Prominent Attorneys Edmund W. (Ned) Searby and Mark V. Jackowski Launch White Collar Crime Practice at McDonald Hopkins Law Firm

CLEVELAND, Dec. 17 /PRNewswire/ -- Former federal prosecutors Edmund W. (Ned) Searby and Mark V. Jackowski, who have worked together for almost 20 years as trial counsel in numerous high-profile criminal and civil cases, are joining McDonald Hopkins LLC to start a White Collar Crime, Antitrust, and Securities Litigation Practice.

Searby, who will chair the Practice, focuses on white collar criminal defense and complex civil litigation. Along with Jackowski, Searby has successfully represented publicly traded corporations in major antitrust conspiracy cases. His other work includes criminal cases involving securities and healthcare fraud, insider trading, internal investigations, and theft of trade secrets.

Both Searby and Jackowski will work from the Chicago and Cleveland offices. Also joining the new team will be colleagues Richard N. Kessler in Chicago, Vincent J. Nardone in Columbus, Richard D. Summers in Cleveland, and Duncan Farmer in Florida. The team comprises former federal prosecutors, former state prosecutors, a former Federal Trade Commission attorney, and a former FBI agent.

"The need for experienced and effective white collar criminal representation is substantial," says Searby. "We bring to McDonald Hopkins a team with real trial experience in complex cases."

Before returning to McDonald Hopkins, where he had been a partner, Searby was managing partner of the Ohio office of Scott & Scott, a national litigation firm. In 2005, he served as co-counsel for shareholders in Manhattan in a highly publicized securities fraud case against ImClone. The company agreed to pay shareholders $75 million - the largest settlement at the time involving a biotech company.

A year later in Cleveland, Searby won as co-counsel $33-million trebled verdict for a group of industrial companies against Northeast Ohio scrap dealers for illegally depressing metal prices. The Wall Street Journal highlighted the case.

Searby began his career in 1989 as a senior law student at the University of Michigan, when he was invited by the U.S. Attorney in Tampa to assist Jackowski with the successful prosecution of officers of Bank of Credit and Commerce International (BCCI) for laundering drug money. After law school, at age 25, Searby was appointed as one of the youngest Assistant United States Attorneys in the country.

From 1991 to 1996, Searby tried a variety of significant criminal cases. These include the conviction of an international drug kingpin, who had conspired to murder a federal agent and prosecutor. Searby also successfully prosecuted two foreigners responsible for industrial espionage against a Fortune 100 company.

Moreover, he investigated and prosecuted a violent jewel theft crew, which he dubbed "The New York Yankees of Robbers" in the Chicago Sun-Times. One of the defendants later agreed to cooperate and earlier this year helped convict Chicago Mafia bosses for gangland slayings and racketeering conspiracy.

In recognition of Searby's work, U.S. Attorney General Janet Reno and FBI Director Louis Freeh wrote him letters of commendation. Searby is a graduate of Dartmouth College in 1986 and the University of Michigan Law School in 1990.

More recently, Searby teamed with Jackowski at the Office of Independent Counsel and in private practice in representing the Parker Hannifin Corporation and the PolyOne Corporation in major antitrust cases.

Jackowski served for more than 25 years as a federal prosecutor with the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Department of Justice, and the Office of Independent Counsel. Among his many prominent cases is the conviction of the BCCI officers after a six-month trial.

Also, as a federal prosecutor, Jackowski assembled evidence from international drug trafficking cases that led to the indictment of Panama Dictator General Manuel Noriega. For his work, Jackowski twice won the Department of Justice Director's Award.

With the Office of the Independent Counsel, Jackowski prosecuted U.S. Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Henry G. Cisneros, who entered a plea to lying to the FBI in an official investigation.

Jackowski is a 1974 graduate of St. John's University in Jamaica, New York and the University of Dayton School of Law in 1978. In 1979, he received a Masters of Law from New York University School of Law.

"We are delighted to bring to our practice such accomplished litigators in major criminal and civil litigation," says Carl Grassi, president of McDonald Hopkins. "They add unique strengths to how the firm serves our clients."

With more than 130 lawyers in Cleveland, Chicago, Columbus, Detroit, and West Palm Beach, McDonald Hopkins is a full-service firm focused on business law, litigation, restructuring, and estate planning. More information about McDonald Hopkins can be found at www.mcdonaldhopkins.com .

    CONTACT:
    Deborah Kelm, Director of Marketing
    McDonald Hopkins LLC
    Phone: 216.348.5733
    Email: dkelm@mcdonaldhopkins.com