Stephen A. Best

Stephen Best, a former state and federal prosecutor, is Chair of the Firm’s White CollarDefense & Government Investigations Practice Group. Steve’s diverse practice focuses on representing clients in government investigations and enforcement proceedings, FCPA/anti-corruption compliance and defense, corporate governance, crisis management, and audit committee investigations.

Steve is regularly called upon and has developed a strong reputation for achieving successful outcomes for clients in high-profile FCPA and insider trading cases across the country. He served as lead counsel in the successful defense of Mark Cuban against the SEC’s highly publicized claims of insider trading.

Steve is a skilled litigator and represents clients in both criminal and civil trials and he has been leadchair on approximately two hundred jury trials and hundreds of bench trials. A client in Chambers & Partners recently said that Steve is “a very aggressive litigator, he’s no-nonsense and he will basically fight to the death for his clients, he’s someone that you would want to hire if you wanted to fight the government.” Steve’s litigation acumen and skills, along with his deep understanding of government investigations have also been mentioned by clients in Who’s Who Legal: Business Crime Defence2020, stating, “Stephen Best is a ‘bright and thorough litigator’ who impresses with his ‘complete and utter devotion to clients.’ He is highlighted for his ‘perfect judgement and analytical skill,’ and his stellar track record in anti-corruption proceedings and investigations.”

Over his extensive career, Steve has represented audit committees and independent special committees investigating whistleblower allegations of fraud and other corporate wrongdoing. He has a deep knowledge of complex accounting and SEC reporting issues, and anti-corruption compliance, with particular focus on government enforcement and regulatory matters, ethics, and compliance.

Steve is a regular lecturer on criminal law and procedure to bar associations and state and federal law enforcement agencies. Steve was previously an instructor at the University of Virginia National Trial Advocacy Institute.

Before joining Brown Rudnick, Steve served as the Co-Chair of the White CollarDefense group at a large, multinational law firm based in New York and, prior to that, was a prosecutor for almost ten years serving as an Assistant United States Attorney in Washington, D.C. and an Assistant Commonwealth’s attorney in Fairfax, Virginia.

Currently, and along with many of the below-listed matters, Steve represents the Special Claims Committee of the Financial Oversight and Management Board for Puerto Rico tasked with investigating and prosecuting potential claims against third parties in its massive restructuring case, including an action to declare void more than $6 billion of bond debt.

Representative SEC/Fraud Matters:

• Represented Royal Dutch Shell in both an accounting fraud review as well as a review of bribery allegations related to Shell’s Nigerian-based business operations.

• Representing a special committee of the audit committee of an online payroll and human resource technology provider in a review of whistleblower allegations and SEC disclosure issues.

• Representing the audit committee of an oilfield service company in a review of disclosure concerns, other complex accounting issues and several whistleblower allegations.