James B. Moorhead

Partner

• jmoorhead@steptoe.com
• vCard
• Washington Office

Mr. Moorhead is a litigation partner in the Washington office of Steptoe & Johnson LLP. He co-chairs the Crisis Management practice group and is head of the Class Action practice group.

For over two decades, he has handled complex civil matters, including trials, appeals, mediations, and settlements. He has first-chaired over 25 complex civil and criminal jury trials and litigated numerous professional malpractice claims involving law firms and lawyers, investment advisers, and directors and officers.

Prior to joining the firm, Mr. Moorhead was a federal prosecutor in Baltimore and an investment banker and commercial banker in New York City. He recently served as chief financial officer and general counsel of an emerging growth company. His financial background has led to his representation of law firms, lenders, investment advisors, and other litigants in securities and other complex business transactions cases.

He also has litigated on behalf of and counseled insurers on coverage disputes relating to a variety of policies, including errors and omissions and D&O policies.

He regularly conducts corporate internal investigations. He can act as independent counsel in internal investigations for companies, boards of directors, audit committees, or special litigation committees. He has experience designing and reviewing corporate compliance programs from an in-house and outside counsel perspective. 

Highlights of his litigation experience include:

• Represented various major law firms and their partners in fraud and malpractice actions. The matters settled satisfactorily to the clients.
• Represent law firm partners in malpractice/fraud action arising out of FDIC investigation of collapse of First American bank in BCCI affair. The litigation settled satisfactorily to the clients.
• Serving as national counsel to a multi-billion dollar financial services company, coordinating legal and communications strategies to address two US Senate investigations, two US Attorney investigations, several regulatory reviews and civil litigation.
• National counsel to major assisted living facilities company against claims brought by lenders and investors.
• Counsel to securities brokerage firm against securities fraud claims brought by the National Credit Union Administration, the regulator of federal credit unions. The claims revolved around a now-defunct institution’s purchases of collateralized mortgage obligations. The Court entered a take-nothing summary judgment for Mr. Moorhead’s client.
• Counsel to insurance carrier in action against directors and officers of bankrupt construction company. The claims asserted the defendants had failed to report upon and oversee properly the company’s operations prior to its bankruptcy filing. The case settled satisfactorily to the insurer.
• Counsel to various lenders against a series of class actions brought regarding collateral protection insurance. All cases were settled on terms very favorable to the clients, effectively ending this type of class action litigation.

Mr. Moorhead is a frequent television commentator on crisis management and legal and business issues. He also has spoken and written extensively on crisis management, internal investigations, litigation prevention, and maximizing shareholder value.

Select News & Events

• Law360 Profiles Jim Moorhead
• Jim Moorhead and Mike Miller Spoke at Martindale-Hubbell's Counsel to Counsel (C2C) Forum in New York on "Risk, Reputation, & Compliance", September 28, 2010
• Law360 Quotes Jim Moorhead on How to Structure an Airtight Class Action Deal
• Fox Business Interviews Jim Moorhead about the Impact on the Market and Economy of Extending the Bush Tax Cuts
• Fox Business Interviews Jim Moorhead on SEC FOIA Exemption in Dodd-Frank Bill
• CEO Update Quotes Jim Moorhead on Crisis Management for Associations
• Crisis Management in 140 Words or Less: Adapting Your Approach to Crises in the Social Media Age, (A Steptoe-Sponsored Event)
• Jim Moorhead Appeared on Fox News Channel to Discuss Tiger Woods and Crisis Management, December 2, 2009
• Jim Moorhead Appeared on Fox Business News on July 14 and July 28 to Discuss the Prospects For Goldman Sachs and the Citigroup Compensation Crisis
• Navigating A Brave New World, May 14, 2009, A Webinar on Successful Crisis Management Strategies in the Face of Unprecedented Business and Legal Challenges
• Jim Moorhead Appeared on Fox Business News on February 24 and March 2 to Discuss the Banking Industry Crisis
• Jim Moorhead Appeared on Fox Business News to Discuss the Citigroup Restructuring and Turmoil in the Banking Sector, January 16, 2009

Selected Publications

• Hot Seat: Coordination Critical in Crisis Management
  November 2008, Counsel to Counsel Magazine
• Corporate Fraud Defense Report (Vol 1 No 6)
  June 2006
• Corporate Fraud Defense Report (Vol 1 No 5)
  May 2006
• Corporate Fraud Defense Report (Vol 1 No 4)
  April 2006

Professional Affiliations

• Served as an Assistant US Attorney in Maryland for three years (focused on prosecuting political and labor corruption cases)
• Member of the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association and the Mid-Atlantic Venture Association