Akerman Adds Former Federal Prosecutor Ferdose al-Taie
Former federal prosecutor and partner Ferdose al-Taie has joined Akerman LLP to practice in the areas of white collar criminal defense, securities enforcement and compliance, and antitrust and competition law.
In a release, the firm said al-Taie, whose practice is based in Dallas, worked 10 years for the federal government. She held various prosecutorial roles within the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), including serving as first-chair trial lawyer and trying over 40 civil and criminal jury trials to verdict, before returning to private practice.
Most recently in the federal government, as SEC senior counsel in the Division of Enforcement, al-Taie led investigations and prosecutions of federal securities law violations, such as insider trading, Ponzi schemes, municipal securities violations, and Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) allegations. During her posts at the DOJ, she served in significant capacities within both civil and criminal divisions, including as Assistant U.S. Attorney for the District of Arizona in Phoenix; Special Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia in Alexandra, commonly known as the “rocket docket;” and as a trial attorney for the DOJ’s Antitrust Division in Washington, D.C.
The firm said al-Taie’s white collar defense practice is focused on federal and state regulatory schemes, including before self-regulatory organizations. Her securities and compliance practice includes cryptocurrencies, initial coin offerings (ICOs), virtual exchanges, the EB-5 visa program, anti-money laundering rules (AML), and Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) issues. al-Taie works on antitrust/competition issues, including private party litigation, Hart-Scott-Rodino (HSR) filings, mergers, acquisitions, and joint ventures, government investigations, and high-stakes private-party antitrust litigation, the firm said.
The firm also announced that George Tate joined Akerman in March, working in construction litigation in Orlando. Former SEC branch chief Douglas Paul and Michael Kelly joined Akerman’s Washington, D.C. office in January, and trial lawyers Amy Doehring and Ellen Robbins also recently joined Akerman’s Chicago and Los Angeles offices.
