Vicki Chou

Complex civil litigation, white-collar defense

Los Angeles

Vicki Chou's official Hueston Hennigan biography notes that when she was an assistant U.S. attorney, she prosecuted hundreds of criminal cases including computer and internet fraud, intellectual property, money laundering and tax fraud, among others -- the kinds of white-collar cases she now defends.

But Chou said that as a federal prosecutor she handled other crimes as well. "I was in the organized crime and drug enforcement task force for a few years where I did racketeering investigations, and I actually indicted a Sinaloa Cartel case."

That non-white-collar experience has turned out to helpful in unexpected ways in some of her current cases.

For instance, she represented Bill McGlashan, the founder of a big private equity firm, in the Varsity Blues college admission cases -- which were largely built on wiretaps and cooperating witness testimony, "I was able to draw upon my past narcotics experience ... to challenge the wiretap and ... and the government's handling of the cooperator," she said.

Chou was able to get her client a rare plea deal that allowed him to appeal several legal issues. U.S. v. Sidoo, 1:19-cr-10080 (D. Mass., filed March 5, 2019).

Her experience prosecuting cases investigated by the DEA was helpful when she represented an executive under investigation by that agency for allegedly being part of a pill mill.

And she negotiated a deal for an executive accused of fraud by proposing that he actively cooperate with investigators.

Because local federal prosecutors know and trust her and her colleagues, "we're able to propose to the government very concrete things that [clients] can do to actively cooperate," Chou said. "They will let us plan these operations, which is great for our clients because it gets them opportunities to get their sentences reduced."

In other criminal matters, she won an 18-month home confinement probationary sentence for a former USC dean charged in connection with a bribery scheme involving former L.A. City Councilman Mark Ridley-Thomas. U.S. v. Flynn, 2:21-cr-00485 (C.D. Cal., filed Oct. 13, 2021).

In a new criminal matter, she and the firm were retained to represent FAT Brands, the company that owns Fatburger, Johnny Rockets, Round Table Pizza and other restaurants, in Justice Department and SEC investigations. Last month, the company was charged with violating Section 402 of the Sarbanes Oxley Act, the very first prosecution under that section. U.S. v Wiederhorn, 2:24-cr-00295 (C.D. Cal., filed May 9, 2024).

Chou also handles a great deal of civil litigation. In one big case, she has won a series of rulings on behalf of the California arm of a French green energy company that is suing a Chinese solar panel maker for more than $300 million. TotalEnergies Renewables USA LLC v. Trina Solar (U.S.) Inc., 22-cv-014525 (Alameda Super. Ct., filed July 15, 2022).

Next year, Chou will become president of the Southern California Chinese Lawyers Association for its 50th anniversary. She plans to collect oral history from founders and to "have a big banquet."

-- Don DeBenedictis