Lynn A. Neils

Lynn A. Neils

Partner

+1 (646) 585-6859   |   lneils@ekljnlaw.com

Education

Georgetown University Law Center, J.D., American Criminal Law Review, 1989

Tulane University, B.A., summa cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa, 1986

Admissions

New York

U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit

U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York

U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York

U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit

Professional Memberships

National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers

New York Council of Defense Lawyers

Federal Bar Council

American Bar Association, White Collar Crime Committee of the Business Law Section, Member; Securities Fraud Subcommittee, Co-Chief

Women’s White-Collar Defense Association, Program Chair

Association of the Bar of the City of New York; Committee on the Judiciary, Member (2002-2005)

Board Member, Georgetown Law School Board of Visitors

Board Member, Lawyers for Children America

Lynn A. Neils is an experienced and accomplished attorney representing businesses and executives in criminal prosecutions, regulatory investigations, and other high-stakes disputes. She advises corporations and boards on compliance protocols and regularly conducts internal investigations to mitigate risk from regulators, including the SEC, FTC, CFTC, and FDA,.

For more than a decade, Lynn served as an Assistant U.S. Attorney and Chief of the Complex Frauds and Cybercrime Unit for the Southern District of New York. During her tenure as an Assistant U.S. Attorney in the SDNY and also the District of New Jersey, Lynn led the investigation and prosecution of numerous high-profile cases involving bank fraud, tax fraud, wire fraud, art fraud, securities fraud, counterfeiting, money laundering, cybercrime, trade secrets, bankruptcy fraud, healthcare fraud, and environmental offenses, sanctions, and the FCPA.

In her role as Chief of the Complex Frauds and Cybercrime Unit in the SDNY, Lynn supervised approximately 22 senior Assistant United States Attorneys handling the investigation and prosecution of a variety of complex, and often multinational, white-collar cases. She coordinated with multiple prosecutorial and regulatory offices, including many outside the United States such as the U.K. Serious Fraud Office and the U.K. Financial Conduct Authority. Lynn also acted as liaison with the banking regulators in New York, including the Federal Reserve Bank, the FDIC, and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency.

For several years, Lynn served as Senior Counsel at Johnson & Johnson where she was responsible for handling a large caseload of criminal and civil matters. In this role, Lynn was responsible for overseeing outside counsel; conducting internal investigations; advising on compliance and regulatory matters; and conducting training of employees on regulatory and legal matters.

View Lynn Neils’ Representative Matters

Speaking Engagements

“Determining When and When Not an Incident is Material to Disclose Under the New SEC Rules,”  ACI Cybersecurity Law & Compliance Conference (February 2024)

Presenter, “Advice of Counsel: What Every Corporate Executive Needs to Know,” Foley Hoag Webinar (November 2023)

Panelist, “Navigating the Key Life Sciences IP Updates Shaping the Landscape of U.S.-EU Deals: Common Cross Border Due Diligence Pitfalls and How to Avoid Them,” ACI’s 6th Annual Summit on Life Sciences IP Due Diligence (November 2023)

Presenter, “Healthcare Fraud Enforcement Trends: Familiar Themes and New Areas of Scrutiny,” Pennsylvania Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers 2023 Whitle Collar Practice Seminar (November 2023)

Panelist, “Plenary Session IV – Late Breaking Developments,” ABA 2023 Criminal Justice Section Eleventh Annual London White Collar Crime Institute (October 2023)

“Overturned: The End of 50 Years of Abortion Rights and a Discussion of What’s Next,” Federal Bar Council CLE Webinar (July 2022)

“Raising the Board’s Compliance IQ: Meeting Increased Compliance Expectations,” Fraud Eats Strategy podcast (April 2021)

“Once More Into the Breach: White Collar in Enforcement Issues in a Post-COVID Environment,” Webinar (April 2020)

“Storming the Gatekeepers: When Compliance Officers & In-House Lawyers are at Risk 2017,” PLI (September 2017)