Colm F. Connolly

Partner

Colm F. Connolly, former United States Attorney for Delaware, is a member of Morgan Lewis's Litigation Practice and the managing partner of the firm's Wilmington office. Mr. Connolly's practice focuses on complex commercial and intellectual property litigation, white collar criminal matters, and corporate investigations.

As Delaware's United States Attorney for more than seven years, Mr. Connolly managed all federal criminal prosecutions and the legal representation of the departments and agencies of the federal government in all civil matters filed in Delaware courts. Mr. Connolly has tried dozens of cases in federal and state courts and has argued numerous cases before the U.S. Courts of Appeals for the Second and Third Circuits. He has handled a broad range of subject matters, including complex contractual and patent disputes, theft of trade secrets, export control violations, healthcare and corporate fraud investigations, RICO litigation, environmental and antitrust offenses, and FDA regulatory violations.

Mr. Connolly's recent representations have included:

• Defending insurance and financial services companies against contract and fraud claims related to a stock purchase agreement
• Representing multinational technology manufacturers in numerous Delaware patent cases
• Representing a national lender in connection with syndicated loan litigation in Delaware Chancery Court
• Representing a bank holding company and subsidiaries and conducting an internal investigation in connection with a grand jury investigation conducted by the Antitrust Division of U.S. Department of Justice
• Representing a national pharmaceutical chain and conducting an internal investigation in connection with United States Department of Justice false claims investigation
• Representing a hospice care firm in connection with an investigation conducted by a state Attorney General's Medicaid Fraud Unit
• Representing an assisted living facility in connection with a criminal investigation into the elopement and death of a resident
• Defending a law firm sued for alleged racketeering violations, fraud, and malpractice in the District of Delaware
• Representing a national investment advisory firm in connection with an investigation by the Delaware Securities Commissioner
• Representing a bank holding company in connection with an investigation by the Office of the Special Inspector General for the Troubled Asset Relief Program (SIGTARP)
• Conducted an internal investigation and provided privacy breach notification advice for a multinational financial services company in connection with a data system breach
• Conducted an internal FCPA investigation for a global manufacturing company
• Represented a health care company in connection with an investigation conducted by a United States Senate committee

Mr. Connolly gained national recognition as an Assistant United States Attorney for leading the multi-agency investigation into the disappearance of the secretary to the governor of Delaware. The investigation resulted in the indictment of Thomas Capano, a prominent lawyer in the state, on murder charges. After a three-and-one-half month jury trial, Mr. Connolly and his team obtained a first-degree murder conviction despite the absence of a body, murder weapon, or witness to the killing. During his tenure as an Assistant United States Attorney, Mr. Connolly also prosecuted the first federal criminal civil rights case in Delaware history and received from the Department of Justice the Director's Award for Superior Performance as an Assistant United States Attorney.

Mr. Connolly obtained his J.D., with honors, from Duke University School of Law in 1991, where he was an editor for the journal Law & Contemporary Problems and received the school's top oral advocate award. After law school, he served as a law clerk to Judge Walter K. Stapleton of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit. He received his M.Sc. from the London School of Economics in 1987 and his B.A., with honors, from the University of Notre Dame in 1986.

Mr. Connolly is admitted to practice in Delaware only and before the U.S. Supreme Court, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, and U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware.