Debevoise & Plimpton LLP announces that Nicholas Folly has returned to the firm as a counsel in the White Collar and Regulatory Defense Group, in the San Francisco office. In this new role, Mr. Folly will advise clients on a broad range of white collar criminal defense matters including those related to emerging technologies, securities and investment advisor fraud, money laundering and other complex frauds and white collar crime.
A seasoned trial lawyer, Mr. Folly rejoins Debevoise after eight and a half years with the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York, where he most recently served as Deputy Chief of the Criminal Division. In this role, he oversaw the work of dozens of prosecutors and worked closely with senior officials at the DOJ, FBI, SEC and other agencies. During Mr. Folly’s tenure at SDNY, he investigated and prosecuted some of the Office’s largest and most complex white collar prosecutions, including cases involving securities and commodities fraud, tech startups, payment processing, artificial intelligence, corporate resolutions, Foreign Corrupt Practices Act offenses, cyberattacks and money laundering.
Andrew Ceresney, Co-Chair of the firm’s Litigation Department and past Director of Enforcement at the SEC, said, “Since opening in San Francisco we have seen strong demand from clients in the Bay Area for white collar, commercial and IP litigation counsel, and have strategically built one of the region’s preeminent, multidisciplinary litigation teams in response. Nick’s arrival further bolsters our capabilities in that market and will help us meet the growing needs of our clients.”
David O’Neil, Co-Chair of the White Collar & Regulatory Defense Group and former head of the Criminal Division at the U.S. Department of Justice, said, “As we know from Nick’s previous time at the firm, he is both a superb lawyer and a natural collaborator. These qualities coupled with his SDNY credentials position him as a strong asset to our clients and the firm community.”
Mr. Folly is joining one of the firm’s fastest growing offices, which last summer announced it was doubling in size, and a roster of former federal prosecutors, regulators and career defense attorneys, including David Sarratt, a former federal prosecutor and co-managing partner of the office; Kristin Snyder, a former Deputy Director of the SEC’s Division of Examinations; Josh Cohen, an accomplished white collar trial lawyer; and Julie Riewe, former Co-Chief of the Asset Management Unit of the SEC’s Enforcement Division, who spends time in the San Francisco and Washington, D.C. offices.
Prior to his tenure at SDNY, Mr. Folly was a litigation associate at Debevoise for several years. He also completed two federal clerkships, for the Honorable Joseph A. Greenaway, Jr. in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit (2014-2015), and for the Honorable George B. Daniels in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York (2013-2014). Mr. Folly received his J.D. from Columbia University School of Law in 2011, where he was a Harlan Fiske Stone Scholar, and his B.A. from Columbia College, Columbia University in 2008.
Debevoise’s award-winning White Collar & Regulatory Defense Group is ranked as one of the world’s top practices by Global Investigations Review and as Band 1 by Chambers on both sides of the Atlantic for its complex representations of clients facing litigation and public policy crises, as well as Band 1 in the U.S. for securities enforcement and anti-corruption. Selected by Chambers USA as the 2024 Criminal Litigation Law Firm of the Year, by Global Investigations Review in 2023 as Most Impressive Litigation Practice of the Year and by Benchmark Litigation as the 2022 White Collar Firm of the Year, the Group has been involved in some of the most significant investigations, litigations and resolutions in recent memory. The practice offers international and domestic clients a depth of experience and global reach that allows for effective and strategic counsel.