Daniel Ahn is a partner in the financial regulatory and investigations group at Reed Smith and one of the firm’s leading White-Collar Defense and Investigations partners. His practice focuses on FCPA and other corporate criminal and regulatory matters; consumer protection and community safety investigations, including CWA and RCRA actions; and ESG-related matters, such as those involving human trafficking/supply chain obligations.

Tell us about yourself

I am a litigation partner at Reed Smith, where I help clients navigate government investigations and enforcement actions, advise clients with respect to compliance, and represent clients in high-stakes litigation matters. I joined Reed Smith to help build out the firm’s West Coast white-collar practice and was one of the founding partners of our Orange County office. I also co-lead the firm’s Korea practice group.

Before joining Reed Smith, I spent a decade at the US Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California, holding the positions of senior litigation counsel, acting chief, and deputy chief in the Criminal Division, and predominantly handling complex fraud, public corruption, and RICO matters.

Key to my career was having a wise and caring mentor who saw in me the potential to do things that I could not fathom at the time.

What advice would you give to your younger self?

Be kind to yourself.

What has been the proudest moment of your career?

I am currently defending a client in a federal criminal case that should not have been brought. A conviction will almost certainly shutter the client’s company. Though the stakes could not be higher, the client is determined to fight the good fight.

That they have entrusted me with their life and livelihood is the weightiest of responsibilities and the highest of honors. Their strength in the face of this unjust prosecution is deeply inspiring, and I am incredibly proud to stand with them.

What gift would you like to find from the regulator under your Christmas tree?

A “get out of jail free” card might be too much to ask. But I would very much like a card that, when presented to a regulator, would have the regulator approach our case with humility and a truly open mind.

[The client’s] strength in the face of this unjust prosecution is deeply inspiring, and I am incredibly proud to stand with them.

What’s your New Year’s wish?

My wish is for regulators and enforcers to largely eschew edge cases – in which well-meaning folks may inadvertently run afoul of the law, or in which there may not be a violation at all – and instead focus their efforts on (and reserve the most serious response for) cases in which any violation strikes at the core of the law. An enforcement guideline to this effect could do much good.

Can you recommend a good book?

Any book in Ward Farnsworth’s Classical English series.