyst at U.S. Bank’s AML Investigation and Enhanced Due Diligence departments. There, he was responsible for leading sophisticated internal bank investigations and preparing recommendations in cases involving fraud or other unusual circumstances.

Perry was multi-lingual, speaking, reading and writing Spanish and Italian. Because of his unique and dynamic language capabilities, Perry worked with Italian and Mexican authorities in his investigations. In addition, he taught Anti-Money Laundering classes to Mexican law enforcement officers in Spanish in Mexico City. He was also a speaker in numerous Anti-Money Laundering and Bank Secrecy seminars for BSA/AML bank and law enforcement representatives around the country. Perry also taught undergraduate law classes at Baldwin-Wallace University for 14 years.

Perry passed away on October 3, 2021, after battle with an illness. Perry was an excellent colleague, friend, and family man. He will be missed by the F | G Team.

Gavin focuses his practice on complex criminal cases, regulatory matters, and government investigations. He defends individuals and organizations in a wide variety of highly sensitive matters, involving, among other things, allegations of healthcare fraud, False Claims Act violations, Anti-Kickback Statute violations, and public corruption. Gavin also conducts internal investigations for corporations and compliance reviews for businesses in highly regulated sectors.

Immediately before joining Flannery | Georgalis, Gavin worked in a boutique civil litigation firm in Raleigh. There, his practice focused on representing whistleblowers in qui tam actions brought under the federal False Claims Act and its various state analogues. This practice allowed Gavin to assist federal and state authorities uncover complex fraud schemes on public assets. These matters spanned industries from healthcare to Department of Defense procurements. Through this practice, Gavin was able to develop strong working relationships with various United States Attorney’s Offices and State Attorneys General around the country.

During his legal education, Gavin studied under a prominent white-collar criminal defense attorney in Raleigh. He helped guide a wide array of clients through unique challenges, including representing the North Carolina wing of a political party during a federal corruption investigation, representing a witness in Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into possible coordination between a foreign government and a presidential campaign, and representing a bank president facing fraud allegations, who ultimately obtained a full acquittal after a federal jury trial.

Also during his legal education, Gavin studied under United States Magistrate Judge Robert T. Numbers, II, in the Eastern District of North Carolina. There, he gained significant insight into the full gamut of federal practice and honed his legal writing abilities.

Education

Appalachian State University (B.A., 2015)
Campbell University School of Law (J.D. cum laude, 2019, Law Review)

Admissions

North Carolina
Western District of North Carolina
Middle District of North Carolina
Eastern District of North Carolina
Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals

Government Service

Served as judicial extern for United States Magistrate Judge Robert T. Numbers, II, U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina (2017)

Professional Memberships

Federal Bar Association
Mecklenburg County Bar White-Collar Crime & Government Investigations Section
Federalist Society

Sarah is an Associate Attorney in the Charlotte office. She earned her Juris Doctor from Campbell University School of Law where she was named to the Academic Honors List. Sarah focused her curriculum on national security and criminal defense. Sarah gained valuable experience working for the Office of the Capital Defender, in Durham, and as a member of the Campbell Law Innocence Project, a pro-bono partnership with the North Carolina Center on Actual Innocence.

While in law school, Sarah served as the founding director of the McIntyre-Whichard Legal Fellows program, led by former U.S. Congressman Mike McIntyre and former North Carolina Supreme Court Justice Willis Whichard. Sarah also worked for U.S. Congressman Dan Bishop and served as a judicial extern for Honorable Angelica C. McIntyre, Chief District Court Judge of Robeson County. Sarah actively engaged in restorative justice practices on North Carolina’s Death Row. She was equally devoted to fostering diversity and inclusion through her involvement as Secretary of Lambda Law.

Prior to attending law school, Sarah studied Political Science and Chemistry at UNC-Chapel Hill where she also served as captain of the cheerleading team.

Education

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, (B.A., 2020)
Campbell University School of Law, (J.D., 2023)

Admissions

North Carolina

Awards & Recognitions

Academic Honors List
National Security Book Award
Bankruptcy Book Award

“Jimmy M.” is a highly skilled investigator with more than 29 years of experience focusing on multijurisdictional investigations and highly sensitive matters. His investigative focus is on complex financial crimes, including Anti-Money Laundering (AML), Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) matters, and other financial regulatory matters.

