Abbe David Lowell is the head of Chadbourne's Litigation Department and chair of the firm's White Collar Defense, Regulatory Investigations and Litigation Group.
Mr. Lowell is one of the nation's leading white collar defense and trial lawyers. His practice focuses on litigation, special investigations and regulatory enforcement. In his extensive career, Mr. Lowell has represented numerous high-profile clients and provided counsel in matters of national and international importance. He has successfully tried numerous complex civil and criminal cases throughout the United States, and has briefed and argued dozens of appeals before federal and state appeals courts and before the Supreme Court of the United States.
In addition to trying cases and arguing appeals, Mr. Lowell advises clients in their dealings with US Congress and its committees, other legislative bodies and numerous federal and state regulatory agencies. He also works with clients on internal investigations, voluntary disclosure decisions and developing compliance programs to prevent issues from arising with law enforcement agencies.
In criminal matters, Mr. Lowell has successfully avoided charges or defended clients against a wide array of charges, including conspiracy, election law violations, bank fraud, insurance fraud, bankruptcy fraud, Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) violations, mail and wire fraud, securities fraud, money laundering, public corruption, honest services fraud, false claims act, obstruction of justice and false information charges and violations of the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO). In civil cases, he has helped clients win in cases of breach of contract and fiduciary duty, FCPA violations, civil rights violations, conspiracy, employment discrimination, negligence, RICO violations, securities fraud, tortious interference with business and unfair trade practices. He has conducted internal investigations responding to government, whistleblower or other allegations of FCPA, money laundering, securities and other law violations.
Mr. Lowell has been counsel to the US House of Representatives twice, most recently when he was Chief Minority Counsel during impeachment proceedings against President Clinton and before that as special ethics counsel to the House Committee of Standards of Official Conduct (Ethics Committee).
From 1994 to 1996, he was appointed as Special Counselor to the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights in the investigation and prosecution of human rights violations, war crimes and other human rights projects in Rwanda and the former Yugoslavia. Mr. Lowell has also served at the US Department of Justice from 1977 to 1981 as a Special Assistant US Attorney, Special Assistant to the Deputy Attorney General and Special Assistant to the Attorney General.
His high-profile clients have included public officials (Governor Jim Gibbons, Senators Robert Torricelli, John Ensign and John Edwards, Reps. Gary Condit, Charlie Wilson, Walter Fauntroy, Harold Ford, Bill Boner, Jim Weaver, Austin Murphy and Joe McDade, NY Majority Leader Joe Bruno and Puerto Rico Senator Hector Martinez), international organizations (U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights), state and local governments (City of Alexandria, Virginia), government lobbyists (Jack Abramoff; former AIPAC official Steve Rosen), businessmen (Gene Phillips and Sam Waksal), actors (Steven Seagal, Sean Combs) and others.
Abbe has been recognized by various publications ranging from The National Law Journal to Chambers, as one of the most influential and most successful attorneys in the United States. Abbe’s writings on legal issues and current political events have been widely published. He has written op-ed pieces for newspapers, including The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, The Washington Post, USA Today and Roll Call, as well as articles for legal publications and websites, such as Business Crimes Bulletin, American Criminal Law Review, Law.com, The National Law Journal and Legal Times. He also wrote the chapter, “The Penal System Is Broken” for Beyond a Reasonable Doubt, a book edited by Larry King.
