Clifford Chance
Daniel Silver has over twenty years experience handling high stakes investigations and litigation. Dan focuses on regulatory enforcement and white collar criminal defense matters for both corporate and individual clients. Dan regularly represents clients in matters before the Department of Justice, the Securities and Exchange Commission, and other federal and state agencies. Dan frequently counsels clients on issues relating to securities fraud, sanctions, AML enforcement, and anti-corruption. Dan has also advised clients on cybersecurity issues including data breach response.
Dan is an accomplished trial lawyer. Most recently, Dan obtained an acquittal for the founder and CEO of a publicly-listed software company following a criminal jury trial in federal court in San Francisco. The case, which involved allegations of securities and accounting fraud arising from a multi-billion dollar acquisition, was touted by the Department of Justice as the largest fraud prosecution in the history of Silicon Valley.
Prior to joining Clifford Chance, Dan spent ten years as a federal prosecutor, serving in several senior leadership positions and as Chief of the National Security and Cybercrime Section within the United States Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of New York. In the U.S. Attorney's Office, Dan supervised a team of more than one hundred federal prosecutors and conducted more than a dozen jury trials.
- Successfully defended Dr. Mike Lynch, the founder and CEO of Autonomy, a UK-listed software company, against criminal securities and accounting fraud charges brought by the DOJ. The DOJ's allegations arose from Hewlett Packard's US$11 billion purchase of Autonomy. Shortly after the transaction closed, HP accused Dr. Lynch and his senior management team of fraudulently inflating the value of Autonomy by more than US$5 billion. Following a three month jury trial, Dr. Lynch was acquitted of all charges.
- Successfully represented a former Alstom executive charged with Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) violations. The case involved extensive pretrial litigation regarding the extraterritorial scope of the FCPA, and resulted in a seminal 2nd Circuit decision rejecting the government's interlocutory appeal and holding that foreign individuals and entities not directly subject to the FCPA could not be liable under a conspiracy or aiding-and-abetting theory. Following a jury trial, the district court granted our motion for a judgment of acquittal on all FCPA charges, holding that the government had failed to prove that the defendant (a non US citizen who worked for a French company in Paris) was within the scope of the FCPA.
- Represented multinational Nordic financial institution in connection with cross-border multi-agency investigation relating to allegations of money laundering and AML compliance deficiencies. Conducted internal investigation involving nearly one hundred witness interviews and produced comprehensive public report detailing findings.
- Represented public multinational ecommerce company in DOJ investigation relating to alleged violations of environmental laws.
- Successfully represented underwriters' counsel in SEC investigation of multi-billion dollar bond offering. After Wells submission, the SEC declined to recommend an enforcement action.
- Represented founder and CEO of digital assets conglomerate in civil enforcement action brought by the New York Attorney General alleging violations of New York's Martin Act. The litigation involved novel issues relating to the application of the Martin Act to crypto asset lending products.
- Conducted internal investigation for global bank in connection with US$50 million fraud. In addition to leading the internal investigation, referred the matter to federal law enforcement authorities which resulted in the indictment and successful prosecution of the perpetrator of the fraud.
- Represented principal of alternative investment fund manager in connection with DOJ securities fraud grand jury investigation.
- Successfully represented CEO of automotive engineering company in connection with DOJ Antitrust Division price-fixing investigation. DOJ granted written declination following conclusion of investigation.
- Advised multinational telecom firm in connection with allegations of corruption at an Asian subsidiary.
News and client work
Contact details
Career and qualifications
- Brown University (BA, Public Policy) 1999
- New York University, School of Law (JD) 2002
- Law Clerk to the Honorable Cheryl Pollak, U.S. Magistrate Judge, Eastern District of New York 2003-2004
- Law Clerk to the Honorable Harold Baer, Jr., U.S. District Court Judge, Southern District of New York 2005-2006
- Joined Clifford Chance as a Partner 2016
Professional bodies
- Federal Bar Council, Criminal Law Committee
Awards and citations
- Daniel Silver is recognized by Chambers for his work defending individuals and corporations facing criminal prosecution and investigation, offering expertise in areas such as AML and cybersecurity concerns.
"He is extremely thoughtful and intelligent."
"He is an excellent courtroom advocate."
"He is a tactically brilliant attorney who sees both the big picture and is on top of the details."
"He is tremendous - cool, calm, levelheaded, practical and unflappable."
Chambers USA: Litigation: White-Collar Crime & Government Investigations - "Dan Silver is an extremely smart and thoughtful counsellor on white-collar and sanctions matters."
Legal 500 - Stimson Medal, New York City Bar Association