About Andrew Boutros

Andrew S. Boutros, the Regional Chair of the U.S. White Collar practice, is resident in the firm’s Chicago and Washington, D.C. offices.  A former federal prosecutor in the Financial Crimes and Special Prosecutions Section of the Chicago U.S. Attorney’s Office, Mr. Boutros is a leading figure in white collar defense. He represents companies large and small, public and private, victims and targets as well as their boards, audit committees, officers, directors and other individuals in government enforcement matters (DOJ, USAO, FBI, SEC and other agencies) and internal investigations. His practice also includes trials, false claims litigation, crisis management response, strategic counseling and compliance-related work. Mr. Boutros is currently serving as Legal Counsel to the Independent Compliance Monitor for a series of pharmacy entities, pursuant to a U.S. Department of Labor administrative agreement. Identified by The Legal 500  as a “key lawyer” in Dechert’s White Collar practice, Mr. Boutros is described as “exceptional, the real deal — very thorough, meticulous and client-focused.” Ranked by Chambers USA in the area of White Collar Crime & Government Investigations in Illinois, Mr. Boutros is described as being a “phenomenal attorney who is quick to identify the key issues and develop an effective course of action.” Chambers also notes that he is “terrific to work with” and a person who “excels at everything he does and has the Midas touch — he is super smart, creative and hard-working.” Mr. Boutros has been selected as a BTI Client Service All-Star for delivering “absolutely superior client service.”

Mr. Boutros has personally represented clients in matters involving general fraud, embezzlement, the Travel Act, FARA, OFAC, RICO, tax, commercial bribery, kickback schemes, public corruption, Inspector General investigations, insurance fraud, bank fraud, securities and accounting violations, healthcare and FDA violations, environmental crimes, trade secret theft, cyber hacking and extortion incidents, criminal antitrust violations, supply chain issues, government contract disputes involving allegations of wrongdoing, whistleblower allegations and the False Claims Act, among others. Mr. Boutros also has significant experience handling criminal customs, trade and antidumping duty fraud cases. Since the early 2000s, he has conducted FCPA investigations in Canada, China, Europe and the Middle East and advised clients on FCPA corporate compliance matters and programs. In addition, Mr. Boutros was retained as an FCPA expert to render a formal legal opinion in a transnational post-acquisition dispute. 

Over the course of his career, Mr. Boutros has led a number of high-profile cases of national and international significance, which the Chicago Sun-Times described in a profile of Mr. Boutros as “some of the toughest, most sophisticated cases at the Dirksen Federal Courthouse.” As a federal prosecutor, he coordinated efforts with international law enforcement authorities in more than 20 countries and charged and prosecuted crimes involving US$500 million in losses, proceeds and judgments. In this regard, Mr. Boutros convicted the world’s largest online drug trafficker on the dark website, “Silk Road,” and was a member of the government’s inter-agency, multi-district Silk Road Task Force; convicted one of the country’s “Top 10 Most Wanted” mortgage fraud defendants; convicted Edgewater Medical Center’s owner and operator for crimes relating to more than US$188 million in judgments; successfully prosecuted the most extensive international criminal trade, customs and antidumping fraud cases of their  kind, which Bloomberg Businessweek described as “the largest food fraud in U.S. history;” and negotiated two of the Northern District of Illinois’s earliest criminal corporate deferred prosecution agreements. While in the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Mr. Boutros also handled hundreds of matters; briefed and argued appeals to the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals; and tried or prepped for trial dozens of cases.