King & Spalding’s Chicago Office Expands Litigation and Investigations Expertise with Addition of Two Partners Including Former Assistant U.S. Attorney Patrick Collins

King & Spalding today announced that white collar and civil litigators Patrick Collins and Jade Lambert have joined as partners in the firm’s Chicago office. Collins and Lambert join Zach Fardon, recent U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, to expand the firm’s Chicago office, which is located in the West Loop at the new Riverpoint Building at 444 West Lake Street.

Patrick Collins

Collins is a seasoned and nationally-renowned trial lawyer and investigator who represents companies and individuals in high-stakes civil and criminal matters in federal and state courts throughout the United States. Inducted into the prestigious American College of Trial Lawyers, he has tried over 25 cases to verdict, including four successful trials during 2015-2016. As a former federal prosecutor, Collins was the lead prosecutor, along with Fardon, in the six-month trial and conviction of former Illinois Gov. George Ryan.

Collins and Lambert were both formerly partners at Perkins Coie, and Collins previously served as an Assistant U.S. Attorney for 12 years in Chicago, the last four of which were as a supervisor in the corruption unit.

“Patrick is a well-known, highly accomplished trial lawyer who is respected in Chicago legal circles,” said Fardon, office managing partner and head of litigation of the firm’s Chicago office. “Having worked together at the U.S. Attorney’s office, I know Patrick to be smart, tenacious, and of extraordinary character and judgment. He and Jade further bring a terrific track record of public service and community involvement. I am thrilled to be partnering with them to build out King & Spalding’s Chicago office.”

Collins served on the Executive Committee of his previous firm, and has been top rated in multiple peer review publications, including Chambers. He received his law degree from the University of Chicago Law School and undergraduate degree from the University of Notre Dame, magna cum laude.

Jade Lambert

Lambert’s practice focuses on high-stakes commercial litigation and internal investigations. She represents and counsels corporate clients on a broad range of legal issues, including data breach response, communications law, electronic communications privacy, and shareholder disputes. Lambert also has experience coordinating and managing complex investigations and litigation, including joint defense groups and multi-party strategy, e-discovery issues, and expert reports and testimony. At her previous firm, she served on the Chicago Hiring Committee, the firm wide Associates’ Committee, and the Chicago Office Pro Bono Committee.

After law school, she clerked for Judge Joel Flaum on the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. Lambert received her law degree, magna cum laude and Order of the Coif, from Northwestern University School of Law, where she was an associate editor of the Northwestern University Law Review. She received her master’s degree in English from Pennsylvania State University and her undergraduate degree from Illinois State University.

“We are excited to add Patrick and Jade to the team,” said Wick Sollers, leader of the Special Matters & Government Investigations practice and managing partner of the firm’s Washington, D.C. office. “As accomplished trial lawyers and counselors, they are a perfect fit with Zach and his exceptional judgment and experience as we continue to build out our go-to lineup to serve our clients, both in Chicago and nationwide.”

“Jade and I could not be more pleased to join King & Spalding and to help launch its Chicago office,” Collins said. “Zach and I have done great work together in the past and I look forward to reuniting with him to build a great office and bring the high-quality King & Spalding brand to Chicago. The firm’s Special Matters practice is a real strength of the firm and I’m excited to work with Zach and my new colleagues across the firm to achieve great results in the Chicago market.”

The addition of Collins and Lambert further fortifies King & Spalding’s award-winning Special Matters & Government Investigations practice, comprised of over 100 lawyers in 14 offices throughout the world, dedicated to white collar criminal defense and related civil fraud litigation, making it one of the largest and most respected such practices in the world. The team has been nationally acclaimed as White Collar Practice Group of the Year in 2017 by Law360, among other recognitions. The team has handled investigations before more than 70 of the 93 U.S. Attorneys’ Offices in the United States and every litigating division of the Justice Department. It also has appeared before the Securities Exchange Commission and all 12 of its Regional Offices, and handled multinational investigations involving approximately 80 countries.

King & Spalding’s Special Matters & Government Investigations group continues to attract high-profile members on both the West and East Coasts, as well as globally. In September, Richard Walker, former Director of Enforcement at the Securities and Exchange Commission, who for 14 years served as Global General Counsel of Deutsche Bank, joined in New York. Arriving in August was Los Angeles partner Brian Michael, who led numerous noteworthy prosecutions and trials as an Assistant U.S. Attorney for both the Southern District of New York and the Central District of California. He was previously Deputy General Counsel and Group Chief Compliance Officer at 21st Century Fox. Joining the group in November in London will be Gareth Rees QC, who was, until recently, Executive Director of Enforcement and the Executive Counsel at the Financial Reporting Council, the UK’s audit regulator and corporate governance authority.

Source:  www.kslaw.com