PROFESSIONALS
Partners
Counsel
Associates
Firm Practice Areas Professionals Recognitions Diversity News & Events Contacts
PROFESSIONALS: Counsel
Stuart F. Pierson
E: spierson@morvillolaw.com
T: (202) 803-5852
F: (202) 775-5937
Representative Experience Selected Publications Distinctions Work Experience
Bar and Court Admissions Education
Stuart Pierson, Counsel to Morvillo LLP, has 40 years of experience
in white collar, internal investigations, compliance and complex
litigation. His clients include corporations, executives, political
figures and journalists. He specializes in Justice Department, SEC, congressional and other
government investigations, federal and state litigation and counseling on the increasing compliance
requirements for business organizations.
Representative Experience
Enforcement and Internal Investigations
• Advice to and representation of Volt Information Sciences, Inc., a $2 billion public company, for
internal investigation and SEC matters (2009-2013).
• Representation of official of national housing company in response to federal allegations of
kickbacks (2008).
• Internal investigation for Security National Bank, a regional bank. Resolution of internal needs
and compliance remediation (2007-2008).
• Representation of government sub-contractor in response to investigation of alleged gratuities
provided to military transportation officials relating to award of shipping business (2004-2007).
• Representation of Stiles Kellett, chair of the Worldcom Board of Directors’ Compensation
Committee in class actions and over 100 individual actions consolidated in the Southern District
of New York arising from the collapse of WorldCom, Inc. (2004-2006).
• Representation of federal government lawyer in criminal investigation concerning allegations of
inappropriate conduct in a sentencing proceeding (2006).
• Representation of global technology company in federal investigation of municipal procurement
fraud (2000-2003).
• Representation of former employees of the Democratic National Committee in investigations by
both houses of Congress and the Department of Justice concerning campaign financing (1997 –
2000).
• Representation of former Congressman Charles N. Wilson in various federal investigations as
he was the principally effective advocate for assistance to the Afghan resistance to Soviet
occupation. (1983-1999) See also Charlie Wilson’s War, Atlantic Monthly Press.
Compliance
Morvillo Law | Bio Stuart F. Pierson, Counsel Page 1 of 3
http://morvillolaw.com/attorneys_SP.htm 7/16/2014
Advice to clients on the established elements of an effective compliance plan for public and private
business and regulated entities, including Sarbanes-Oxley requirements, Federal Sentencing
Guidelines, Department of Justice and Securities and Exchange Commission policies.
Complex Litigation
• Omaha Public Power District v. Union Pacific Railroad Co., District Ct., Douglas Co., NE:
Representation of utility on claims for breach of contract and negligence for failure to maintain
defendant railroad’s roadbed and infrastructure in the Powder River Basin, causing failure to
deliver required coal supplies (2007-2008).
• Contract Arbitration: Representation of Midwest utility in response to an arbitration claim that it
had intentionally undermined sale of a substantial company asset (2003-2004).
• United States v. Church, et al., S.D. WV: Representation of second defendant charged with
conspiracy to obstruct a federal bank examination (1999 – 2002).
Early Landmarks
• U.S. v. Washington, 384 F. Supp. 312 (W.D. WA 1974) (the “Boldt Decision”): lead plaintiff’s
counsel for the judgment recognizing Indian off-reservation treaty fishing right of Pacific
Northwest Indians to take up to 50% of the harvestable salmonid stock as the supreme law of
the land. Judgment revolutionized Pacific Northwest fisheries management, and steadily
improved the lives of the Indians. Upheld in four Supreme Court challenges.
• Martin Marietta v. Evening Star, 417 F. Supp. 947 (D.D.C. 1976): counsel for defendant
newspaper in establishing that public corporations have the same First Amendment burden as
individuals to prove actual malice to recover for defamation on a matter of public interest.
• Manuchar Ghobanifar (mid-1980s): Counsel for the Iranian middle man in the Iran Contra affair,
who was never charged or required to testify in the grand jury or congressional proceedings.
Legal Ethics
Chair, D.C. Court of Appeals Committee on the Unauthorized Practice of Law (1992-1998).
Selected Publications
• Author of “Responding to a Criminal Investigation,” Privacy & Data Security Law Journal, June
2007.
• Author of “Individual Legal Expenses: Should You Have A Policy?,” July 2006.
Author of “A Trap for the Unwary: Can a Company Deny Advice-of-Counsel Evidence?,” March
2006.
• Other periodic publications concerning cases and representations, and articles in media
periodicals on developments in the law.
Distinctions
Recognized in The Best Lawyers in America in Criminal Defense: White-Collar Law (2010-2014).
Work Experience
• Partner, Troutman Sanders LLP, 1998-2012
• Private Practice in Washington D.C., 1973-present
• Special Assistant U.S. Attorney, Western District of Washington, 1973-1975
• Assistant U.S. Attorney, Western District of Washington, 1971-1973
• Trial Attorney, Civil Rights Division, U.S. Department of Justice, 1968-1971
Bar and Court Admissions
• District of Columbia
Morvillo Law | Bio Stuart F. Pierson, Counsel Page 2 of 3
http://morvillolaw.com/attorneys_SP.htm 7/16/2014
• New York
• U.S. Supreme Court
• U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit
• Other U.S. Courts of Appeal
• U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York
• U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland
Education
• Duke University (J.D., 1968)
• Hobart College (B.A., cum laude, 1965)
NYC Tel: 212-796-6330 | NYC Fax: 212-240-8267 | Washington DC Tel: 202-470-0330 | Washington DC Fax: 202-775-5937
Terms of Use | Attorney Advertising © 2014 Morvillo LLP
Morvillo Law | Bio Stuart F. Pierson, Counsel Page 3 of 3
http://morvillolaw.com/attorneys_SP.htm 7/16/2014