Douglas A. Axel

Axel joined Sidley’s white-collar criminal defense group in 2010, specializing in government enforcement matters after a decade as a federal prosecutor in the Central District. From 2008-10, he was chief of the major frauds section at the U.S. attorney’s office.

“Prosecutors put cases together and that’s pretty straightforward,” he said. “Going over to defense, you find there’s a lot more nuance and you quickly learn that most investigations don’t end up in court. It definitely helps to have been a prosecutor because you do understand where the government’s coming from. And it’s a good thing for clients because it’s helpful to have that perspective on what’s important to the prosecution. But I hadn’t fully appreciated how challenging it would be. There’s no real school for that transition.”

Following his summa cum laude degree from UC Hastings College of the Law, Axel clerked in the Central District for U.S. District Judge David V. Kenyon and at the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for Circuit Judge Melvin T. Brunetti. Both are deceased. “Again, you get an important perspective on what is effective from a judge’s point of view. I enjoyed my district court clerkship more for its fast pace and variety.”

Axel, who declined to be quoted on his clients, served as lead counsel for Wells Fargo & Co. in the high profile federal civil and criminal investigations into its sales practices violations. After extensive negotiations, he and the Sidley team in early 2020 obtained a $3 billion settlement and a deferred prosecution agreement.

He conducted an internal investigation for machine learning startup Wave Computing, Inc. regarding alleged export control issues. He also represented Hematology Oncology Consultants PC, a medical partnership and one of its physician partners in connection with a federal investigation into alleged Food and Drug Administration regulatory and criminal violations over the importation and use of FDA unapproved foreign drug products.

“When you get a big case, your first move is to quickly learn as much as possible to identify key issues,” Axel said. “The faster you get your arms around the facts, the better it will set you up to deal with them.”

He said he also gets help from his firm’s global white-collar group that has former prosecutors in most of its offices. “Working with large teams is a definite upside of the job.”

And the pandemic had a positive effect on investigative work, Axel noted. “Going remote makes possible effective video interviews that help in putting cases together. You can address credibility effectively over Zoom and there’s a lot less running around to get your interviews accomplished.”

— John Roemer