Jimmy recently worked as a Special Investigator for a major national bank’s AML Investigation Department. There, he was responsible for leading sophisticated internal bank investigations, performing due diligence, and preparing recommendations in cases involving fraud and other complex circumstances. He was also responsible for reviewing and examining high-risk customers to ensure compliance with regulators.

Prior to his bank experience, Jimmy spent more than 17 successful years assigned to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) as a federal Task Force Officer. As a deputized federal law enforcement officer, his experience included conducting complex and multi-defendant drug conspiracy cases, as well as murder, and other violent crime investigations. Jimmy has extensive experience in physical and electronic surveillance, use of confidential informants, interviewing techniques, and undercover operations. His skill sets are highly sought after by law enforcement professionals, attorneys and private clients.

*Because of Jimmy’s extensive experience in undercover and other sensitive investigations, his picture is intentionally omitted.

As Chief Strategy and Client Relations Officer, Steven works closely with the firm’s attorneys and management to create an excellent experience for all the firm’s clients by delivering efficient service and value. He has more than 25 years of marketing, business development, and legal operations experience, with much of that time at AmLaw 200 firms. Most recently, he served as Perkins Coie’s Senior Director of Client Relationships, leading a team that provided account management support to Fortune 100 clients.

Prior to joining Flannery | Georgalis, Steven held multiple senior positions helping law firms plan and execute growth initiatives. During his career, he has developed strong teams in many areas, including proposal support, competitive intelligence, project management, and client relations. Steven also works closely with individual attorneys on business generation and pricing strategy. Most recently, he served as Perkins Coie’s Senior Director of Client Relationships.

Education

Kellstadt Graduate School of Business, DePaul University (MBA, 2003)
Arizona State University/Roosevelt University (BA Journalism, 1995)

Professional Memberships

Legal Marketing Association (LMA)
Legal Value Network (LVN)
Corporate Legal Operations Consortium (CLOC)

Jen is a Legal Assistant with Flannery | Georgalis’s Charlotte, North Carolina office. She started working as a Paralegal shortly after graduating from high school and spent the next twenty years with a small law firm in Overland Park, Kansas. During that time, Jen gained extensive experience in real estate, corporate law, and civil litigation defense. Thereafter, Jen expanded her knowledge base working for a prestigious firm based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania that specializes in insurance law, toxic tort defense, complex civil litigation, and medical malpractice defense.

Education

Johnson County Community College, Associate of Arts and Paralegal Certificate, 2002

Certifications And Awards

Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society
Certified Paralegal (CP), 2020
National Association of Legal Assistants (NALA), 2020

Matt is an experienced criminal and civil litigator with a deep understanding of federal and state enforcement actions, investigations, and administrative proceedings from his decade in government service. From his broad experience, Matt’s practice focuses on sensitive civil and criminal matters, government and corporate internal investigations, state and federal regulatory and enforcement actions, environmental compliance and litigation, and defending military servicemembers facing court-martial and adverse administrative actions.

Immediately prior to joining Flannery | Georgalis, Matt was the Assistant Section Chief of the Ohio Attorney General’s Charitable Law Section, which is responsible for the regulation, investigation, and enforcement of fraud and abuse of charities throughout the State of Ohio. Matt led investigations and litigation involving nonprofit healthcare systems, higher education institutions, charitable foundations, and individuals for misusing multi-million-dollar charitable funds. He also oversaw licensing actions before the Ohio Casino Control, Liquor Control, Lottery, and Horseracing Commissions. Before assuming his role in Charitable Law, Matt was the Supervising Attorney of the Ohio AG’s Environmental Criminal Prosecution Unit, where he prosecuted a wide variety of environmental crimes including solid and hazardous waste violations, water and air pollution, and destruction and theft of natural resources. He also represented the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and Department of Natural Resources (DNR) in federal and state civil litigation. Matt uses his in-depth knowledge of the Ohio government to help his clients navigate various regulatory and enforcement matters before state agencies, commissions, and boards.

