Koren Bell  

Koren Bell is a member of the firm’s white-collar defense, strategic motions and appeals and investigations and enforcement practices. Her diverse practice focuses largely on white-collar criminal defense, complex commercial litigation, government and internal investigations, and regulatory enforcement matters. Her clients include individuals, private companies and corporations across industries, including entertainment, finance, technology, pharmaceuticals and sports.

Previously, Bell spent nearly a decade at the Federal Public Defender’s Office in Los Angeles. Being a public defender, she said, teaches you to adopt a client-centered approach from the outset of your career. Some clients want their day in court, no matter how tough the facts or significant the exposure, while others want the case to be resolved at the earliest possible juncture.

“You have to think broadly, strategically and creatively in order to maximize the paths to success for the client,” according to his or her goals, she said, a lesson which has served her well in private practice.

Bell served as co-lead counsel for former USC water polo coach Jovan Vavic in his five-week “Varsity Blues” trial in Boston.

In April 2022, Vavic was convicted by a federal jury of bribery and fraud in a vast U.S. college admissions scheme. Following litigation over first-impression issues and significant pretrial victories, in September, the district court granted a motion for a new trial.

“We were lucky the government had utilized a number of novel theories in this case, under the federal racketeering statute, the fraud conspiracy statute, and the substantive fraud statute. So there was a lot to work with in challenging the various flaws in the government’s case through tenacious pretrial and post-trial motion practice,” she said.

Pretrial victories included the dismissal of the lead RICO charge of racketeering and the property fraud allegations. Bell also won severance of the trial, which she said demonstrated the court’s concerns about the government’s conspiracy allegations and allowed Vavic to avoid the prejudicial effects of a joint trial with the co-defendants.

“We looked for every single angle to position our client to achieve his goals,” she said, culminating in the rare victory of a new trial.

Bell is also active in a number of professional associations, with a focus on providing underrepresented law school students with opportunities to intern or extern with state and federal judges. As a Judicial Externship Program Committee member for the Mexican American Bar Association and a Latina, she said participating in the applicant interviews remains a highlight of her year.

“My own experience clerking has led me to understand the significance of that opportunity and how important it is to make a connection with a judge who can be a lifelong professional mentor,” Bell said. “Those opportunities can be few and far between, so expanding access to judicial internships and externships for underrepresented groups is very meaningful and can change the course of your career.”

— Jennifer Chung Klam