Carole Rendon brings decades of criminal and complex commercial litigation experience

BakerHostetlertoday announced that Carole S. Rendon, former United States Attorney for the Northern District of Ohio, has joined BakerHostetler as a partner in the Cleveland office. Rendon served in the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the past seven and a half years as the First Assistant U.S. Attorney and, since Feb. 6, 2016, as the United States Attorney, a position in which she was a nationally recognized leader in confronting cybersecurity challenges and the opioid epidemic. Rendon was unanimously confirmed by the United States Senate on July 14, 2016. She, along with her remaining U.S. Attorney colleagues, resigned at the direction of the Trump administration on March 10, 2017. Rendon joins former colleague Steven Dettelbach, providing BakerHostetler with one of the strongest White Collar Defense and Corporate Investigations practices in the country.

As the chief federal law enforcement officer for the Northern District of Ohio, Rendon enforced a wide range of criminal and civil statutes, including the prosecution of public corruption, civil rights, drug trafficking, consumer fraud, human trafficking, firearms crimes and other violations. She has a particular depth of knowledge regarding the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA), Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act, and monitorships. She also oversaw the U.S. Attorney’s Office’s high-profile civil litigation and served as lead counsel on several significant civil matters, including the consent decree with the City of Cleveland providing comprehensive reform for the Cleveland Division of Police. A passionate advocate for the community, Rendon helped establish the Northeast Ohio Business Ethics Coalition, the U.S. Attorney’s Heroin and Opioid Task Force and the Northeast Ohio Cyber Security Consortium, where she brought together the region’s largest employers and most respected institutions.

Early in her career, Rendon spent 10 years as a federal prosecutor in the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Boston. She began in the Organized Crime Strike Force, handling complex multi-defendant public corruption, RICO, international alien smuggling and money laundering prosecutions, ultimately serving as chief of the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force. Previously in private practice, Rendon developed broad experience in white collar criminal defense and complex civil and commercial litigation in federal and state courts.

“It’s not every day you meet someone with Carole’s wide-ranging experience handling white collar crime, commercial litigation and other civil matters,” said Ray Whitman, chair of the Litigation Group. “When you combine her trial capabilities with her commitment to helping others, she adds significant depth to our Litigation Group. We are very excited to have Carole join BakerHostetler.”

“It’s a pleasure to welcome Carole to the Cleveland office of BakerHostetler. She’s known for her successful record engaging public and private companies, government agencies and nonprofits on important issues affecting the communities in Northern Ohio,” said Hewitt Shaw, managing partner of the firm’s Cleveland office. “We know her level of dedication will be beneficial to our clients.”

“For the past seven and a half years, I have had the privilege to serve the people of the Northern District of Ohio, overseeing the most significant criminal and civil matters and engaging with the community on the most challenging problems facing our district. Transitioning from government service, I wanted to ensure that I could continue this important work, and my role at BakerHostetler will provide me with that opportunity,” said Rendon. “I am looking forward to working on both criminal and complex civil matters with a team nationally recognized for its deep bench of talented litigators.”

Her practice will focus on representing corporations and individuals in high-stakes litigation and corporate investigations, white collar defense and civil matters, including contract disputes, real estate litigation, legal malpractice defense, trade secrets litigation, antitrust matters, and False Claims Act litigation. She will advise companies in a multitude of industries, such as healthcare, technology, manufacturing, banking, financial services and telecommunications.

Rendon earned her J.D. from the Northwestern School of Law, cum laude, in 1987, and her B.A. from Northwestern University, summa cum laude, in 1984. Immediately following law school, she served as a law clerk for the Honorable Joel M. Flaum of the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit. She is a frequent speaker and presenter on white collar crimes, business ethics, consumer fraud, cybersecurity, human trafficking, hate crimes, mental health, addiction and discrimination.

BakerHostetler’s Chambers USA-ranked White Collar Defense and Corporate Investigations team is composed of some of the country’s most experienced and seasoned lawyers, many of whom have served as former federal and state prosecutors and SEC enforcement attorneys. Team members have represented Fortune 50 companies and major hedge funds before the SEC, the Department of Justice, the Internal Revenue Service, the Federal Trade Commission, and other federal and state regulatory agencies.