Before joining the Attorney General’s office, Matt served on active duty for seven years in the U.S. Army Judge Advocate General’s (JAG) Corps, gaining extensive litigation experience at both the trial and appellate levels. Matt was an appellate defense counsel at the Army’s prestigious Defense Appellate Division in Washington, D.C. There, he filed hundreds of appellate briefs and presented oral arguments at the highest courts in the military, successfully obtaining several full reversals of soldiers’ criminal convictions and sentences. Matt began his Army career as a military prosecutor and Special Assistant U.S. Attorney at Fort Knox, Kentucky, serving as lead counsel in dozens of courts-martial, including those for murder, sexual assault, crimes against children, and government fraud. In 2014, he deployed to Afghanistan for nine months as the general counsel for a general officer-level command where he was responsible for conducting sensitive investigations throughout the combat theater. Matt continues to serve as a Major in the Army Reserve and has received several awards for his military service, including the Bronze Star, Meritorious Service, Afghanistan Campaign, and Army Commendation Medals.

Education

University of Wisconsin Law School (J.D., 2010, International Law Journal)
Columbia University (B.A., Political Science and History, 2005)

Admissions

Ohio
Wisconsin
Northern District of Ohio
Southern District of Ohio
U.S. Army Court of Criminal Appeals
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces
Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals
Supreme Court of the United States

Government Service

Ohio Attorney General’s Office (2017-2022)
Supervising Attorney, Environmental Criminal Prosecution Unit (2017-2019)
Assistant Section Chief, Charitable Law Section (2019-2022)

U.S. Army Judge Advocate General’s Corps (2010-present)
Active Duty (2010-2017)
Army Reserve (2017-present)

Professional Memberships

Columbus Bar Association
Ohio State Bar Association
National Asian Pacific American Bar Association

Presentations

Presenter, “Responding to a White-Collar Criminal Investigation,” Ohio State Bar Association Business Law Institute, May 2023

Presenter, “Medical Marijuana: A Business and Criminal Law Update,” Columbus Bar Association, April 2022

Presenter, “Charitable Challenges and Opportunities – Dissolutions, Transactions and Restricted Funds,” Pro Bono Partnership of Ohio, February 2021

Presenter, “Environmental Criminal Enforcement 101,” Ohio State Bar Association 34th Ohio Environment, Energy, and Resources Law Seminar, March 2019

Panelist, “Handling Parallel Criminal and Civil Enforcement Actions,” Cleveland Metropolitan Bar Association 2018 Environmental Law Institute: Great Lakes Update, December 2018

Presenter, “Annual Case Law Update,” Ohio State Bar Association 33rd Ohio Environment, Energy, and Resources Law Seminar, March 2018

Ben is a Senior Associate Attorney who focuses his practice on complex criminal and civil litigation and enforcement proceedings at the federal, state, and local levels. Ben has represented clients in cases before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, and federal and state courts around the country as well as before federal and state administrative agencies.

Ben’s litigation experience includes:

• Representing clients in complex white collar criminal and regulatory investigations in highly regulated sectors, including medical practice and aviation, on issues ranging from allegations of improper prescribing practices under the Controlled Substances Act to allegations of price fixing under the Sherman Act.
• Representing advocacy organizations at both the appellate level, as amicus curiae, and in trial-level challenges to regulatory policies.
• Representing commercial clients in complex civil litigation—including class action litigation and litigation involving corporate governance and breaches of fiduciary duty.
• Representing industrial and manufacturing clients in merger control proceedings before the Department of Justice’s Antitrust Division and the Federal Trade Commission’s Bureau of Competition.
• Representing licensed professionals in disputes with licensing boards and other regulators.

Ben also holds leadership positions in several state and national bar associations and legal organizations. For example, he currently serves as the Secretary for the Antitrust Section of the Ohio State Bar Association; as the 6th Circuit’s representative and Moot Court Competition Director on the Federal Bar Association’s Younger Lawyer’s Division National Board, and as a member of the Federal Rules Committee for the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers.

