Edward B. Diskant

Edward (Ted) B. Diskant is a former federal prosecutor and experienced trial lawyer who focuses his practice on representing companies and individuals in a wide range of white collar and regulatory enforcement matters and in complex civil litigation. Ted has extensive experience handling sensitive investigations, with particular expertise in matters involving the anti-bribery laws including the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA), wire fraud, healthcare fraud, money laundering, and the Bank Secrecy Act (BSA). Ted also consults on compliance matters and helps clients design, implement and audit compliance programs consistent with US Justice Department (DOJ) and other applicable guidance. Prior to joining McDermott, Ted spent nine years at the US Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York, serving most recently as Chief of the Public Corruption Unit. In that capacity, Ted supervised a team of approximately twenty senior prosecutors, overseeing some of the Office’s most sensitive and high-profile matters, including those involving fraud and financial crimes, the FCPA and the domestic bribery statutes, the campaign finance laws, and the Foreign Agent Registration Act (FARA). Notable matters that Ted supervised include the investigation of attorney to the former president Rudolph Giuliani and the prosecutions of former Giuliani associates Lev Parnas and Igor Fruman, former presidential advisor Stephen K. Bannon, financier Jeffrey Epstein and his former girlfriend Ghislaine Maxwell, and attorney Michael Avenatti. At the US Attorney’s Office, Ted also served in its Money Laundering and Asset Forfeiture Unit, leading investigations and prosecutions of both corporations and individuals for a wide variety of financial crimes, including violations of the BSA, US sanctions laws, and domestic and international money laundering offenses. Ted also handled significant civil and criminal asset forfeiture matters and spearheaded domestic and international asset recovery efforts. As an Assistant US Attorney, Ted also led investigations focused on healthcare fraud, misbranding and the unlawful distribution of oxycodone and other controlled substances, including matters involving wholesale distributors, pharmacies, and healthcare providers. An experienced trial and appellate advocate, Ted has successfully tried ten jury trials to verdict and briefed or argued more than a dozen cases before the US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. Prior to joining the US Attorney’s Office, Ted clerked for the Hon. Debra Ann Livingston, Chief Judge, United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, and for the Hon. Sidney H. Stein, United States District Court, Southern District of New York. He was an Articles & Essays Editor for the Yale Law Journal.