MIAMI, October 5, 2016 – Miami-based law firm Diaz Reus announced today that former Division Counsel for the Miami Field Division of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, Patricia L. Diaz, and former Federal Prosecutor for the U.S. Department of Justice, Criminal Division, Fraud Section, Richard N. Wiedis, have joined the firm as partners in the firm’s international litigation, arbitration, and mediation and white collar criminal defense practices. The addition of Diaz and Wiedis continues the firm’s international expansion over the past 12 months as they join other impressive and talented lateral hires, including Ali Awais (Dubai), Gayle E. Hanlon (Dubai), Louis V. Martinez (Miami), Roland M. Potts (Miami), Javier Ruiz (Mexico), and Karel Suarez (Miami and Cuba).
“We are truly fortunate to attract such top level talent in key areas that are important to our clients,” says Michael Diaz, Jr., Global Managing Partner. “Patricia has an enormously successful track record in investigative and litigation matters and is highly qualified to guide clients through sensitive criminal investigations, prosecutions, and negotiations. Richard covers multiple areas of our practice, having outside counsel, in-house counsel, and government experience. His work at the DOJ and for a large, publicly traded technology corporation will be very valuable for our clients in high-stakes litigation, investigations, and regulatory compliance counsel.”
Diaz served six years as Division Counsel for the Miami Field Division of the Drug Enforcement Administration—covering the State of Florida and the Bahamas—and spent 21 years as an Assistant United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, prosecuting hundreds of complex, international money laundering cases and earning Special Achievement and Meritorious Service awards from the DOJ, DEA, FBI, HHS, and other U.S. agencies. As a Federal Prosecutor, Diaz was assigned to the High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area Task Force, a task force dedicated to the investigation and prosecution of high level international money laundering organizations.
A member of the Florida bar since 1988, her practice will be focused on white collar criminal defense, internal corporate investigations, general civil litigation, civil and criminal forfeiture, money laundering, RICO, and dispute resolution. Diaz received her J.D., magna cum laude, from the University of Miami School of Law, Miami, Florida.
Wiedis served 15 years as a Federal Prosecutor with the U.S. Department of Justice, Criminal Division, Fraud Section, where his investigatory and trial work led to convictions in high profile cases involving bank fraud, securities fraud, accounting fraud, and other white collar crimes. He holds multiple Special Achievement and Meritorious Service awards and letters of commendation from the DOJ and FBI. Prior to joining Diaz Reus, he served as Executive Vice President of Risk Management and Human Resources and Associate General Counsel at MicroStrategy, a $2 billion market cap, multinational business intelligence software company, where he oversaw the company’s litigation portfolio and designed and deployed a comprehensive risk management and corporate compliance regime for the company and its 23 international subsidiaries.
A member of the New York and District of Columbia bars, Wiedis will focus his practice on white collar criminal defense, internal corporate investigations, FCPA, general civil litigation, trial counsel, civil forfeiture, money laundering, RICO, mediation, arbitration, and compliance and risk management counseling. He received his J.D., cum laude, from Georgetown University School of Law, Washington, DC.
About Diaz, Reus & Targ, LLP
Operating on five continents, across 17 offices in key business centers, Diaz Reus offers a global practice centered around national and transnational parallel proceedings and transactions in the following broad areas: sovereign, trade, commerce, finance, and fraud; civil litigation and arbitration; asset identification, location, tracing and recovery; white collar crime, regulatory, and criminal investigations and defense in matters of corruption, bribery, money laundering, Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, OFAC, Specially Designated Nationals, and the Bank Secrecy Act; and politically sensitive investigations including the recovery of U.S. immigration status and visas. The firm is headquartered in Miami, Florida. www.diazreus.com.