He also writes a regular column on legal writing for the Cleveland Metropolitan Bar Association and maintains a blog (www.appellatehappenings.com) cataloguing recent federal appellate decisions and other aspects of appellate practice.

Before joining Flannery | Georgalis LLC, Ben spent two years as an attorney in the Washington, D.C. office of a premier international law firm. While there, he assisted major commercial clients in responding to federal securities fraud and antitrust investigations and in complex federal and state commercial litigation. Before entering private practice, Ben clerked for the Hon. Ed Carnes of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit and the Hon. James Gwin of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio.

Education

University of Michigan Law School, summa cum laude, Order of the Coif (J.D., 2016) (Articles Editor, Michigan Law Review)
Marietta College, summa cum laude, Class Valedictorian, Phi Beta Kappa (B.A., 2013)

Clerkships

Hon. Ed Carnes, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit
Hon. James Gwin, U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio

Admissions

United States Supreme Court
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit
U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio
U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio
U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia
Ohio
District of Columbia

Professional Associations

Secretary, Antitrust Section, Ohio State Bar Association
Member, Federal Rules Committee, National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers
Younger Lawyers Division National Board, Federal Bar Association
Board Member, Northern District of Ohio Chapter, Federal Bar Association
Cleveland Metropolitan Bar Association
Columbus Bar Association
Energy Bar Association
DC Bar Association

Nathan’s practice focuses on complex criminal investigations, civil litigation, and appeals. Prior to joining Flannery | Georgalis, Nathan served as a judicial law clerk to Judge Edmund A. Sargus, Jr., of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio, as well as Justice Pat DeWine of the Ohio Supreme Court.

Nathan attended The Ohio State University Moritz College of Law, where he graduated magna cum laude and was awarded the highest grade in five of his law school courses. Graduating in the top 10% of his class, Nathan was admitted into the Order of the Coif. Nathan also served as the Articles Editor for The Ohio State Journal of Criminal Law.

While attending law school, Nathan worked for the Ohio Attorney General’s Office and later received clinical experience working for Senator Kristina Roegner.

Education

The Ohio State University Moritz College of Law (J.D., magna cum laude, Order of the Coif, 2020, Ohio State Journal of Criminal Law – Articles Editor)
Miami University (B.A., 2017)

Clerkships

Hon. R. Pat DeWine, Justice of the Supreme Court of Ohio (2021 – 2022)
Hon. Edmund A. Sargus, Jr., U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio (2020 – 2021)

Bar And Court Admissions

Ohio
Southern District of Ohio

Government Experience

Extern, Judge Edmund A. Sargus, Jr. (2018)
Opinions Section Clerk, Ohio Attorney General’s Office (2019)
Clinical Legislative Assistant, Ohio Senator Roegner (2020)

Professional Memberships

Ohio State Bar Association Columbus Bar Association
Cincinnati Bar Association Federalist Society

Accolades/Awards/Certifications/Recognitions/Boards

CALI award for academic excellence in the courses of Legal Writing I and II, First Amendment, Evidence & Trial Practice, and the Legislation Clinic
The Ernest Karma Book Award
Public Service Fellow with Dean’s Highest Honors

Rick Mains is an Investigator with more than 20 years of federal law enforcement experience leading sophisticated criminal, terrorism, export controls, espionage, economic espionage, and cyber intrusion investigations. Rick assists the Firm’s clients in responding to and defending against government criminal and civil enforcement investigations and other sensitive matters. He also leverages his experience to provide clients with invaluable corporate and regulatory compliance advice and consultation to avoid government scrutiny.

Rick began his law enforcement career in the Criminal Division of the FBI’s Washington Field Office in Washington, D.C., where he conducted violent crime investigations involving organized crime, bank robberies, fugitives, kidnaping, and threats against federal officials. Following the attacks on 9/11, Rick transferred to the National Security Division with a focus on international terrorism matters. As a member of the Joint Terrorism Task Force, Rick led complex counterterrorism investigations across the country and around the world for the FBI. Rick also deployed to Afghanistan for extended assignments with the Department of Defense and other government agencies as an international terrorism subject matter expert.

