Longtime Latham defense attorney leaves for Coblentz

Timothy Crudo is highlighted in “Longtime Latham defense attorney leaves for Coblentz” by David Ruiz, Daily Journal

San Francisco-based Coblentz Patch Duffy & Bass LLP added seasoned trial attorney Timothy P. Crudo to head the firm’s white collar defense and government enforcement practice, the firm said Thursday. Crudo joins Coblentz Patch from the San Francisco office of Latham & Watkins LLP – a location he helped start in 1990.
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From 2003 to 2009, Crudo served as an assistant U.S. attorney in the securities fraud section for the Northern District of California, rising to become chief of the department in 2007. Crudo said he tried nine cases during his tenure – more than anyone at the office at the time.

Notably, he served as lead trial lawyer in the nation’s first stock option backdating case to go to trial. In August 2007, former Brocade Communications Systems Inc. chief executive officer Gregory Reyes was convicted by a jury on 10 counts of illegally backdating stock options and defrauding investors. In the following January, Reyes was sentenced to 21 months in prison by U.S. District Judge Charles S. Breyer, incidentally a Coblentz Patch alumnus.

“Tim Crudo follows in the footsteps of some very important white collar practitioners, all of whom are on the federal bench,” said San Francisco-based K&L Gates LLP partner Jeffrey L. Bornstein, another former federal prosecutor. “Judge Breyer and Magistrate Judges Spero and Corley were all partners at the Coblentz firm. Tim is a worthy successor to their legacy.”
Coblentz Patch co-managing partner Jeffrey G. Knowles said the firm has been looking for someone to lead the white collar defense practice ever since Breyer left the firm in 1997. He said the firm had spoken to several candidates for many years, but nobody fit the role well.

“But then Tim appeared on the market and he’s terrific,” Knowles said. “In addition to having the deep and broad expertise in the white collar subject area and terrific trial experience, he fits really well with our culture, too.”
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