Patrick Otlewski

• Internal investigation into allegations of misconduct by a Chief Executive Officer for the Board of Directors of a Fortune 100 company.
• Internal investigation into allegations of misconduct by a Chief Executive Officer and Chief Legal Officer for the Board of Directors of a Fortune 300 company.
• Internal investigation into allegations of securities fraud arising out of a SPAC for the Board of Directors of a publicly held company.
• Internal investigation into allegations of employee misconduct and control failures for the Board of Directors of a publicly held company.
• Internal investigation into allegations of misconduct by a tenured professor for the Board of Trustees of a public university.
• Internal investigation into allegations of misconduct by executive personnel for the Board of Trustees of a pension fund.
• Internal investigation following an employee-involved shooting for a Fortune 50 company.
• Internal investigation into allegations of accounting fraud and misleading public disclosures for a Fortune 100 company.
• Multiple internal investigations involving whistleblowers and potential whistleblowers for publicly held companies.
• Defended the founder of a bank in parallel Department of Justice criminal and OCC regulatory investigations, successfully obtaining closure of the criminal investigation and resolving the regulatory investigation on favorable terms.
• Defended a U.S. government contractor in parallel criminal and civil investigations by the Department of Justice into allegations of False Claims Act violations, with no charges brought.
• Defended a company and its executives in a Department of Justice criminal investigation into allegations of public corruption, with no charges brought.
• Defending two members of the Board of Directors of an investment firm in an SEC enforcement investigation, with no charges brought.
• Defended an individual targeted by the Department of Justice for criminal allegations of commodities fraud and insider trading, successfully obtaining a full declination of all federal charges.
• Defended an individual who was the target of an export violation investigation by the Department of Justice, obtaining a misdemeanor plea deal on behalf of the client.
• Trial counsel for a publicly held company in a seven-week federal antitrust trial, with allegations of conspiracy to violate the federal Sherman Act.
• Trial counsel for an asset management company in a two-week breach-of-contract trial in state court, where the investment firm prevailed on its counterclaim and was found not liable against the plaintiffs’ claims seeking millions of dollars in damages.
• Trial counsel for a construction company in litigation against the Illinois Toll Highway Authority, where the court entered a temporary restraining order against the Toll Highway Authority.
• Trial counsel for an investment advisory firm in breach-of-fiduciary-duty and defamation litigation with former executives.
• Litigation counsel for major automobile manufacturers in an ongoing Clean Air Act preemption case.
• Litigation counsel for the CFTC Chairman, two CFTC Commissioners, the CFTC Director of Enforcement, and other CFTC officials in federal contempt proceedings, successfully obtaining mandamus relief from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit. See In re: Commodity Futures Trading Commission, 7th Cir. Case No. 19-2769.
• Litigation counsel to a medical device company in state court litigation involving breaches of contract related to insurance policies.
• U.S. v. Eric Bloom: Represented the government in a four-week trial of the former president and CEO of futures commission merchant Sentinel Management Group. The jury found Bloom guilty of wire fraud and a criminal violation of the Investment Advisers Act. This was the largest fraud trial in Chicago’s history by dollar amount lost ($665 million).
• U.S. v. Yihao Pu, Sahil Uppal: Led the prosecution of two employees who stole high-frequency trade algorithm data and code from a global Chicago-based financial institution and a New Jersey financial firm, resulting in their convictions for theft of trade secrets and obstruction of justice.
• U.S. v. Gregory Chester, et al.: Led the investigation and trial team against leaders of the Hobos criminal enterprise. After a trial that spanned more than four months, the jury returned guilty verdicts against all defendants.

Patrick Otlewski’s practice focuses on advising and advocating on behalf of clients in government investigations and enforcement actions. He is a vigorous advocate and is a first-chair trial lawyer. He has taken complex and challenging civil and criminal cases to verdict in state and federal courts, where he regularly achieves his clients’ objectives and secures victory. Patrick also regularly leads internal and independent investigations for public and private companies, including their Boards of Directors, on crisis matters ranging from corporate governance and executive misconduct to fraud, corporate espionage, and corruption.

Patrick joined King & Spalding as a partner in 2018. Since 2019, he has been ranked by Chambers USA as a leading white-collar practitioner in Illinois. In 2020, Crain’s Chicago Business named Patrick to its prestigious 40 Under 40 list, noting that he was “widely viewed as the best investigator” while an Assistant United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois.

Before joining King & Spalding, Patrick served as an Assistant U.S. Attorney in the United States Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Illinois. He was Deputy Chief of General Crimes, responsible for training and supervising new Assistant U.S. Attorneys on federal criminal procedure, grand jury practice, investigative techniques, and trials. Patrick led hundreds of grand jury investigations, prosecuted high-profile criminal cases through to trial, and briefed and argued appeals before the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit.

Patrick brings passion, insightfulness, and a methodological approach to his work, helping clients achieve their goals as efficiently and effectively as possible. When he is not trying cases, Patrick draws on his trial experience to help his clients in litigation and enforcement matters focus on key objectives and how best to achieve those objectives. Representative litigation matters span antitrust, racketeering, breaches of fiduciary duty, securities fraud, to other commercial and business litigation claims. 

Patrick previously served as a law clerk for Judge Richard C. Wesley of the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit in New York.