In 2015, Rick was appointed Supervisor of an espionage squad in Washington, D.C. responsible for the FBI’S most sensitive and impactful espionage investigations to protect U.S. Government personnel, assets, infrastructure, and information, domestically and abroad. He also developed insider threat programs for multiple federal agencies to further the FBI counterintelligence mission and to safeguard state secrets throughout the United States Intelligence Community.

In 2017, Rick was promoted to Assistant Special Agent in Charge of FBI Cincinnati Field Office. In that position, Rick was the executive manager over the National Security Branch where he directed sophisticated investigations in counterterrorism, counterintelligence, and weapons of mass destruction. In this leadership role, Rick directed an intensive international investigation that led to the first-ever criminal indictment, arrest, and extradition of a known intelligence officer on charges of economic espionage and theft of trade secrets from several major U.S. and foreign aviation and aerospace companies.

In 2018, Rick retired from the FBI and became the Director of Global Security for NetJets, a Berkshire Hathaway company, responsible for the identification and mitigation of threats to employees, infrastructure, assets, information, and brand. In that position, he was also responsible for corporate internal investigations, due diligence, and regulatory compliance matters.

Education

Capital University Law School (J.D., 1995)
Capital University (B.A., Political Science and Criminal Justice, 1989)

Bar Admissions

Ohio
Northern District of Ohio
Southern District of Ohio

Government Service

Federal Bureau of Investigation (1998-2018)
Ohio Court of Claims (1991-1996)

Accolades/Awards/Certifications/Recognitions/Boards

FBI Director’s Award for Excellence (2014)
BG Richard T. Ellis Award for Excellence in HUMINT Collaboration (2012)
Director of National Intelligence Meritorious Unit Citation (2008)
J. Edgar Hoover Memorial Award for Valor (2007)

Sheila Green is an Investigator with more than 25 years of federal law enforcement experience leading sophisticated, complex criminal and civil healthcare fraud investigations. Sheila, a former Special Agent with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General, Office of Investigations in Indianapolis, Indiana, regularly worked with other HHS/OIG Special Agents, Office of Counsel to the Inspector General Attorneys, Assistant United States Attorneys, and many other federal, state and local law enforcement components.

During her tenure with HHS/OIG, Sheila investigated some of the largest healthcare fraud and illegal drug distribution cases in the Southern District of Indiana and Western District of Kentucky. As a member of the Healthcare Fraud Taskforce in the SDIN and NDIN, she coordinated multi-agency, multi-district criminal investigations with the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Indiana Attorney General’s Office, the Internal Revenue Service and other federal, state and local partner agencies.

Sheila developed significant experience and expertise in investigating complex health care fraud, illegal drug distribution and financial scheme cases through detailed analysis of health, bank, prescription drug monitoring, legal and corporate documents. She has investigated and participated in countless relator interviews and intervention decisions involving the False Claims Act (FCA) and qui tam complaints. Investigations she led resulted in the prosecution of pain management, dental, podiatry and durable medical equipment fraud cases involving doctors, dentists, healthcare practitioners and healthcare entities. She has extensive undercover operations and testifying experience.

Throughout her career, Sheila frequently served as an instructor and facilitator at the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center and earned numerous awards and accolades including OIG Exceptional Achievement Awards and Law Enforcement Recognition Awards from the Department of Justice.

Sheila graduated from Indiana University Bloomington with a BS in Criminal Justice with distinction.

Education

Indiana University Bloomington (B.S., Criminal Justice)

Sheri Jolly is an Analyst with Flannery | Georgalis, bringing more than 27 years of experience in the area of dental and healthcare operations.

Sheri began her professional career serving dental providers in both clinical and administrative roles. Throughout her career, she experienced many changes in the provider space including significant changes to HIPAA requirements and the vast Medicaid expansion under the Affordable Care Act. Sheri also spent more than 10 years in healthcare management positions overseeing compliance challenges for service providers. Her management oversight included performing clinical chart reviews, billing audits, and insurance fraud investigations.

In 2016, Sheri founded a consulting company focused on serving dental and healthcare providers, which provided insurance billing guidance, records audits, efficiency training, and internal investigations. In 2019, to better serve her clients, Sheri became a Certified Fraud Examiner and expanded offerings to include compliance consultancy and fraud investigations.

