Facing a grand jury investigation can be overwhelming, high-stakes, and deeply personal. When reputation, livelihood, and future are at stake, early and strategic representation can make all the difference. Our white collar defense team, with significant grand jury experience, is prepared to step in immediately.
We represent individuals and organizations involved in both federal and state grand jury investigations as targets, subjects, or witnesses. While grand jury proceedings operate under strict secrecy rules, our attorneys employ lawful methods to uncover key information about the nature and scope of an investigation. When appropriate, we collaborate with counsel representing other individuals or entities to develop a clearer picture and position our clients for the strongest possible outcome.
Federal Grand Jury Investigations
What sets our team apart is firsthand experience in the federal grand jury process. Several of our attorneys are former federal prosecutors who have presented evidence, questioned witnesses, and secured indictments before federal grand juries. Because defense attorneys are not permitted inside a federal grand jury room, the perspective of our attorneys is invaluable. We understand how prosecutors build cases, what evidence matters most, and where opportunities exist to influence the outcome before charges are ever filed. We use that knowledge to anticipate government strategy, help protect our clients' rights, and pursue legally available paths to avoid indictment.
Pennsylvania Grand Jury Investigations
Our team also has firsthand experience with the unique Pennsylvania grand jury process, and has been at the forefront of some of the most significant statewide investigating grand juries in Pennsylvania. Led by the Pennsylvania Office of Attorney General, these investigations have addressed high-profile matters involving institutional misconduct, healthcare fraud, and environmental enforcement.
In addition to representing clients in these cases, we help shape the law governing them. Our lawyers successfully challenged the right of the Attorney General to issue grand jury reports, given the significant reputational harm that can come to an individual named in such a report, but who may never be charged with a crime. The result was a landmark decision by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court protecting the constitutional right to reputation, an outcome that continues to benefit witnesses and subjects across Pennsylvania to this day.
National Grand Jury Defense
Grand jury investigations do not follow a single script, and neither do we. Our practice extends across jurisdictions, allowing us to represent clients wherever the need arises. Our approach involves a careful and rigorous analysis of the facts and applicable law as well as a clear understanding of our clients' priorities. Whether representing individuals or organizations under scrutiny, our focus is on recommending an appropriate, well-supported course of action.
Saul Ewing attorneys have represented clients in these select grand jury matters, among others:
- The owner of a waste materials refining and processing enterprise in a federal grand jury investigation in the Northern District of Indiana.
- A large energy company in a state grand jury investigation relating to hydraulically fractured wells.
- An individual targeted in a state grand jury investigation and parallel federal investigation.
- A pool of employees of a natural gas company responding to a state grand jury subpoena and investigation.
- Diocesan employees in a state grand jury Investigation.
- Nursing homes in a federal grand jury investigation.
- Witnesses and employees of a THC / hemp company in a state grand jury investigation.
- A logistics company in a mail fraud investigation in the Southern District of California.
- A cryptocurrency developer in a grand jury investigation conducted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of California.
- A company in a securities and mail fraud investigation of cryptocurrency in the Northern District of California.
- A company in a fraud investigation in the District of Arizona.
- An international cryptocurrency exchange responding to federal grand jury subpoenas.
- Executives in a COVID-19 pandemic-related grand jury investigation.
- A technology company in a fraud case in the Northern District of California.
