Former federal prosecutor joins Theranos defense team at Davis Wright Tremaine

Stephen A. Cazares, a longtime assistant U.S. attorney whose recent prosecutions include the insider trading conviction of retired Major League Baseball player Doug DeCinces, has joined Davis Wright Tremaine LLP, the firm announced Monday.

Cazares will be part of defense team of Ramesh "Sunny" Balwani, the former chief operating officer of Theranos Inc. indicted in a massive fraud investigation, as a partner in the firm's Los Angeles and San Francisco offices.

Robert J. Maguire, chairman of Davis' litigation practice group, said Cazares will increase the firm's depth in California.

"From the investigation stages through jury trial, Stephen brings to our firm years of experience managing high-stakes matters," Maguire said in a news release. "Our clients in tech, healthcare, financial services, and many other industries will benefit from his dual civil and criminal regulatory expertise."

Cazares leaves the U.S. attorney's office after 14 years and many major cases, including the insider trading case of DeCinces and James Mazzo, the former CEO of Advanced Medical Optics who was accused of telling DeCinces inside information about his company's 2009 sale to Abbott Laboratories. United States v. DeCinces et al., 12-CR00269 (C.D. Cal., filed Nov. 28, 2012).

Mazzo's charges were dismissed after two lengthy trials ended in hung juries, but DeCinces was convicted in the first trial. Cazares will miss DeCinces' yet-to-be-scheduled sentencing, but he said in a news release Monday that he's thrilled to join his new firm.

"Davis Wright's team is handling some of the country's most-watched white-collar cases right now," said Cazares, who was deputy chief of the major frauds sections in Los Angeles.

Cazares was lead or co-lead counsel in 16 jury trials that went to verdict. He also advocated in 12 appeals to the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

Along with DeCinces and Mazzo, his major prosecutions included hedge-fund manager Florian Homm in a net asset value fraud case; Allan Boren, a former executive of the Manhattan Bagel chain, in a revenue inflation scheme; and former CIA agent Michael Sellers for defrauding investors in independent films.

Cazares told the Daily Journal his time with the U.S. attorney's office was "a great experience."

"I reached a point where I was just in between large matters, and it just made sense to try something new," Cazares said.

Working with talented lawyers on high-profile cases is "what we all want," Cazares said. "And they're giving it to me right here."

Cazares will join a defense team for Balwani that includes partners Jeffrey B. Coopersmith and Mark N. Bartlett. United States v. Holmes et al., 18-CR00258 (N.D. Cal., filed June 14, 2018).

He graduated from UCLA Law School.