A go-to group for financial services clients, Milbank‘s ’deep pool of talent‘ in white-collar defense and corporate investigations represents a broad range of institutions and individuals in criminal and regulatory investigations, at trials, and in proceedings brought by the full scope of regulatory authorities, including foreign ones. The practice is overseen by George Canellos, an expert in government investigations and contested litigation, as well as in corporate governance and compliance with securities and banking law, Nola Heller, a white-collar and regulatory specialist acting for global financial institutions, multinational companies, and their boards, and James Cavoli, who focuses on white-collar matters, such as grand jury and regulatory investigations, enforcement proceedings, and internal investigations. Trial lawyer Matthew Laroche has unique capabilities in multinational, financial corruption, and cybercrime matters, and Gurbir Grewal, who joined the firm in January 2025 from the Securities and Exchange Commission, is praised by clients as ’one of the premier lawyers in the United States‘. All lawyers mentioned are based in New York.
Legal 500 Editorial commentary
Testimonials
Collated independently by Legal 500 research team.
‘Gurbir Grewal is one of the premier lawyers in the United States, bar none. He is a remarkable advocate and advisor -- a true "five tool player" who can do anything and do it exceptionally well. Gurbir has, in his first year of private practice, already achieved tremendous results for his clients.'
‘Nola Heller was excellent - knowledgeable, easy to contact, always on top of the matter and the investigation.'
‘Milbank has a deep pool of talent in the practice identified at the top. George Canellos, the firm's global head of litigation, is among the most respected lawyers in this practice area and the firm's capabilities in this space are further strengthened by two recent notable additions -- Gurbir Grewal, the former Enforcement Director of the U.S. SEC and before then the Attorney General for the State of New Jersey, and Olivia Choe, former Chief Litigation Counsel of Enforcement at the US SEC and before then, an accomplished federal prosecutor.'
Key clients
- Binance.US
- Kalshi
- Oak View Group
- Martin Silver
- Nikhil Gupta
- Martin Silver
- Nikhil Gupta
Work highlights
Successfully represented BAM Management US Holdings Inc. and BAM Trading Services Inc., the operator of Binance.US, a cryptocurrency trading platform for US residents, in an enforcement action brought by the US Securities and Exchange Commission in the US District Court for the District of Columbia.
Successfully represented Kalshi, a CFTC-regulated Designated Contract Market, in litigation against the CFTC in which the CFTC claimed that Kalshi’s election-related event contracts should not be traded.
Represented Martin Silver, the co-founder and former Chief Operating Officer of trade finance company International Investment Group (IIG), who was convicted of wire fraud and securities fraud in the Southern District of New York 2023.
Lawyers
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Next Generation Partners: Advice to corporates
Junior partners with significant recognition from clients and peers in the market and key roles on multiple matters.
Practice head
George Canellos; James Cavoli; Nola Heller
Other key lawyers
Matthew Laroche; Gurbir Grewal; Tawfiq Rangwala; Olivia Choe