Attorneys

< Directory James Q. Walker

James Walker concentrates in internal investigations, white collar criminal defense, civil litigation, professional liability and legal ethics. Mr. Walker represents audit committees, audit committee directors, corporate officers and other professionals in criminal, SEC, and FINRA investigations of potential violations of the securities laws and Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. He represents law firms, lawyers, and other professionals in government and internal investigations of potential criminal, regulatory and/or professional misconduct, and in civil litigation and regulatory proceedings. He has extensive experience in the representation of Boards and senior executives in the negotiation of separation arrangements for senior executives.

Significant engagements include:

  • Representing a law firm in the investigation and criminal prosecution of accounting firm professionals for engaging in a conspiracy to promote fraudulent tax shelters;
  • Representing a law firm in several internal investigations of possible misconduct by several of the firm's attorneys relating to violations of criminal law and/or rules of professional conduct;
  • Representing senior finance executives in a NYSE-listed foreign company in connection with a Department of Justice and SEC investigation of possible violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act;
  • Representing former members of the Audit Committee of a public company in connection with an internal investigation, and parallel criminal and SEC proceedings, involving accounting irregularities identified by the company’s outside auditor;
  • Representing the CEO of a public company in an internal investigation relating to the company’s restatement of several years of financial statements caused by an understatement of federal income tax payments;
  • Representing the founder, sole owner and CEO of a hedge fund in connection with an SEC investigation of unlawful short selling;
  • Representing the portfolio manager of two mutual funds in parallel SEC and NYAG investigations of alleged front-running and inadequate fund disclosures relating to IPOs;
  • Representing the audit committee of a NYSE-listed REIT in an internal investigation and related criminal and SEC investigations of embezzlement and other misconduct by the REIT’s CEO;
  • Representing a senior securities industry professional in criminal, SEC and state investigations of market timing;
  • Representing a senior corporate officer of a Fortune 500 company in an ERISA lawsuit, securities litigation, and criminal investigation that resulted in the convictions of the company's CEO and CFO; 
  • Representing a software company in a copyright infringement lawsuit alleging copyright infringement against former U.S. and U.K. employees, and cross-claims alleging labor law violations; and 
  • Advising law firms, lawyers, and legal departments of corporations on a range of professional responsibility issues, including loss prevention policies and procedures.

Mr. Walker has been active in city and state bar associations, including his service on the Association of the Bar of the City of New York Professional Discipline, Professional and Judicial Ethics, Professional Responsibility, and Securities Regulation Committees, and on the New York State Bar Association Committee on Professional Ethics, where he has been a member since 1996. In addition to drafting responses to ethics inquiries, he helped draft reports issued by the Association of the Bar on proposed rules under Sarbanes-Oxley to govern the conduct of attorneys who practice before the Securities and Exchange Commission, and chaired a joint subcommittee that drafted comments to the Rules of Professional Conduct that replaced The Lawyer's Code of Professional Responsibility in New York. Mr. Walker is a frequent lecturer on legal ethics, and has written articles on attorney-client privilege, professional ethics, internal investigations, and issues arising under the securities laws. Mr. Walker also serves as General Counsel to Richards Kibbe & Orbe LLP.

Honors & Awards

Selected by Super Lawyers magazine as New York Super Lawyer in White Collar Criminal Defense, Professional Liability Defense, Corporate Governance and Compliance (2009-2011)

Named a fellow of the American Bar Foundation

News

Seminars & Speaking Engagements

Publications

Professional & Community Affiliations

  • Member, New York State Bar Association Committee on Professional Ethics (since 1996)
  • Member, New York City Bar Committee on Professional Responsibility
Photo of James Q. Walker

New York Office
T:  212.530.1817
F:  917.344.8817
E: 
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Clerkship(s)
  • Honorable Earl B. Gillam, United States District Court, Southern District of California
Education
  • Yale Law School, J.D., 1990
  • Yale University, B.S., Applied Mathematics, cum laude, 1985