Education

Malone University (B.A. 2008)

Certifications

CDA, Dental Assisting National Board
CFE, the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners

Kathlena is an Associate Attorney in the Columbus office. She earned her Juris Doctor from Capital University Law School where she graduated summa cum laude. She also completed a concentration in litigation and graduated with Pro Bono Legal Honors. During law school, she served as an Articles Editor of the Capital University Law Review, competed in the ABA’s National Appellate Advocacy Competition, served as an instructor for the Law and Leadership Institute, worked as a Research Assistant for Contracts and Evidence, and was named to the Dean’s List every semester. Kathlena also completed judicial externships with the Honorable Algenon L. Marbley (United States District Court for the Southern District of Ohio), the Honorable Patrick F. Fischer (Supreme Court of Ohio), and the Honorable Jeffrey S. Sutton (United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit) where she gained invaluable experience researching and writing about complex state and federal matters.

Education

Shawnee State University, magna cum laude (B.S., 2020)
Capital University Law School, summa cum laude (J.D., 2023)

Bar Admissions

Ohio

Government Service

Columbus City Attorney’s Office – Legal Intake Counselor, Prosecution Resource Unit (2021-22)
Extern, Hon. Algenon L. Marbley, U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio (2022)
Extern, Hon. Patrick F. Fischer, Supreme Court of Ohio (2022)
Extern, Children & Family Services Domestic Violence Unit, Supreme Court of Ohio (2022)
Extern, Hon. Jeffrey S. Sutton, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit (2023)

Professional Memberships

American Bar Association
Ohio Women’s Bar Association

Accolades/Awards/Certifications/Recognitions/Boards

CALI Excellence for the Future Award, Contracts I and II

Kat is a highly skilled legal assistant and paralegal with extensive experience in complex civil litigation and school law.

Kat started her law career in college volunteering as a Guardian ad Litem with CASA of Franklin County working in the Franklin County Court of Common Pleas Juvenile Division with abuse, neglect, and dependency situations. Kat eventually transitioned to a role supporting solo-practicing attorneys in a variety of areas of law. She later continued to a larger firm in insurance defense civil litigation, gaining experience in personal injury, school, employment, and construction law.

Kat also has a unique talent of online investigation that earned her a newly created position at her previous law firm during the COVID pandemic of Special Project Paralegal. Kat also successfully trained numerous employees, creating effective training guides utilized by the entire firm for online investigations.

As a former active-duty military spouse, Kat volunteered for a number of military groups, including serving as the Ombudsman for the U.S. Navy COMSUBGRU 8 and Command Task Force 69 in Naples, Italy, the publicity chair for the Allied Spouses Club at the Naples NATO base working with spouses of officers to admirals from the US and NATO countries, and was the US Representative for the Naples NATO Yacht Club.

Carol Paszkiewicz is an Investigator with Flannery | Georgalis, bringing more than 24 years of federal law enforcement experience focusing on complex environmental, healthcare, public corruption, and other white-collar offenses. Carol assists the Firm’s clients in responding to and defending against government criminal and civil enforcement investigations and other sensitive matters. She also leverages her experience to provide clients invaluable environmental and healthcare compliance advice and consultation to avoid government scrutiny.

Carol began her career as a Special Agent with EPA’s Criminal Investigation Division, ultimately rising to become Resident Agent in Charge for EPA’s Detroit Division. After EPA, Carol became a Special Agent for U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General. In these roles, Carol investigated a wide range of white-collar crimes including complex health care fraud, drug diversion, anti-kickback violations, and public corruption. Her experience also encompasses investigating a wide range of environmental crimes and civil violations, including violations of the Clean Air Act, Clean Water Act, Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, and export/import violations involving environmental statutes. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Carol worked with DOJ’s COVID-19 Fraud Task Force and investigated CARES Act fraud schemes.

