John Rowley
Email: jrowley@secillaw.com
John is a former federal prosecutor who represents companies and individuals in complex civil litigation and white-collar criminal cases. His experience includes the litigation of civil False Claims Act (FCA), procurement fraud, securities fraud, and business disputes. John also represents individuals in response to investigations conducted by the United States Congress. He has particular experience in Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) investigations and devotes substantial time representing individuals and companies, including multinationals that trade their securities on the U.S. stock exchanges and are subject to the jurisdiction of the U.S. Department of Justice and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
Prior to joining SECIL, John was a partner in two international law firms where he represented clients in high-stakes litigation and white-collar investigations.
John has served as “first-chair” counsel in more than 50 jury and bench trials. He regularly works with a company’s senior executive management and chief legal officer to enhance compliance programs and prevent, mitigate, and resolve associated risks. His clients include defense contractors, healthcare providers, and other companies and executives across a wide range of industries.
In addition to handling criminal matters as a prosecutor and defense attorney, John has substantial civil litigation experience. For example, he was lead trial counsel for Belgian company, Picanol A.G., and obtained a defense verdict in bet-the-company patent litigation styled Sulzer A.G. et al v. Picanol A.G. (E.D. Tex.). He also served as lead trial counsel for SAIC in the precedent-setting FCA case, U.S. Department of Justice v. Science Applications International Corporation (D. DC).
John has significant experience representing multinationals and executives in international FCPA investigations. He served as lead U.S. counsel for Embraer S.A. in the Justice Department’s first FCPA investigation of a Brazilian multinational. In United States v. Embraer S.A., he was the U.S. legal team point of contact with company management and negotiated a successful settlement with U.S. and Brazilian authorities.
John served as Assistant U.S. Attorney and Branch Chief for the Eastern District of Virginia and received the Department of Justice Director’s Award for Superior Performance. He also served as a federal prosecutor with the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of West Virginia.
During his career, John held two additional leadership positions in government: Chief Counsel to the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, and Staff Director for the congressionally mandated U.S. Department of Defense panel created to investigate allegations of misconduct at the U.S. Air Force Academy. In the latter position, he played a key role in helping the panel develop recommendations to the Secretary of Defense and the House and Senate Armed Services Committees.
After graduation from law school, John had the privilege of serving as law clerk for the Honorable John A. Field, Jr., U.S. Circuit Judge for the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals.
Admitted in Virginia and the District of Columbia