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Neal J. Stephens is a partner in the Litigation department at Cooley, and is resident in the Palo Alto office.
Mr. Stephens is a trial lawyer who specializes in white collar criminal defense, internal investigations and complex civil litigation. He has handled more than 30 trials in federal and state courts during his career.
Mr. Stephens has represented officers and directors in investigations by various U.S. Attorney's Offices and the SEC related to accounting fraud, insider trading, RICO, antitrust violations and numerous other alleged criminal violations. Mr. Stephens has also conducted internal corporate investigations for Audit or Special Committees of public companies related to accounting fraud allegations, including several investigations in Asia. On civil matters, Mr. Stephens has represented clients in a wide variety of complex civil litigation, including antitrust, securities, unfair competition and class action litigation.
Representative matters include:
Criminal/Regulatory Matters:
- Trial counsel for Kent Roberts, former general counsel of McAfee, Inc., in stock option backdating cases brought by the DOJ and SEC. Mr. Roberts defeated both the DOJ (at trial) and the SEC (who voluntarily dismissed prior to trial), making him the only executive in a stock option backdating case to defeat either the DOJ or the SEC.
- Represented a software company in a SEC enforcement action regarding accounting fraud.
- Represented a microchip company in a trade secrets investigation by the DOJ.
- Represented a biotech company in an insider trading investigation by the SEC.
- Represented a telecommunications company in an insider trading investigation by the SEC.
- Represented a senior executive of a networking company in parallel investigations conducted by the DOJ and SEC regarding alleged accounting fraud.
- Represented executives in a criminal antitrust investigation of the DRAM industry.
- Represented executives of a telecommunications company in a fraud investigation of a hedge fund conducted by the DOJ and SEC.
- Represented a director of a software company in a criminal insider trading investigation.
Internal Investigations:
- Represented the Audit Committee of a data storage company in an internal investigation conducted throughout Asia related to potential revenue recognition fraud.
- Represented the Audit Committee of a telecommunications company in an internal investigation in Taiwan and China related to allegations of revenue recognition fraud.
- Represented the Audit Committee of a medical device company related to allegations of false advertising and accounting fraud.
- Represented the Audit Committee of a software company in an internal investigation related to FCPA and embezzlement allegations in Asia.
- Represented the Audit Committee of a software company in an internal investigation related to potential revenue recognition fraud.
- Represented the Audit Committee of a flat panel display equipment supplier in an internal investigation related to potential accounting fraud in Asia.
- Represented the Special Committee of the Board of Trustees at St. Mary's College in an internal investigation related to a failed pledge exceeding $100M.
Complex Civil Litigation:
- Represented Covidien (formerly Tyco Healthcare) on several antitrust cases alleging violations of Sections I and II of the Sherman Act, false advertising under the Lanham Act and unfair competition under various state laws. Defended cases in federal courts in Texarkana, Los Angeles, Boston and St. Louis.
- Represented United States Gypsum Company in several product defect cases, including an industry wide national class action related to alleged product defects where plaintiffs asserted violations of California's Unfair Business Practices Act, Section 17200 and California's Consumer Legal Remedies Act ("CLRA").
- Represented Siebel Systems in shareholder litigation related to a potential merger.
- Represented several venture capital firms in FOIA litigation related to the disclosure of financial information.
- Represented a director of a medical device company in derivative shareholder litigation.
Prior to joining Cooley in 2000, Mr. Stephens was an Assistant United States Attorney in Miami, Florida where he served as Chief of the Major Narcotics Section. He also served as Regional Coordinator of the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force for the Florida/Caribbean Region. Mr. Stephens ran investigations that resulted in the extradition and prosecution of high-level Colombian traffickers, including relatives and associates of Pablo Escobar, the former head of the Medellin cartel. He received national awards from both the Justice Department and DEA for his work on international wiretap prosecutions. Mr. Stephens also taught courses regarding trial advocacy, wiretaps and electronic surveillance, and the prosecution of criminal organizations to other federal prosecutors and agents.
Mr. Stephens received his J.D. in 1990 from Harvard Law School and, after graduating, served as a law clerk to the Honorable Alicemarie H. Stotler, United States District Judge, Central District of California. He attended Stanford University on a soccer scholarship, graduating with distinction in 1987.
Mr. Stephens has been recognized as a Super Lawyer in Northern California since 2006. He is a member of the American Bar Association and has served as Co-Chair of its Computer and Internet Litigation Section. Mr. Stephens is also a member of the National Institute for Trial Advocacy ("NITA") and has taught trial advocacy at several NITA seminars. Mr. Stephens is also a member of the State Bar of California and the Santa Clara County Bar Association and handles pro bono matters with the Northern California Innocence Project.
Education- Harvard Law School
JD, 1990 - Stanford University
BA, 1987
Court Admissions
- All California State Courts
- U.S. Court of Appeals, Eleventh Circuit
- U.S. Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit
- U.S. District Court, Central District of California
- U.S. District Court, Eastern District of California
- U.S. District Court, Northern District of California
- U.S. District Court, Southern District of California
Admissions
Memberships
- American Bar Association
- Association of Trial Lawyers of America
- National Association of Corporate Directors
- National Institute for Trial Advocacy
- Santa Clara County Bar Association
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