Nicole D. Lueddeke

Lueddeke is an associate in Paul Hastings’ litigation group specializing in white collar defense. She’s been with the firm since she got her bar card in 2014. A law partner comments that she “works significantly above her seniority level” on cases involving complex domestic and international cases. She currently directs on-going criminal investigations in China, Japan and India involving multinational pharmaceutical and life sciences companies and medical device companies in South Korea.

A clerkship with U.S. District Judge Otis D. Wright II of Los Angeles set her on her path. Wright, a former marine sergeant and former deputy sheriff, “gave me wide access to his criminal docket, which is kind of rare, because law clerks usually stay mostly with civil cases,” Lueddeke said. “He showed me that I had the power to direct my own career and I wouldn’t have to be pigeonholed.”

When courthouse buzz let her know that significant criminal matters were pending, Lueddeke showed up in the gallery. “That’s how I got to see Tom O’Brien,” she said, referring to Thomas P. O’Brien, the former U.S. attorney for the Central District who was then a Paul Hastings senior partner. “His demeanor, his command of the courtroom and his background were so impressive that I asked to have lunch with him.” O’Brien recruited Lueddeke to the firm and became a mentor. (O’Brien is currently at Browne George Ross O’Brien Annaguey & Ellis LLP.)

“When he left, I decided to stay and to spread my own wings,” Lueddeke said. “You can’t sit back. You have to make your own way. That led me to an interest in the white collar market out of New York and Washington, where the biggest cases are. I decided to specialize in the life sciences industry because it’s such a highly regulated area at both the state and federal levels that it’s rich in FCPA [Foreign Corrupt Practices Act] enforcement action.”

She also has fun with her image, telling InStyle magazine that she’s eager to get back, post-pandemic, to choosing among her 50 pairs of high heels. “Our firm is traditional—and I love it,” she said earlier this year. “Dressing up gets me into character.”

Currently, Lueddeke’s biggest case involves a $4.6 billion multinational medical technology company in the U.S. Department of Justice and Securities and Exchange Commission investigations. The matter began as an internal probe in Japan following local media reports of potentially corrupt payments that led the company to voluntarily disclose the matter to U.S. regulators. Lueddeke manages the internal and government investigations; she’s currently pressing Japan consular officials in Los Angeles to get past pandemic restrictions to gain entry to Japan, where she has 19 investigative interviews set for December.

“These cases really are so satisfying,” Lueddeke said. “In the white collar space, the big thing is to present your case to government agencies and I just did that both to the SEC and the DOJ. It was the biggest month of my career.”

- John Roemer