Carol’s experience includes serving as lead investigator for numerous multi-agency investigations, including, among others, FBI, IRS, DEA, HSI, and HUD. Her tenure with EPA-CID included working with the FBI and IRS-CI on the investigation and prosecution of several Detroit public officials, including former Detroit mayor Kwame Kilpatrick, one of the largest public corruption cases in Detroit’s history. Carol also served as lead investigator for several environmental disasters including a multi-million-gallon oil release causing an international environmental and law enforcement response, a major oil pipeline failure, and an explosion at a hazardous waste treatment facility. She also functioned as EPA CID’s National Enforcement Priority Coordinator for the Clean Air Act, serving as a mentor and advisor to the various EPA CID offices across the country.

As an HHS-OIG special agent, Carol led several sophisticated, multi-agency investigations, including a multi-state home health care business for anti-kickback and tax violations, a vascular surgeon for a complex billing scheme which resulted in over $30 million in seizures, and a COVID-19 testing and securities fraud investigation, as well as substantial drug diversion operations. Her experience includes serving as a Health Care Fraud Task Force Agent in Detroit for over three years.

Carol’s significant experience and reputation for excellence led to her selection as an instructor at the Federal Law Enforcement Center in Georgia, the International Law Enforcement Agency in El Salvador, and at the first ever Environmental Crimes Training program in Amman, Jordan.

Education

Michigan State University (B.S., Environmental & Natural Resource Policy Studies)

Professional Training

Criminal Investigator Training Program, Federal Law Enforcement Training Center
Environmental Crimes Basic – Federal Law Enforcement Training Center
Special Agent Basic Training – U.S. Department of Health & Human Service, Office of Inspector General

Colin is a former federal prosecutor from the Western District of Pennsylvania, where he uniquely served in both the civil and criminal divisions. He focuses his practice on defending individuals and organizations in a wide variety of highly sensitive matters. Colin also conducts internal investigations for institutions and corporations. His broad experience includes representing clients in complex criminal, civil, and regulatory matters, involving, among other things, allegations of health care fraud, False Claims Act violations, public corruption, government contracting fraud, and securities fraud. Colin also has extensive experience in matters affecting licensed medical professionals, including cases involving controlled substance act violations, Opioid diversion allegations, and billing fraud.

Immediately before joining Flannery | Georgalis, Colin served as a federal prosecutor in Pittsburgh from 2012 to 2019. In that capacity, he led some of the largest fraud investigations in the region and prosecuted individuals and corporations for sophisticated financial crimes, including health care fraud, violations of the controlled substance act, mail and wire fraud, bank fraud, money laundering, and elder abuse and fraud. As a member of the Cyber/National Security Section, he also handled national security matters and prosecuted cyber crime.

During his time as a federal prosecutor, Colin also served as the Office’s affirmative civil enforcement coordinator. In that capacity, Colin led a team of attorneys responsible for investigating and prosecuting cases involving allegations of fraud against the United States, including violations of the False Claims Act. Collectively, such cases returned hundreds of millions of dollars to the United States. Colin led the prosecution of a False Claims Act case against the country’s second-largest for-profit college group, which ultimately resulted in a $95.5 million settlement with the Department of Justice, the largest ever reached with a for-profit college. In recognition of his work on this landmark matter, Colin received the Council of Inspectors General Award for Excellence. More recently, Colin led a major False Claims Act investigation of a regional hospital system and its CEO for violations of the Anti-Kickback Statute and the Stark Law, which resulted in a $50 million settlement.

Prior to joining the United States Attorney’s Office, Colin was an attorney at two prominent law firms in Washington D.C., where his practice focused on complex civil and criminal litigation. Before entering private practice, he clerked at both the trial and appellate court levels for the Honorable James S. Gwin of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio and the Honorable D. Brooks Smith of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit

Education

Georgetown University Law Center (J.D., magna cum laude and Order of the Coif, 2005)
University of Dayton (B.A. Political Science, cum laude, 2001)

Admissions

New York
Pennsylvania
District of Columbia
Western District of Pennsylvania
Western District of Michigan
Eastern District of New York
Third Circuit Court of Appeals

Marco focuses his practice on federal and state criminal defense, affirmative civil enforcement and regulatory matters, and election law. Prior to entering private practice, Marco started his legal career as an Assistant District Attorney in Allegheny County. As a prosecutor, Marco handled a wide variety of sensitive matters, including DUIs, narcotics cases, and felony prosecutions.

