Monique Abrishami

Practice Areas

White-Collar Defense and Internal Investigations

Congressional Investigations

Litigation

Professional Memberships

Montgomery County Trial Courts Judicial Nominating Commission, Member

Edward Bennett Williams Inn of Court, Member

ABA White Collar Crime Committee, Ethics Subcommittee, Chair

HNBA Criminal Law Section, Vice-Chair

Women’s White Collar Defense Association, Member

Career

Ms. Abrishami has a dozen years of litigation experience and has tried over fifteen cases to judgment. She handles sensitive, high-profile, and fast-paced investigations and has appeared in state and federal district, bankruptcy, and appellate courts throughout the country.

After clerking for Judge Diana Gribbon Motz of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, Ms. Abrishami joined the U.S. Department of Justice to serve as a Trial Attorney in the Public Integrity Section of the Criminal Division, where she investigated and prosecuted public officials—including sitting U.S. Senator Robert Menendez—in corruption and fraud cases nationwide.

Ms. Abrishami has since developed a multifaceted portfolio in private practice.

Ms. Abrishami represents organizations and individuals under investigation or participating in inquiries by the Department of Justice, Congress, the IRS, and other federal and state entities. She advocates on behalf of her clients with government officials and facilitates interactions with media to forestall negative consequences for clients, and she manages crises as they arise to prevent worst-case scenarios from being realized. Where matters proceed to indictment, she navigates clients through the justice system to achieve the best possible outcome.

Ms. Abrishami conducts efficient internal investigations on behalf of clients involving, for example, allegations of multimillion-dollar frauds, inquiries regarding use of federal grant funds, and questions concerning compliance with federal laws and regulations. Where appropriate, she assists clients with efforts to report wrongdoing to government entities and then cooperate with subsequent inquiries.

Ms. Abrishami handles complex civil litigation for both plaintiffs and defendants, which has included representing the following: state and tribal entities in opioid lawsuits, a high net-worth business owner disputing with his partner over the future of their companies, a whistleblower who received an eight-figure settlement from a defense contractor, two national construction companies in a multimillion-dollar dispute with a supplier, a non-profit organization facing a multimillion dollar tort suit, and plaintiffs recovering insurance proceeds for mass tort liability in complex bankruptcies.

Work Highlights

-- Represented KIPP DC, a community of charter schools with 6800 students, as it addressed a $2 million theft that was perpetuated by a trusted senior employee at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. Conducted an internal investigation into the theft, liaised with the US Department of Justice as it conducted its own investigation, and assisted KIPP DC to navigate inquiries into the matter by regulators and the press.

-- Represented Ventron Management LLC, a property management company, in congressional investigations into eviction practices during the Covid-19 pandemic. While the U.S. House Select Committee on the Coronavirus referred three of the four companies it investigated to federal government enforcement agencies for further investigation, it did not refer Ventron for further investigation.

-- Represented Raymond Curry, former President of the United Auto Workers (UAW), in investigations conducted by the UAW’s court-appointed Monitor, who referred Mr. Curry to the union’s ethics ombudsman, which cleared Mr. Curry of any ethical violations.

-- Represented multiple 501(c)(3)/501(c)(4) organizations as they responded to inquiries from the DC Office of Attorney General, with all inquiries closed after no findings of wrongdoing.

-- Represented a national nonprofit as it responded to a government inquiry in the aftermath of the FTX bankruptcy, and conducted a related internal investigation.

-- Represented a national non-profit organization that manages tens of millions of dollars, including large federal grants, to investigate a whistleblower complaint regarding an international subgrantee’s use of client-provided federal funds.

-- Represented a variety of individuals in federal government inquiries and internal investigations, including the following: multiple executives of a national non-profit conducting an internal investigation of election-related fundraising matters; employees of a multi-national company under federal investigation for possible environmental law violations; employees of a multi-national company under federal investigation for possible criminal fraud violations; a senior executive of a bankrupt non-profit facing a federal inquiry into mismanaged funds; and a senior executive of a multimillion-dollar company facing a federal PPP-related inquiry.

Languages Spoken

Spanish