A trial lawyer, David A. Vicinanzo serves a broad array of clients—from Fortune 100 to pro bono—in New England, New York, the Washington, DC, area, and elsewhere. He practices primarily in the area of government investigations and the representation of organizations and individuals in complex civil and criminal matters.
Before joining the firm, I was a federal prosecutor in Washington, DC, and New England for thirteen years. I served in Washington, DC, as an Advisor to the U.S. Attorney General, and as Chief Prosecutor in the campaign finance investigation of the 1996 presidential election. In that position I managed a task force of approximately one hundred attorneys, agents and analysts that interviewed thousands of people, reviewed millions of documents, and obtained the convictions of more than twenty defendants, including John Huang, Yah Lin “Charlie” Trie and Maria Hsia (organizer of the Buddhist Temple matter).
I also served as Acting U.S. Attorney for the District of New Jersey (investigation of U.S. Senator Robert Torricelli), and Special Assistant U.S. Attorney in Massachusetts. In addition, I served as the First Assistant U.S. Attorney for the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of New Hampshire, where I managed an office of fifty lawyers, analysts and staff. In this position, I was responsible for all aspects of office management including case development, civil enforcement and criminal prosecutions, agency relations and personnel decisions as well as a substantial litigation caseload.
Previously, I spent ten years as an Assistant U.S. Attorney and five years as Criminal Division Chief. During my tenure as a prosecutor, I tried or supervised hundreds of cases, from securities fraud, FCPA violations, environmental crime and intellectual property infringement to health care fraud, child protection, asset forfeiture, government contract fraud, export violations and major racketeering. These included some of the most difficult and complex cases brought by the USDOJ in the 1990s.
The government’s role in the economy continues to expand and the risk of investigation is the new normal. Modern enterprises now face unworkable burdens. As a result, businesses increasingly need counsel from someone who speaks the government’s language, but also understands how a competitive, successful business works.
BuzzFeed | August 18, 2017
Manchester partner and government investigations and white collar defense practice group leader Dave Vicinanzo provides third party commentary in an article on the investigation into Donald Trump Jr.’s meeting with a Russian lawyer.
The Denver Post | July 16, 2017
This article focuses on the Trump administration’s appointment of Ty Cobb as special counsel to oversee the White House’s responses to the investigations into Russian meddling in the recent presidential election. Manchester government investigations and white collar defense partner Dave Vicinanzo provides third-party commentary about his interactions with Ty Cobb when Dave was a federal prosecutor.
New Hampshire Bar News | June 21, 2017
This Q&A with Manchester government investigations and white collar defense partner and practice group leader Dave Vicinanzo is about his pro bono case that inspired him to help draft a bill which changes how parental rights are terminated in situations when the pregnancy is a result of sexual assault.
New Hampshire Union Leader | May 13, 2017
This article is about Manchester government investigations and white collar defense partner and practice group leader Dave Vicinanzo’s pro bono client. Inspired by this case, Dave helped draft a bill, set to be signed into law, which changes how parental rights are terminated in situations when the pregnancy is a result of sexual assault.
New Hampshire Business Review | May 13, 2016
Partner and Government Investigations & White Collar Defense practice group leader Dave Vicinanzo authored this column about the “Yates Memorandum” that revises the Department of Justice’s policy that targets individual employees and executives in investigations, prosecutions and resolutions of corporate wrongdoing.
Law360 | October 05, 2015
Government Investigations & White Collar Defense practice group leader Dave Vicinanzo, partner Mark Molloy and associate Emily Crandall Harlan authored this column on curtailing an aggressive loss theory that held defendants to more than the government’s loss in some fraud cases.
Bloomberg BNA White Collar Report | September 25, 2015
This story discusses a new Justice Department policy in which federal prosecutors must focus on individual accountability and that eliminates partial credit for corporate cooperation may have unintended consequences. The topic was the focus of a Nixon Peabody webinar presented by the Government Investigations & White Collar Defense team. Brian Kelly and Dave Vicinanzo are quoted.
Fordham University School of Law, J.D.
National Autonomous University of Mexico, Graduate Studies as a Rotary Fellow
Harvard University, B.A., with honors
U.S. Court of Appeals, First Circuit
U.S. Court of Appeals, Second Circuit
U.S. Court of Appeals, Eighth Circuit
U.S. Court of Appeals, District of Columbia Circuit
U.S. Supreme Court
New York
New Hampshire
David Vicinanzo was selected by his peers for inclusion in The Best Lawyers in America© 2019 in the fields of: Commercial Litigation; and Criminal Defense: White-Collar. David has been listed in Best Lawyers since 2009.
David has been recognized for exceptional standing in the legal community in Chambers USA: America’s Leading Lawyers for Business 2018 for Litigation: General Commercial as well as Litigation: White-Collar Crime & Government Investigations (New Hampshire), and was described in the 2013 edition as “one of the go-to guys in white-collar crime.” He has also been recognized in Chambers USA in previous years and is accorded the highest professional and ethical standards (AV) by Martindale-Hubbell.
David is also recognized in the 2012 edition of Benchmark Litigation, the definitive guide to America’s leading litigation firms and attorneys.
David has been featured as one of the top lawyers worldwide in International Who's Who of Business Crime Lawyers.
David Vicinanzo is the recipient of the firm’s Peabody Award for donating more than 1000 hours of pro bono time defending victims of domestic violence and indigent defendants.
