Michele L. Adelman

  • Partner
  • Boston
  • 617 832 1278 direct
  • 617 832 7000 fax

Michele Adelman brings over a decade of prosecutorial experience to her counsel of corporations, officers, directors and other individuals in government investigations - including criminal, civil, regulatory, and Congressional investigations - and complex civil litigations. Michele has defended individuals, corporations and non-profit and for-profit institutions facing allegations of wrongdoing, including securities violations, such as purported insider trading, and healthcare fraud violations, such as purported illegal kickbacks and off-label promotion. Michele has extensive experience defending companies targeted by Senate and House Committee investigations. She also has conducted internal investigations for corporations and has advised corporations and individuals on a variety of regulatory and corporate compliance issues. In addition, she handles a wide range of complex commercial and civil litigations, such as class action litigations, RICO charges, and environmental defense.

Before joining Foley Hoag in 2006, Michele had served for four years as Deputy Chief of the Criminal Bureau of the Massachusetts Attorney General’s Office. While Deputy Chief, she managed and supervised over 100 personnel assigned to the Criminal Bureau, led the grand jury investigation of the Boston Archdiocese relating to allegations of sexual abuse of children, and prosecuted complex cases involving public corruption and economic crime.

From 1994 to 2002 Michele served as an Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York. In that position she prosecuted cases in the General Crimes, Narcotics, Business and Securities Fraud and Computer Crimes Units and served as Deputy Chief of the Narcotics Unit. She prosecuted a range of high profile cases including those involving charges of complex securities fraud, market manipulation, internet fraud and money laundering. She entered legal practice as a law clerk on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit and a litigator at a major national law firm.

Bars and Court Admissions

  • Massachusetts
  • New York
  • U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York
  • U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York
  • U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts
  • U.S. Court of Appeals, Second Circuit

Representative Experience

The following is a brief summary of Michele's experience and accomplishments:

  • Defended major hedge funds in insider trading investigations by the SEC and U.S. Attorney's Offices

  • Represented a public company in an internal investigation involving potential federal securities law violations

  • Defended a company and a senior executive in stock options investigations by the SEC and U.S. Attorney's Offices

  • Defended financial firms and several individuals in wide-ranging investigations and prosecutions by the Massachusetts Securities Division

  • Defended a nationally recognized non-profit institution, a large public company, an insurance company, and several pharmaceutical companies in congressional investigations

  • Defended a major pharmaceutical company in federal anti-kickback and off-label investigations

  • Defended a major real estate developer in a federal healthcare fraud investigation

  • Defended several senior pharmaceutical company executives in various federal healthcare fraud investigations

  • Defended a financial and pharmaceutical companies in wide-ranging investigations by the Massachusetts Attorney General's Office

  • Helped a public company recover millions of dollars in environmental defense and indemnification costs through litigation with its insurers

  • Helped clients develop cost-effective strategies to comply with subpoenas requiring the production of voluminous electronic documents

professional / civic involvement

  • Boston Bar Association, Criminal Law Section Steering Committee
  • Women’s Bar Association
  • The Boston Club, Corporate Board Committee 
  • Womenade

SPEECHES AND CONFERENCES

  • Panel Participant: "Expert Networks Roundtable," Foley Hoag LLP and Deloitte (March 2011)
  • Panel Moderator: "What To Do When You Meet the Massachusetts Securities Division -- A Defense Lawyer's Perspective," Boston Bar Association (December 2010) 
  • Panel Participant: "Managing, Defending and Curtailing Whistleblower and Relator Allegations," ACI Off-Label Communications CLE (July 2010) 
  • Panel Moderator: "Insider Trading Enforcement in the Post-Galleon Era -- Changes to Think About," Boston Bar Association (April 2010) 
  • Panel Participant: "Insider Trading Enforcement in the Post-Galleon Era," Foley Hoag LLP (December 2009) 
  • Panel Participant: "The New Massachusetts Regulations Mandating Disclosure of Payments by Pharmaceutical and Medical Device Companies: What will be disclosed? How will this data be collected? How will this change things?", Criminal Law and Health Law Sections, Boston Bar Association (October 2009) 
  • Panel Participant: new Massachusetts Pharmaceutical and Medical Device Manufacturer Conduct Rules, Foley Hoag LLP (April 2009) 
  • Panel Moderator: "Spotlight on Hedge Funds - From Madoff to Short Selling", Boston Bar Association (February 2009)

publications

  • "The Bulldog Decision: Implications for Hedge Fund Managers and the Massachusetts Securities Division, " Hedge Fund Law Report, Vol., 3, No. 32, Aug. 13, 2010
  • A Low Dose Prescription: Criminal Prosecution of Off-Label Drug Promotion , Boston Bar Journal, November/December 2007
  • Note, Labor Law: The D.C. Circuit Struggles With Standards of Reviewability, The GEORGE WASHINGTON LAW REVIEW, VOL. 56 (May and August 1988)