After serving as a prosecutor, Marco opened his own law practice where he represented clients in a wide range of criminal matters, including cases involving violent felonies, homicides, and allegations of multi-million-dollar fraud schemes. Since joining Flannery | Georgalis, LLC, Marco has continued to represent clients throughout all stages of the criminal justice system, including pre-indictment investigations, preliminary hearings, non-jury trials, jury trials, direct appeals, and Post-Conviction Relief Act proceedings.

As a defense attorney, Marco has successfully represented clients in numerous high-profile matters. He recently represented an executive with a major public institution accused of threatening multiple elected public officials—including a Court of Common Pleas Judge and an elected District Attorney. His motions practice resulted in a pretrial withdrawal of all felony charges and his advocacy ultimately resulted in a full acquittal on all remaining charges at the conclusion of a five-day jury trial. Similarly, Marco recently won a full acquittal at trial for a client facing forty-two criminal counts.

In addition to his practice in the criminal courts, Marco has an active election law practice. He has served as counsel for numerous federal, state, and local campaigns. Marco has also served as Voter Protection Director in multiple Congressional elections and was counsel on several cases related to the 2020 election. Marco has extensive experience litigating ballot access issues, including before the Court of Common Pleas and the Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania. Marco also successfully defended the re-election of a State Senator when an unprecedented Election Contest challenge was brought before the Senate to prevent the Senator from taking office. As part of his election law practice, Marco served as counsel in the pending Pennsylvania Congressional Redistricting case.

Education

University of Pittsburgh, School of Law (J.D., 2013)
Allegheny College (B.A., Political Science with a minor in English, 2009)

Admissions

Pennsylvania
Western District of Pennsylvania

Honors And Distinctions

The Dick Thornburg Forum for Law & Public Policy – J . Evans Rose, Jr. Prize for Public Service (2013)

Government Service

Allegheny County, Assistant District Attorney
United States Navy 2003 – 2005 (Active Duty)
Unites States Navy 2005 – 2009 (Reserve Duty)

Antonia is an Associate Attorney in the Pittsburgh Office. She earned her Juris Doctor at the Thomas R. Kline School of Law of Duquesne University, where she graduated magna cum laude. During law school, Antonia served as an Associate Editor of Duquesne Law Review and as the Executive Research Editor of Joule: Duquesne Energy & Environmental Law Journal. She also worked as a teaching assistant for Legal Research & Writing and competed as a member of the Appellate Moot Court Board. Outside of the classroom, Antonia worked as a judicial intern for the Honorable Judge Lisa Pupo Lenihan and later gained experience as a law clerk for a criminal defense law firm.

Education

Duquesne University McAnulty College of Liberal Arts (B.A. Political Science and Multiplatform Journalism, 2020)
Thomas R. Kline School of Law of Duquesne University (J.D., magna cum laude, 2023)

Bar Admissions

Pennsylvania (Pending)

Government Experience

Intern, Hon. Judge Lisa Pupo Lenihan, Magisterial District Judge for the Western District of Pennsylvania (2022)

Professional Memberships

Allegheny County Bar Association

Honors And Distinctions

Law School Mission Award
Best Brief, Touro Law’s Ninth Annual Moot Court Competition in Law & Religion
CALI Excellence for the Future Awards: Legal Research & Writing, Professional Responsibility, Adv. Legal Writing: Legal Drafting, White Collar Crime

Rebecca is a highly skilled paralegal with extensive legal experience in both the public and private sectors. Immediately prior to joining Flannery | Georgalis, Rebecca worked at the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Pennsylvania, where she provided legal support for attorneys working in the Office’s Criminal Division. Earlier in her career, Rebecca worked as a paralegal and legal assistant for firms handling criminal, civil and family law matters.

Education

Christopher Newport University (BS, Governmental Administration with Legal Studies Concentration, 2002)

Government Service

U.S. Department of Justice – U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Pennsylvania, Criminal Division