Bill Athanas is a partner at Waller Lansden Dortch & Davis, LLP, and is based in the firm’s Birmingham office. Over the course of his fifteen-year legal career, he has handled a wide range of complex litigation matters in numerous jurisdictions around the country, focusing on white collar criminal cases, Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (“FCPA”) matters, and commercial litigation. His practice primarily involves counseling clients in response to criminal and regulatory investigations in the areas of banking, healthcare, tax and securities law. Mr. Athanas defends corporations in False Claims Act qui tam litigation, principally for clients in the healthcare industry who confront allegations of fraud. He also represents bank directors and other institution-affiliated parties in class action matters, as well as civil litigation and enforcement proceedings brought by the FDIC. In addition, Mr. Athanas heads Waller Lansden's FCPA practice group, providing advice and counsel to both publicly traded and privately held companies on board range of FCPA issues arising in regions around the world.
Mr. Athanas' recent representative engagements include:
Representing an individual in defense of a 29-count indictment in the Eastern District of Louisiana charging conspiracy, mail fraud, wire fraud, identity fraud, health care fraud and witness tampering;
Representing an individual in sentencing proceedings in a major corruption prosecution in the Eastern District of Louisiana;
Advising numerous publicly traded and privately held corporations on FCPA compliance issues in Asia, South America, Central America, Europe and the Middle East, including:
creating and enhancing FCPA compliance programs;
providing FCPA training to directors, officers, employees, and outside consultants;
developing due diligence protocols; and
providing day-to-day advice and guidance on FCPA issues;
Representing a large publicly traded entity in the defense of False Claims Act qui tam litigation filed in the Northern District of Alabama;
Leading an internal investigation in Asia for the wholly owned subsidiary of a publicly traded corporation;
Representing former directors of Colonial Bank and The Colonial BancGroup in a variety of ongoing class action litigation matters;
Representing former officers and directors of federally insured financial institutions in Alabama and Florida in connection with investigations by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation;
Representing an individual in connection with an ongoing health care fraud investigation in Mississippi; and
Representing an individual in connection with an ongoing investigation by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA).
Prior to joining Waller Lansden, Mr. Athanas served as a federal prosecutor, first at the United States Department of Justice in Washington, D.C. and later as an Assistant U.S. Attorney in the Northern District of Alabama. In that capacity, he investigated and prosecuted a wide range of crimes including bank, mortgage, tax, securities and other financial fraud, as well as public corruption, FCPA, money laundering, and structuring offenses. In the eight years that Mr. Athanas served as a federal prosecutor, he handled countless matters on behalf of the government and has a wealth of experience in all facets of federal criminal proceedings, including grand jury investigations, evidentiary hearings, trials, sentencing and appeals.
Mr. Athanas' experience includes the multi-year investigation of the former Community Bank in Blountsville, Alabama, which culminated in the trial, convictions and imprisonment of five individuals, including the institution's former chief executive officer. The main trial in that case (which lasted over seven weeks) is recognized as the lengthiest and most complex bank fraud case ever tried in the Northern District of Alabama. Mr. Athanas recently published a lengthy and detailed article recounting the issues and challenges faced in that case, entitled "From One Big House to Another: Lessons Learned from the Community Bank Prosecutions, " in The Banking Law Journal.
In addition to spearheading the Community Bank prosecutions, Mr. Athanas tried and secured convictions in a number of high profile matters during his tenure as an Assistant U.S. Attorney. Notable among these matters were the convictions of Edward Browning McClain, a sitting state senator charged with bribery and money laundering; Suzanne Schmitz, a sitting state representative charged with mail fraud and federal program fraud; and Gregory Clarke, the pastor of the New Hope Baptist Church charged with filing false tax returns. In addition to his bank fraud, tax fraud and public corruption experience, as an Assistant U.S. Attorney Mr. Athanas also successfully tried a broad range of cases in federal court, including those involving the False Claims Act, mail and wire fraud, credit card skimming, money laundering, carjacking, illegal firearms possession, and conspiracy. Mr. Athanas also served in the United States Department of Justice in Washington, D.C. Practicing within the Fraud Section of the Criminal Division, he was responsible for investigating and prosecuting large economic crime cases in districts throughout the country. While a member of the Fraud Section, Mr. Athanas managed large, multi-year grand jury investigations in Alabama, Florida, Utah, and Missouri and tried cases charging bank, mail, wire and tax fraud, as well as violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.
Mr. Athanas is a frequent speaker on issues relating to financial and healthcare fraud prosecutions, the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, fraud detection and compliance. He has authored articles on a wide variety of topics, including federal criminal prosecutions, the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, and compliance program formulation and operation, among others, in publications including The Banking Law Journal, The Alabama Lawyer, The Journal of Commerce, The White Collar Crime Reporter, The Birmingham Business Journal, IndustryWeek, and Casino Enterprise Management magazine.
Education
J.D., cum laude, Suffolk University Law School, 1995
Member, Suffolk University Law Review
B.S., University of New Hampshire, 1992
Clerkships and Previous Affiliations
Assistant U.S. Attorney, United States Attorney’s Office, Northern District of Alabama, Birmingham, Ala., 2006-2009
Trial Attorney, United States Department of Justice, Criminal Division, Fraud Section, Washington, D.C., 2001-2005
- Institute of Internal Auditors event, Birmingham, AL Chapter (Nov 2010)
The Foreign Corrupt Practices Act: Why it Matters to Certified Fraud Examiners
- Association of Certified Fraud Examiners, Alabama Chapter, Birmingham, AL (Jan 2011)
Avoiding Criminal Liability Under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act When Doing Business Overseas
- Entering the World's Eighth Largest Economy: A Guide to Doing Business in Brazil, Huntsville, AL (Nov 2010), Birmingham, AL (Nov 2010), Montgomery, AL (Nov 2010)
