Daniel J. Hurson is a principal at The Law Offices of Daniel J. Hurson in Washington, D.C. and Annapolis, MD. He has been a trial lawyer and litigator for more than four decades, with substantial experience in white-collar criminal, securities fraud and internal investigations. He served as law clerk to the Hon. Harrison L. Winter of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit. In its recent opinion in the case of former Enron officer Jeffrey Skilling, the U.S. Supreme Court, in defining the “honest services” theory of mail fraud, cited a law review article on the subject written by Mr. Hurson.
Mr. Hurson has tried cases for the U.S. government both as an Assistant U.S. Attorney in Maryland and later as Assistant Chief Litigation Counsel for the Enforcement Division of the Securities and Exchange Commission. He received the Outstanding Service Award from the Attorney General of the United States for his work as a federal prosecutor. He has prosecuted and defended white-collar criminal cases and political corruption cases, including the prosecution of a sitting governor of Maryland. He has also litigated civil rights, trademark, whistleblower, broker-dealer fraud, insider trading and legal and accounting malpractice cases.
Mr. Hurson has also undertaken the representation of SEC whistleblowers acting under the provisions of the Dodd-Frank Act. He has now submitted a number of these cases to the Enforcement Division of the SEC, which has undertaken multiple investigations now in progress based on information provided by Mr. Hurson’s clients. Mr. Hurson has written extensively on whistleblower issues. His article titled “10 Rules for Becoming a Successful SEC Whistleblower” is widely read on the Internet.
Mr. Hurson represents individuals and corporations before the Enforcement Division of the Securities and Exchange Commission, including FCPA, options backdating, insider trading and financial and accounting fraud cases. He has represented several corporations in bankruptcy-related actions against third-party professionals such as former lawyers and accountants. He has advised Special Committees of corporate boards in evaluating potential third-party litigation arising out of an internal investigation. He has conducted internal investigations for corporations relating to employee allegations and securities issues. He represents individual officers and directors in internal investigations and before the SEC.
Mr. Hurson has taught and lectured on trial practice and securities law at several national law schools and for the ABA and the District of Columbia Bar. He has served as a judge at Georgetown Law School’s white-collar crime national moot court competition. He has counseled first year law students at the employment forum at the George Washington University Law School.
Mr. Hurson has appeared on the PBS Nightly Business Report, the Canadian Business Network, Chinese and Saudi television networks, and has been quoted in Bloomberg’s BusinessWeek, the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal, among other publications. Mr. Hurson is a past Chairman of the Steering Committee of the District of Columbia Bar’s Committee on Corporation, Finance and Securities Law, where his section won the Best Section Award during his tenure as Chair. He is a cum laude graduate of Georgetown University, where he was the College Student Body President. He graduated from Harvard Law School, where he was the winner of the Ames Moot Court Competition.
We’re all in agreement that culpable whistleblowers should not be eligible for financial awards. But Dan Hurson argues that legislation already in place has guards against the potential of awarding guilty parties. And the vast majority of whistleblowers have kept their hands clean anyhow. The inclusion of a “co-conspirator” disqualifier would only muddy the waters.
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One of the more hotly contested issues with Dodd-Frank was that the Act would encourage misconduct – that the promise of ample compensation for whistleblowers would in fact incentivize individuals to direct or participate in criminal behavior, then reward those culpable for the wrongdoing. But the authorities have made clear they’ll take culpability into account.
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Dan Hurson’s in-depth experience prosecuting and defending white-collar criminal cases, and particularly under the Dodd-Frank Act. This piece provides insight into how the SEC handles whistleblower tips.
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In force in the U.S. for 40 years, the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act has become one of the U.S. government's most effective tools in combating corruption. Despite the multimillion-dollar fines corporations face for violating the FCPA, bribery continues to occur. This presents quite the opportunity for those who would hold these corporations accountable.
Read moreInsiders know that compliance officers and internal auditors, beleaguered and sometimes frustrated as they may be, hold the “keys to the kingdom” when it comes to knowledge of corporate ethical and legal lapses within their companies.
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