Miriam Smolen is a partner whose practice focuses on complex insurance coverage litigation, dispute resolution, and strategic risk management on behalf of policyholders, with particular emphasis on Directors and Officers liability insurance in connection with securities or fraud matters, and government civil and criminal investigations or regulatory reviews. Ms. Smolen also handles matters relating to professional services liability, financial services, housing, corporate compliance, privacy and eDiscovery. Ms. Smolen has tried as first chair over 60 jury trials, and handled cases in federal, state and appellate courts.  Ms. Smolen has provided corporate representation in sensitive internal investigations, and in Inspector General, SEC and Department of Justice matters.  She has counseled corporate senior management on matters related to corporate compliance, governance and ethics, and created corporate anti-fraud risk assessments, policies and procedures.

Ms. Smolen’s prior experience includes serving as Associate General Counsel for Fannie Mae in the Litigation and Corporate Compliance sections from 2003 to 2012.  Ms. Smolen also served as Assistant U.S. Attorney in the Economic Crimes Section of the United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia from 1989 to 2003, including a detail in 2002 at the Computer Crime Section, Department of Justice. Ms. Smolen began her legal career as a law clerk for the Honorable Stanley S. Harris of the United States District Court of the District of Columbia. 

Representative Experience

• Successfully resolved litigations and disputes with 25 corporate parties concerning over one hundred million dollars of fraudulent mortgage assignments.  Managed large teams from major law firms including setting litigation strategy and budgets.
• Successfully represented client in insurance recovery litigation under fraud policy coverage for tens of millions of dollars of loss related to stolen mortgages. 
• Represented client in Inspector General and Department of Justice investigations concerning mortgage fraud, Sarbanes-Oxley, accounting and business fraud allegations.
• Represented company in securities class and derivative actions, regarding accounting and disclosure violations.  Managed indemnity coverage for directors and officers.
• Served as in-house counsel for eDiscovery.  Extensive experience in eDiscovery matters including litigation holds, ESI collection, review, and production, and evidentiary requirements.  Saved millions in eDiscovery costs by restructuring vendor contract.
• Created business unit Compliance Plans for business and technology divisions to manage legal and regulatory risks in areas such as fair lending laws, privacy, disclosure, money-laundering, anti-fraud, and regulatory reporting requirements.
• As an AUSA, prosecuted complex multi-million dollar financial frauds, including securities fraud, money laundering, embezzlement, health care fraud, cybercrime, and bank fraud.

Areas of Practice

• Complex Litigation
• Insurance Recovery
• Internal Investigation
• Corporate Compliance and Ethics
• Dispute Resolution
• eDiscovery

• Association of Corporate Counsel: Litigation Committee, Chair, Vice-Chair, and Secretary 2006 – 2009. Council of Committees Vice-Chair and Secretary, 2010-2011. Chair: Leadership Development Institute, 2011.
• Washington Metropolitan Corporate Counsel Association (WMACCA), Litigation Forum Co-Chair, 2011-2012.
• Edward Bennett Williams Inn of Court, Barrister.

• Department of Justice Special Achievement six time awardee.
• Awarded Senior Litigation Counsel, U.S. Attorney’s Office.
• Department of Health and Human Services’ Inspector General’s Integrity Award, awarded twice, for prosecution of Medicaid and Medicare program abuse.

• How to Read an Insurance Policy, We've Got You Covered - Insurance Law Blog, April 16, 2013
• Insurance Cybersecurity Regulations - What Insurance Coverage Do You Need?, We've Got You Covered - Insurance Law Blog, February 15, 2013

• WMACCA Conference On Managing Risk: Assessing It and Addressing It, April 11, 2013
• Expert Witness Depositions, Association of Corporate Counsel Annual Meeting, October 2011
• Government Investigations, ESI Bytes, July 2010
• In-House Counsel Roundtable: Practical Strategies to Meet Judicial Expectations While Reducing Costs, The Sedona Conference Institute Third Annual Program on Getting Ahead of the eDiscovery Curve, March 2010
• Where the Documents Are: Some In-House Practical Advice on Responding to Government Document Requests, November 2009
• E-Discovery in Federal Investigations, 6th Annual Advance E-Discovery Institute, Georgetown Law School, November 2009
• Mortgage Fraud Schemes, Edward Bennett Willams, American Inns of Court, November 2009
• Establishing Procedures for Internal Investigations and Litigation Holds, Litigation Master Series, Association of Corporate Counsel, October 2009
• Whose Ethics Are They Anyway: Storytellers Required, Association of Corporate Counsel, Annual Meeting, October 2009
• E-Discovery in Criminal Cases, Edward Bennett Williams American Inn of Court, April 2009
• Fraud Planning and Prevention for In-House Counsel, Association of Corporate Counsel Annual Meeting, October 2008
• The Real Cost of e-Discovery: A Checklist to Assess Costs and Compare Vendors, May 2008
• Mortgage Fraud, Certified Association of Fraud Exami, December 2007
• Leading Through the Electronic Discovery Quagmire: Nuts & Bolts Best Practices, Association of Corporate Counsel Annual Meeting, October 2006