Mark A. Byrne | Attorney

Mark A. Byrne

Prior to forming Byrne & Nixon LLP in April 2003, Mark headed up theWest Coast White Collar Practice at Paul Hastings' Los Angeles office. Beforethat, Mark served for ten years as an Assistant United States Attorney, CriminalDivision, in the Central District of California, investigating and prosecuting awide variety of white collar criminal matters, focusing on financial crimes andpublic corruption.  Mark has extensive jury trial experience in federalcourt, and has written numerous appellate briefs and argued many times beforethe 9th Circuit Court of Appeals.

Mark's experience in the white-collar defense area has includedrepresentation of:

• Corporations and individuals before federal and state grand juries and in federal and state court for  alleged violations of fraud statutes, including insurance fraud, securities fraud, wire fraud, mail fraud, bank fraud, and defense procurement fraud.
  
  
• Doctors and other health care providers in connection with criminal health care fraud investigations  and regulatory administrative proceedings, including those in federal court and in connection with federal grand jury investigations and Medicare and Medi-Cal audits.
  
  
• Corporations and individuals in defense of qui tam investigations and litigation relating to allegations  of government contractor fraud, defense procurement fraud, and health care fraud.
  
  
• Corporations and individuals before state and federal grand juries, and in connection with state and  federal investigations, into alleged violations of environmental laws, including hazardous waste disposal, transportation of hazardous material, RCRA, CERCLA, and the Clean Water Act.
  
  
• Public officials before federal and state grand juries and in federal and state court for alleged violations of conflict of interest and public corruption statutes, including bribery, receiving and/or offer gratuities, conflict of interest, extortion, and conspiracy to commit these offenses.
  
  
• Individuals before federal and state grand juries and in federal and state court for alleged violations of public corruption statutes, including bribery, receiving and/or offering gratuities, conflict of interest, extortion, and conspiracy to commit these offenses.
  
  
• Corporations and individuals in connection with criminal, civil, and administrative proceedings, both state and federal, involving various regulatory and criminal statutes, including weights and measures issues, alleged violations of hazardous waste disposal and other environmental laws, misbranding allegations, customs investigations, false advertising claims, federal campaign contribution laws, and antitrust investigations.
  
  
• Corporations and individuals in criminal and civil tax investigations, including federal grand jury investigations, administrative IRS proceedings, jeopardy assessments, and tax court trials.

Mark also has a wide range of experiences handling complex civil litigation. His clients have included corporations and individuals in federal and statecourt, and these representations have included partnership and shareholderdisputes, matters involving breach of fiduciary duty and fraud, civil rightsviolations, copyright and trademark infringement actions, real estate disputes,involuntary dissolution proceedings, trust disputes, securities matters, andemployment cases such as sexual harassment and wrongful termination.

Mark also has represented companies for the purpose of investigating anddocumenting allegations of internal theft, embezzlement, and computer hacking,and filing requests for injunctive relief to freeze, protect, and recoverassets.

Mark also has extensive experience conducting internal investigations, he hasdeveloped corporate compliance programs for major corporations, and he haslectured on various topics at numerous conferences relating to his practiceareas, including white collar crime, computer internet fraud and abuse, andemployment discrimination and sexual harassment related issues.

Prior to joining Paul Hastings, Mark served for ten years as an AssistantUnited States Attorney, Criminal Division, in the Central District ofCalifornia.  During his tenure at the U.S. Attorney's Office, he gainedextensive experience investigating and prosecuting a wide variety of whitecollar criminal matters, including securities fraud, health care fraud, bank andmail fraud, environmental violations, customs violations, tax violations, policecorruption, Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act violations, and money launderingand tax and financial reporting violations.  After his service at the U.S.Attorney's Office, Mark was a partner at Fainsbert, Mase & Snyder, LLP,where he founded that firm's white collar practice, and also handled civil andtax court litigation, civil and administrative regulatory matters, and corporateinternal investigations and compliance programs.

Mark received his Juris Doctor degree in 1984 from the University of NotreDame Law School, where he spent his second year at Notre Dame's London LawCentre, and his Bachelor of Arts degree in 1981 from the University ofCalifornia at Los Angeles.  Mark served as a law clerk for the HonorableHarry L. Hupp, United States District Court Judge, Central District ofCalifornia, during 1984-1985.

Mark is active in professional organizations, including the American BarAssociation (Criminal Justice Section and White Collar Crime Committee), theFederal Bar Association (Board of Directors and President 2003-04), the LosAngeles County Bar Association (Criminal Justice Section), and Chancery Club. Mark also has served as Deputy Counsel to the Rampart Independent Review Panel,the volunteer committee assigned the task of investigating and reporting on LAPDcorruption in the Rampart area of Los Angeles. 

Mark was born in Los Angeles and is a fifth-generation Californian. Mark'sextensive ties to Southern California - in particular with the legal community -and his excellent reputation place him in a unique position to effectivelysatisfy his clients' needs.