
Overview
Matthew J. Herrington is a partner in the Investigations and White Collar Defense practice of Paul Hastings and is based in the firm’s Washington, D.C. office. For 25 years, Mr. Herrington has partnered with clients, colleagues, and stakeholders to address, resolve, and develop systems to avoid complex cross-border legal challenges. The borders at issue may be national, cultural, or institutional. The approach is the same – he structures and empowers diverse, multi-disciplinary teams to achieve extraordinary results and satisfy the most demanding clients.
Institutional and individual clients from a broad range of sectors choose to work with Mr. Herrington. These include the world’s largest and most respected banking, defense, extractive, pharmaceutical, and professional service firms.
He also provides board-level pro bono support to leading civil society organizations and is part of the federal death penalty defense project. High-profile individuals work with him to achieve low- to no-profile resolutions.
Mr. Herrington has tried cases in state and federal court, and both conducted (while in government service with the U.S. Senate) and defended congressional investigations and hearings. In addition to state and federal courts, he represents clients before the U.S. Department of Justice, U.S. and foreign financial regulators, both houses of Congress, various inspector generals, the Internal Revenue Service, and professional regulatory organizations. Mr. Herrington has recently represented witnesses in the Office of Special Counsel investigation, and he once tried a case in the Princely Court of First Instance in Vaduz, Liechtenstein.
A recognized authority in FCPA enforcement and ABC compliance systems, he also focuses on banking and securities regulation, sovereign debt issues, tax, government contracting, and both legal and accounting professional responsibility issues.
Mr. Herrington regularly speaks and writes on anti-corruption and legal ethics issues. Active in the D.C. Bar and the Board on Professional Responsibility, he recently chaired a contested reinstatement hearing. An extensive Report and Recommendation was produced, and a District of Columbia Court of Appeals panel unanimously adopted the result.
Recognitions
- Chambers USA, Litigation: White-Collar Crime & Government Investigations (2022)
Education
- Yale Law School, J.D., 1993
- Managing Editor, The Yale Law Journal
- Syracuse University, B.A., 1989,
- 1989 Syracuse Scholar; with honors
Engagement & Publications
- "Internal Control System in the Financial Sector: Risks, Enforcement Update and Key Takeaways," C5’s 5th Annual Anti-Corruption Nordics Conference, Oslo, Norway, January 31, 2019
- "Tougher Anti-Money Laundering (AML) Enforcement in 2018: Implementing Effective Compliance Programs," The Knowledge Group webinar, October 24, 2018
- "Global Investigations in Today’s Evolving Regulatory Environment," Bloomberg Law Big Law Business Webinar Series, May 31, 2018
- Moderator, "Anti-Corruption Compliance, "Bloomberg Law Leadership Forum, New York, NY, May 23, 2018
- "Data Analytics in Real Life: How Companies and Outside Counsel are Now Leveraging Technology to Improve Risk," ACI's 34th International Conference on the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, Oxon Hill, MD, November 29, 2017
- "The Reality of a Complex Multi-Jurisdictional Investigation: How to Manage and Resolve the Top Three Issues in Multi-Jurisdictional Investigations," ACI’s 10 Houston FCPA Boot Camp, Houston, TX, January 27, 2016
- "Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA)," Federal Publications Seminars, Arlington, VA, October 26, 2015
- "Towards a Quantitative Approach to Allegation Severity Analysis," American Society of International Law Anti-Corruption Law Interest Group, Philadelphia, PA, October 2, 2015
Involvement
- Board Member of Law360’s Legal Ethics Editorial Advisory Board
- Member of the International Criminal Law Committee, Section of International Law, American Bar Association
- Member of the Committee on the Unauthorized Practice of Law, District of Columbia Court of Appeals
- Hearing Commissioner, District of Columbia Board on Professional Responsibility