Dani R. James is a partner in Gibson Dunn’s New York office. A former federal prosecutor, Dani defends clients in a broad range of white collar criminal and regulatory matters, including allegations of insider trading, market manipulation, public corruption, bid-rigging, tax fraud and violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. She represents executives, directors and officers, and other individuals, as well as companies, in sensitive, complicated and often high-profile criminal and regulatory trials, hearings, investigations and other proceedings conducted by federal and state agencies, including the U.S. Department of Justice, the Securities and Exchange Commission, the U.S. Attorney’s Office, the New York State Attorney General’s Office and the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office, among other agencies.
Dani has been consistently recognized as a leading lawyer by prestigious legal ranking publications, including Chambers USA (2019–2023), Lawdragon (2019–2022) and Legal 500 (2022–2023), and was recently named to Crain’s NY’s 2024 List of Notable Black Leaders. “Dani is one of the best in the business. She is savvy and smart,” say Chambers sources. “She is pragmatic, strategic and a delight to work with.” Chambers sources have also praised her as “really creative, committed, smart, empathetic, and [having] a wonderful demeanor with clients, who really respect her,” and “a persuasive courtroom advocate, strategically smart, and a passionate fighter for her clients.” She is “an extraordinarily strong lawyer and one of the future leaders of the bar.” Legal 500 recently commended Dani as an “excellent lawyer,” highlighting that she and her colleagues “throw themselves between the government and their clients, fighting for justice every step of the way.”
In addition to her expertise in criminal matters, Dani excels in handling complex civil litigation, including securities class actions, shareholder derivative suits, civil racketeering cases and complex business disputes. Dani is also adept at conducting corporate internal investigations and counseling audit committees and special litigation committees on compliance matters. Dani previously served as an Assistant U.S. Attorney in the Southern District of New York from 1999 to 2003, representing the United States as lead counsel in a wide variety of federal criminal cases involving securities fraud, bank fraud, money laundering, international narcotics trafficking, racketeering and violent offenses, as well as appeals before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit.
Recent Representations*
- Currently represent Bill Hwang of Archegos in a criminal case involving allegations of open-market manipulation and bank fraud involving billions of dollars in alleged losses.
- Recently secured complete vindication for a hedge fund manager in an insider trading and fraud case, with an acquittal on the insider trading charges at trial and the dismissal of the remaining counts after they were overturned on appeal.
- Represented former New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio in federal and local criminal investigations that were successfully concluded without any charges or other actions being taken.
- Represented a former senior executive of a multinational oil services firm in investigations by the Department of Justice and Securities and Exchange Commission of alleged violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.
- Represented an investment management firm in a bid-rigging investigation by the Antitrust Division of the Department of Justice and successfully persuaded the government to take no action against the firm despite charges leveled against several of the firm’s employees.
- Conducted an internal investigation on behalf of the board of directors of the U.S. division of a multinational bank into claims of managerial misconduct and unlawful trading activity.
- Represented one of the world’s leading biotechnology companies in a federal district court action against a multinational pharmaceutical corporation over allegations of breach of contract, negligent misrepresentation and fraudulent inducement in connection with the parties’ collaboration agreement to commercialize a migraine drug.
- Co-lead trial counsel for a class of consumer packaged goods companies in a civil antitrust action against a leading provider of in-store advertising programs.
Prior to joining Gibson Dunn, Dani was a Partner in the New York office of a major law firm and served as Co-Chair of its White Collar Defense and Investigations Practice. She previously served as an assistant visiting professor at the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law, where she taught courses on criminal law and conducted extensive research on federal sentencing issues.
Dani is involved in several professional organizations, serving as a board member for the Federal Defenders and The Office of the Appellate Defenders, an advisory board member for Legal Outreach, the vice president of the New York Council of Defense Lawyers and a steering committee member for the When There Are Nine Scholarship Project.
Dani received her J.D. from Yale Law School and her B.A., summa cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa, from Columbia University.
*Matters handled prior to joining Gibson Dunn
Capabilities
Credentials
Education:
- Yale University - 1995 Juris Doctor
- Columbia University - 1990 Bachelor of Arts
Admissions:
- New York Bar