State Attorneys General Investigation Defense Attorneys

Overview

Wiley’s State Attorneys General (AG) Practice helps clients navigate the expanding enforcement role of state AG offices nationwide. State Attorneys General have broad investigative and regulatory enforcement powers to protect their jurisdictions and residents. In addition to enforcing state laws, many federal consumer protection statutes authorize state AGs to bring actions on behalf of their residents.

AG offices have become increasingly active in investigations and litigation, and they increasingly retain outside counsel to represent them in enforcement actions. At the same time, parallel investigations and inquiries through multistate coalitions and coordination with other federal and state agencies increase the complexity of state AG enforcement.

Our multidisciplinary team is adept at guiding companies through high-stakes state AG investigations involving data privacy and security, advertising and marketing practices, consumer financial protection laws, health fraud, environmental protection, political activities, antitrust and unfair competition, and fraud against the government. In the consumer protection space, our team has experience both leading and defending government investigations of priority enforcement issues like fee disclosures (including “junk fee” laws), automatic renewals and subscription cancellation policies, privacy and data sharing practices, and telemarketing and robocalls.

What we do.

We work quickly and diligently to position our clients to arrive at favorable outcomes when responding to investigations, subpoenas, civil investigative demands (CIDs), informal inquiries, or litigation. This work includes narrowing the scope of subpoenas and other demands, preparing witnesses for investigative hearings, advocating for investigations to be closed, negotiating settlements, and litigating matters in instances where a reasonable settlement cannot be reached. Our sophisticated understanding of state AG offices nationwide, and their relationship with federal regulators, is borne out of our deep experience within government working closely with state Attorneys General’s offices – both on behalf of clients and as government enforcers.

Why we are different.

As state Attorneys General increasingly coordinate with parallel federal regulators including the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), and Federal Communications Commission (FCC), our team’s experience leading joint federal and state investigations is critical for clients facing investigations.

Our deep bench includes veteran white collar practitioners, top trial and appellate litigators, former federal prosecutors, former leaders from agencies like the FTC and FCC, and lawyers with extensive experience working with those regulators, and who have worked closely with and within state AG offices.