James Melendres

Practice Areas

James Melendres co-chairs the Investigations, Government Enforcement and White Collar Protection practice and Cybersecurity, Data Protection and Privacy practice. He regularly conducts internal investigations and represents companies in a wide variety of matters relating to federal and state criminal, civil and regulatory enforcement. James also advises companies regarding the full life cycle of enterprise risks associated with cybersecurity, including before, during and after a data breach or other cyber-attack.

James further assists clients in developing and implementing crisis management and public relations strategies. He has appeared on CBS, CNBC and MSNBC and been quoted in The Wall Street Journal and Bloomberg, among other publications.

Prior to joining Snell & Wilmer, James served as a federal prosecutor and led high-profile and complex matters, including the prosecutions of former Central Intelligence Agency Director David Petraeus and the leader of the Tijuana Cartel. He also served in the leadership offices at the Department of Justice in Washington, D.C., and in his role as counsel to the Assistant Attorney General for National Security, James helped manage the DOJ National Security Division and counseled senior DOJ officials on a wide variety of matters - from high-profile cyber investigations and related litigation to the strategic use of trade sanctions to counter cyber-related national security threats.

Publications

''The Department of Justice Offers Individual Corporate Wrongdoers a “Get Out of Jail Free Card” in New Voluntary Self-Disclosure Program,'' Co-Author, Snell & Wilmer Legal Alert (May 9, 2024)

''The Department of Justice Is Building a Data Security Protection and Enforcement Program,'' Co-Author, Snell & Wilmer Legal Alert (April 15, 2024)

''Department of Justice Announces Groundbreaking Whistleblower Program in its Ongoing Effort to Incentivize Voluntary Self Disclosures,'' Co-Author, Snell & Wilmer Legal Alert (March 7, 2024)

"European Commission Adopts Adequacy Decision for Transatlantic Data Privacy Framework," Co-Author, Snell & Wilmer Legal Alert (July 12, 2023)

"2023 National Cybersecurity Strategy: Businesses Are Asked To Bear More of the Burden," Co-Author, Snell & Wilmer Legal Alert (May 3, 2023)

"DOJ Incentivizes Voluntary Self-Disclosure of Corporate Criminal Misconduct in Policy Directive to U.S. Attorneys’ Offices Nationwide," Co-Author, Snell & Wilmer Legal Alert (March 6, 2023)

"DOJ Revisits its Corporate Criminal Enforcement Policy Offering Companies Additional Incentives to Self-Disclose, Cooperate, and Remediate," Co-Author, Snell & Wilmer Legal Alert (January 24, 2023)

"The European Union Opens 'Tech Embassy' in Silicon Valley Ahead of New Technology Regulations," Co-Author, Snell & Wilmer Legal Alert (August 31, 2022)

"Supreme Court Narrows Scope of the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act," Co-Author, Snell & Wilmer Legal Alert (June 3, 2021)

"White House Issues Executive Order on Improving Nation’s Cybersecurity," Co-Author, Snell & Wilmer Legal Alert (May 21, 2021)

"Go With the Flow: Developments in Cross-Border Data Flows Following Schrems II and the Release of New Draft International Standard Contractual Clauses," Co-Author, Snell & Wilmer Global Connection Newsletter (March 15, 2021)

"New Year, New Laws – Congress Passes Major Anti-Money Laundering Act," Co-Author, Snell & Wilmer Legal Alert (January 15, 2021)

"Federal Financial Regulators Propose Rule Accelerating Cyber Threat Reporting Requirements," Co-Author, Snell & Wilmer Legal Alert (January 13, 2021)

"In Liu v. SEC, Supreme Court Upholds – But Limits – SEC's Ability to Obtain Disgorgement, Leaving Many Questions for Lower Courts to Decide," Co-Author, Snell & Wilmer Legal Alert (June 25, 2020)

"Paycheck Protection Program Enforcement Actions Begin: DOJ Charges Two Men for Defrauding Federal Government Under the CARES Act," Co-Author, Snell & Wilmer Legal Alert (May 11, 2020)

"Hospital and Healthcare Company Ransomware Attacks Increasing During COVID-19 Pandemic," Co-Author, Snell & Wilmer Legal Alert (April 8, 2020)

"ABA Recent Developments in Business and Corporate Litigation, Criminal and Enforcement Litigation," (2017-2018)

"Breaking Down the DOJ's Enforcement and Corporate Leniency Policies," Co-Author, Denver Business Journal (June 11, 2018)

"Handling Cyber Threats: Ransomware," Co-Author, Orange County Business Journal (August 28, 2017)

