Cole Schotz Launches Washington, D.C. Office With Hire of Former Acting U.S. Attorney Phil Selden

Cole Schotz is pleased to announce that it has formally opened a Washington, D.C. office with the arrival of former Acting U.S. Attorney for the District of Maryland Phil Selden. The office launch follows the recent additions of member Jeffrey Saltman and associate Alexa Reed, who joined the firm in March and will work alongside Mr. Selden in D.C.

Mr. Selden joins as a member of the firm’s White Collar Criminal Defense & Government Investigations and Litigation departments. He has deep government experience having also served in the roles as First Assistant U.S. Attorney and Assistant U.S. Attorney for the District of Maryland, and as an Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York and the District of Columbia.

“We have long served clients in Washington, D.C. and are thrilled to strengthen our offering with this new office and the arrival of several talented lawyers,” said Cole Schotz co-managing shareholder Randi Kochman. “Phil, Jeff and Alexa give us immediate on-the-ground strengths in the areas of white collar, internal investigations, crisis management and intellectual property law, as we look to further build out our team with strategic hires.” 

Mr. Selden joins Mr. Saltman and Ms. Reed in the Washington, D.C. office located at 1050 Connecticut Ave. NW.  Mr. Saltman and Ms. Reed, both previously worked at a boutique intellectual property law firm, where they counseled clients on a wide range of IP matters.

At Cole Schotz, Mr. Selden’s practice will focus on representing clients in government enforcement investigations, crisis management and litigation. During his career as a federal prosecutor, Mr. Selden investigated and prosecuted a wide variety of criminal cases involving fraud, public corruption, national security, cybercrime, and money laundering. Mr. Selden has significant trial experience having served as the lead prosecutor in more than 20 jury trials. His work has been recognized by the Department of Justice, FBI, ATF and NYPD, and in 2020 he was named the Department of Homeland Security Investigations Prosecutor of the Year for his prosecution of corrupt JetBlue Airline employees involved in international narcotics trafficking.

“What immediately stood out to me about Cole Schotz was the firm’s culture and the ability to draw upon its nearly 100-year history in order to understand the roots of our clients’ greatest business challenges and earn their trust,” Mr. Selden said. “This approach is especially important when advising clients in internal investigations and crisis scenarios during increasingly complex government enforcement and regulatory challenges.  It was an honor to serve the public the past 15 years and I’m incredibly excited to help launch the firm’s Washington, D.C. office in this next phase of my career.”

In his most recent roles serving as the First Assistant and Acting U.S. Attorney, Mr. Selden oversaw approximately 100 federal prosecutors in complex Department of Justice investigations and litigation including corporate resolutions, securities fraud, cryptocurrency fraud, and cybercrime targeting corporations and government actors.  Before joining the Department of Justice, Mr. Selden worked at an international law firm where he handled complex commercial litigation and white collar matters on behalf of Fortune 500 companies.

“The breadth of matters that Phil has worked on during his time as a federal prosecutor make him an immediate and tremendous asset to the firm,” said Michael Weinstein, chair of the firm’s White Collar Criminal Defense & Government Investigations department. “Not only will he build out our white collar practice in D.C. and support our expanding preexisting Maryland office, but he will quickly bring strategic insight, courtroom, and investigative experience to many clients across our eight offices.”

Mr. Selden earned his law degree from Columbia Law School, a master’s degree from the University of Pennsylvania and his undergraduate degree from Georgetown University.