About Art Leach

Attorney

Arthur Leach has long been regarded as one of the toughest litigators in the United States. Art’s win in the HealthSouth $2.8 billion case with Richard Scrushy was the largest in the US at the time. This legendary litigator Art Leach, whose firm is best known for defending individuals in high stakes criminal and civil matters. Art Leach is now equally well known for handling “bet-the-company” civil litigation at the trial and appellate levels. The firm serves as national coordinating and trial counsel for various Pharmaceutical and Dietary Supplement companies in litigation concerning the FDA, FTC and other product liability cases. In addition, Art has represented numerous law firms and professional firms in professional-responsibility and other litigation; Art leach is the litigator that other law firms “turn to when they’re in trouble.” Arthur Leach is a nationally recognized trial lawyer with more than 30 years of experience representing both plaintiffs and defendants. He is widely known as one of the top attorneys in the United States in white collar, antitrust, forfeiture, and RICO law, and has secured favorable results for his clients in a wide variety of other areas including patent, securities, trade secret, professional malpractice, and complex corporate disputes in both federal and state trial and appellate courts. According to many lawyers, for complex civil and criminal litigation and Bet-the-Company Litigation, “Arthur Leach is the go-to lawyer when a business person just can’t afford to lose a lawsuit.”

Background

Art Leach became an assistant U.S. attorney in Savannah from 1983-1992. Art Leach was detailed out of Savannah to Washington, D.C. for all of 1992 to serve as the Assistant Director for Policy and Operations in the Executive Office of Asset Forfeiture and in January 1993 he became an assistant U.S. Attorney in Atlanta where he would become Chief of the Organized Crime Strike Force. He went into private practice in 2003 and has been working with Hi-Tech for 7 years now.

Art Leach started his legal career as an assistant district attorney in the rural community of Tifton, Georgia trying every kind of case imaginable. Art credits the police officers of the tiny town for teaching him to do things the right way and not cut corners. “All of my mentors were very experienced police officers, very ethical; They did everything right.” After learning the ropes in Tifton, Art Leach headed to Savannah and the Department of Justice (DOJ) to become an assistant U.S. attorney specializing in all types of federal prosecutions including, but not limited to: complex tax cases, drug cases and other matters involving the Drug Task Force, customs cases, Secret Service matters, mail and wire fraud, RICO prosecutions and eventually serving as as the chief of the Asset Forfeiture Section.

Art’s expertise in asset forfeiture matters later landed him a position as the assistant director for policy and operations in the Executive Office of Asset Forfeiture in Washington, D.C. where among other things Leach helped write policies related to asset forfeiture.

Art Leach moved to the Atlanta area in 1993 and as an assistant U.S. attorney delved more deeply into white-collar criminal matters and eventually became chief of the Organized Crime Strike Force.

While Art Leach prosecuted hundreds of white-collar criminal cases, perhaps the most famous white-collar case he prosecuted was the Gold Club case which involved a mafia strip club, famous athletes, and ties between the club owner and the New York-based Gambino crime family.

This complex, high-profile, white-collar case ended with the club’s owner, agreeing to cough up $5 million, pay restitution for credit card fraud occurring at the club, forfeit the club to the Feds, and serve time as he pleaded guilty to one count of racketeering. The owner was sentenced to 16 months in prison.

Art Leach’s most trying moment however was the prosecution of a Vietnamese gang that put together a plot to have him killed and resulted in the U.S. Marshals becoming members of the Leach family on-and-off for several months. Art Leach says going through that tough situation gives him a better understanding of what pressures clients and their families face. “Everything a client goes through impacts his or her family and the stresses of not knowing what is going to happen from day-to-day are very real. That is why I make a special point to serve the family of the client as much as the client.”

After leaving DOJ Art worked for the Buckhead law firm Boone & Stone and subsequently started his very successful private practice in 2003.

Art Leach is perhaps best known as the lead defense lawyers for former HealthSouth founder and CEO Richard Scrushy in a securities fraud case that resulted in the defendant’s complete acquittal on all 36 counts.

Art’s many years of experience have built a solid legal background to apply to your case.

Because white collar crimes often involve criminal and civil matters, you need an advocate that is thoroughly well-versed in the nuances of the law.

Art’s extensive background in these varied matters, on both the prosecutorial and private side, make him the most competent ally in your legal battle.

Further, Art realizes your desire to keep these legal matters as private as possible, and strives to work with you on a solution, ideally without having to compromise your valuable reputation.

Art is often a requested speaker on the defense of that case and other white collar criminal matters and has appeared on MSNBC, CNBC, CNN, 60 Minutes and ESPN.

As a federal prosecutor, Art Leach prosecuted hundreds of complex, high-profile white-collar criminal cases such as the Gold Club case, which involved a mafia strip club in Atlanta; and as one of the lead defense attorneys for former Health South founder and CEO Richard Scrushy in a securities fraud case, which resulted in complete acquittal. Art has more than 30 years combined experience as a federal white-collar prosecutor and defense attorney and has handled everything from securities fraud and complex tax cases to asset forfeiture, mail and wire fraud, and cases involving RICO violations. Art is recognized for his mastery of asset forfeiture matters and represents individuals and corporations in federal white-collar criminal matters.