Work Highlights

Conducted internal investigation for university regarding Department of Justice “Varsity Blues” college admissions prosecution

Conducted internal investigation and defended company in parallel investigations by Inter-American Development Bank and Department of Justice Foreign Corrupt Practices Act Unit

Conducted internal investigation for professional sports organization regarding alleged violations of league rules

Conducted internal investigation and defended company in parallel investigation by California Attorney General’s Office and multiple City Attorney’s Offices regarding False Claims Act allegations

Conducted internal investigation for company regarding civil and criminal False Claims Act allegations

Conducted internal investigation for private company regarding billing practices

Defended company in investigation by Securities and Exchange Commission regarding fraud allegations

Represented public company in prosecution by U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York regarding indictment charging individuals with fraud and kickback scheme

Represented public company in prosecution by U.S. Attorney's Office for the Middle District of Florida regarding indictment charging individual with obstruction of justice and material support for terrorism

Represented non-profit organization in prosecution by Department of Justice Fraud Section regarding indictment charging individuals with fraud, money laundering, and false statements

Represented venture capital firm in investigation by Securities and Exchange Commission regarding material misstatement allegations

Representing company in investigation by U.S. Attorney’s Office for Northern District of Florida regarding indictment charging individuals with health care fraud, wire fraud, and money laundering

Representing company in investigation by U.S. Attorney’s Office for Northern District of Illinois regarding money laundering allegations

Represented company in investigation by U.S. Attorney’s Office for Southern District of Illinois regarding Lacey Act allegations

Represented company in investigation by Arizona Attorney General’s Office regarding identity theft allegations

Defending individual in prosecution by U.S. Attorney’s Office for District of Arizona regarding wire fraud charges

Defending individual in investigation by U.S. Attorney’s Office for District of Arizona regarding health care fraud allegations

Defended individual in investigation by U.S. Attorney’s Office for District of Arizona regarding federal program bribery and honest service fraud allegations

Defended individual in parallel investigations by U.S. Attorney’s Office for District of Missouri and Securities and Exchange regarding fraud allegations

Defended individual in prosecution by U.S. Attorney’s Office for District of Arizona regarding mortgage fraud and bank fraud charges

Conducted internal investigation and defending company in investigation by U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Utah regarding criminal worksite enforcement allegations

Defended company in prosecution by U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Colorado for unlawful work activity on federal lands

Defending charter school company board members in audit conducted by Fiscal Crisis & Management Assistance Team

Defending individual in investigation by Securities and Exchange Commission regarding insider trading allegations

Representing physician in investigation by U.S. Attorney’s Office for Central District of California and Department of Justice Civil Fraud Section regarding False Claim Act and anti-kickback allegations

Defended brokers in parallel investigations by the New York State Attorney General and the SEC concerning mutual fund late trading and market timing

Advise companies regarding design and implementation of global anti-bribery compliance programs

Counseled companies in multiple industries regarding best practices for implementing policies to respond to government subpoenas and requests for information

Advise public and private companies in multiple industries respond to cyber-attacks, data breaches, Business Email Compromises, and ransomware attacks in the United States, European Union, and other foreign jurisdictions and provides related legal guidance regarding compliance with data breach notification requirements, regulatory engagement, and private litigation

Representing mortgage company in data breach impacting borrowers in all 50 states

Represented private investment company in data breach impacting customers in multiple states

Represented multinational public company in cyber-attack investigation involving multiple jurisdiction globally

Represented public company in cyber-attack investigation

Represented life sciences company in Business Email Compromise cyber-attack investigation

Represented public company in Business Email Compromise cyber-attack investigation

Represented multinational hospitality company in Business Email Compromise cyber-attack resulting in fraudulent transfer of funds

Represented mining company in Business Email Compromise cyber-attack resulting in fraudulent transfer of millions of dollars to banks in more than twenty jurisdictions around the world

Represented life sciences company in data breach impacting customers in all 50 states

Representing civic organization in data breach impacting customer in 26 states

Represented public company in data breach investigation

Represented company in data security investigation involving HIPAA notification

Represented companies in multiple industries in responding to cyber incidents involving ransomware and cyber extortion attacks resulting in exposure of sensitive information

Counseled companies in multiple industries on cybersecurity risk management and cyber incident response planning

Advised companies regarding design and implementation of global data privacy compliance programs related to EU General Data Protection Regulation and other international privacy laws

Counseled companies in multiple industries on international data transfer issues, including EU – U.S. Privacy Shield and Swiss-U.S. Privacy Shield compliance

Education

Awards