Geoff Garinther is the chair of Venable’s Litigation Division and a member of the firm’s Management Committee. A former federal prosecutor with 30 years of trial experience, his practice focuses on defending corporations and individuals accused of white collar crime – particularly where there are allegations of healthcare fraud or antitrust violations – and on conducting independent investigations for the boards of public companies.

On criminal defense matters – which recently have included defending pharmaceutical companies in health care fraud investigations, executives in antitrust investigations, and directors in an FCPA matter – his focus is on avoiding prosecution of his clients altogether.

Mr. Garinther is also very experienced should trial become necessary, having taken nearly 50 to verdict. Among those trials were a series of FDA corruption prosecutions in the 1990s, including the conviction of the then head of the FDA’s generic drug division. More recently, he obtained an acquittal after a three-week jury trial for a prominent plaintiffs’ attorney accused by DOJ of bribing IRS agents. His peers in the lawyer-rating entity Benchmark Litigation, where he is listed among the highest-ranking white collar defense attorneys in both DC and Maryland, describe him as "a very polished trial lawyer."

Similarly, his clients have gone on record with Best Lawyers® to praise Mr. Garinther for his corporate governance work, which includes internal investigations for corporate directors and Zapata investigations for independent directors dealing with shareholder litigation: “Garinther is a hands-on partner who is deeply committed to first-rate client service and achieving consistently outstanding results within reasonable budget parameters. He assesses risks realistically, not theoretically. He is an incisive lawyer's lawyer whose approach invariably resonates equally well in the board room and the C-suite. He is particularly well suited to partnering with in-house counsel and compliance professionals.”