In a noteworthy development, Cranfill Sumner, a North Carolina-based law firm, is launching a new Washington, DC office with a unique focus – representing whistleblowers. Legal operations have recently seen an increasing influx of whistleblower cases and this new office is the firm’s response to the rising demand.
Cranfill Sumner is appointing its existing white collar partners Patrick Mincey and Stephen Bell, and former U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) assistant secretary, Christina Zaroulis Milnor, to the new office.
Bloomberg Law reports that the firm is taking a unique approach to its legal practice in this space. Instead of choosing just one, the firm is defending corporations and representing whistleblowers. According to Mincey, this strategy will allow the new office, named Mincey Bell Minor, to develop new strands of business.
The growth in whistleblower cases can be attributed to new rules implemented recently by various departments including the SEC and the Justice Department. Such rules foster an environment that encourages whistleblowing as a means to expose wrongdoings. An example of such development can be seen in March when a ten-lawyer team left Constantine Cannon to establish its own whistleblower-focused firm named Whistleblower Partners.
The newly formed Mincey Bell Minor will concentrate on white collar and regulatory enforcement while representing whistleblowers before federal agencies. Apart from the three key staff already mentioned, two associates from Cranfill Sumner will also join the new office. Cranfill Sumner currently has 81 lawyers firmwide, as listed on its website, hence, the new office will serve as Cranfill Sumner’s presence in Washington.
Mincey and Bell have already indulged in significant cases; they are currently representing a whistleblower in investigations into allegations that Trump Media & Technology Group may have committed securities violations. The investigations are being conducted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York and the SEC.