VICKI CHOU

LOS ANGELES - Vicki Chou joined Hueston Hennigan LLP in 2019 as of counsel and made partner in January 2021. Her practice includes an emphasis on white collar criminal defense.

Her move to Hueston Hennigan followed eight years as an assistant U.S. attorney in Los Angeles. There, she prosecuted hundreds of criminal cases involving computer and internet fraud, intellectual property, money laundering, bank fraud, tax fraud, immigration and racketeering offenses.

All of that set her up nicely for her current post. "It's really helpful to know what the government's playbook is for charging decisions and litigation tactics and the like," she said. Her decision to return to private practice came after she spent time as a supervisor in the general crimes section, overseeing cases and training young prosecutors. "I wanted to get back to trial practice."

Chou is currently prepping for a January trial in the case of client Rishi Shah, the co-founder and CEO of pharmaceutical advertising company Outcome Health, who is accused of one of the largest corporate fraud schemes in U.S. Department of Justice history. Shah, at one time one of the richest men in Chicago and a member of Forbes' billionaires list, is accused with other defendants of bilking $1 billion from the company's clients, lenders and investors. U.S. v. Shah, 1:19-cr-00864 (N.D. Ill., filed Nov. 14, 2019).

"It's a wire fraud case," Chou said. "It stems from a big Wall Street Journal exposé about a whistleblower and a trusted lieutenant at the company who was changing results numbers."

The WSJ article led to civil suits, an SEC complaint and criminal charges.

"Everyone agrees there was fraud," Chou said. "The battle is over whether my client knew about it."

As for the prospect of trying a case in Chicago in January: "I've got to shop for warm clothes."

As part of the high-profile bribery case involving former Los Angeles City Councilman Mark Ridley- Thomas, Chou represents Marilyn Flynn, the former dean of the University of Southern California School of Social Work, who was accused of providing substantial benefits from the university to a Ridley-Thomas relative in exchange for political favors from the councilmember. U.S. v. Ridley- Thomas et al., 2:21-cr-00485 (C.D. Cal., filed Oct. 13, 2021).

"We got a really fair plea agreement that includes probation with home confinement," Chou said, noting that formal sentencing has not yet taken place. "She was a very sympathetic client and we had a good narrative. And the government was willing to give us a good deal."

Chou said she's glad she moved to the defense side. "It's new, it's different and I feel stretched in a good way," she said.