Combining his extensive experience in private practice and as a federal prosecutor in the Southern District of New York, Nick Goldin is a Litigation Partner and Global Co-Head of the Firm’s Government and Internal Investigations Practice. He represents public and private companies, private equity and financial services firms, board committees, and executives in a broad range of high stakes and otherwise sensitive situations often involving intersecting investigations, litigation, and public scrutiny. These matters include white collar criminal, regulatory, and Congressional inquiries, internal investigations, consequential litigation and disputes, cybersecurity incidents, and other critical situations that present significant legal and reputational risk. Nick also regularly provides strategic counsel to corporate leadership on crisis, compliance, and governance matters.
Nick has handled matters across virtually every industry—including asset management and financial services, technology, social media, AI, data science, real estate, outsourcing, insurance, aerospace and defense, leisure, entertainment and sports, travel, hospitality and gaming, food services, industrial manufacturing, utilities and infrastructure, oil and gas, retail and direct sales, transportation and automotive, health care and life sciences, apparel and cosmetics, traditional media, and cultural and nonprofit.
Consistently recognized in leading legal industry surveys, Nick has been ranked in Chambers as among the top 15 crisis and risk management lawyers in the United States. Clients and other market participants have described Nick to Chambers and Benchmark Litigation as a “brilliant and creative strategist” with “tremendous judgment and outstanding adversarial skills,” a “first-class legal and strategic mind,” an “excellent counselor” and “go-to lawyer for any type of crisis situation,” a “trusted adviser” and “terrific advocate and leader” who is “really extraordinary,” “incredibly insightful,” “well connected” and “knows what is going on in the market,” “able to connect the dots probably better than any other attorney I’ve worked with,” and the “complete package” who “fearlessly . . . defends his clients’ interests.” Sources also report to Chambers that Nick “knows how to see around the corners,” has “an unusual blend of understanding both the law and the business angles very well,” is “incredibly practical and easy to understand” and is “a pleasure to deal with.” In addition, sources have told Chambers that Nick “takes the time . . . to understand our pressure points,” “manages his team to effectively get us from point A to point B,” has “the ability and desire to understand the details and nuances of complicated situations,” “manages stressful situations with poise, clarity and calmness,” and provides “excellent leadership and counsel on sensitive matters requiring timely and thoughtful execution.” A client told Chambers that “I sleep well at night knowing that Nick Goldin is advising us.”
In addition to recognition as a leading lawyer in Chambers USA for White Collar Crime/Government Investigations and in Chambers Crisis & Risk Management, Nick has been recognized in Who’s Who Legal: Thought Leaders in Business Crime Defense for Corporates, The Legal 500, and Euromoney’s Benchmark Litigation. Nick has been named as a BTI Client Service All-Star nominated by in-house counsel for “the absolute best client service,” as a recipient of Lexology’s Client Choice Award for Business Crime Defense nominated by corporate counsel for excellent client care and service above and beyond the other players in the market, and as a Distinguished Adviser in Investigations and White Collar Crime on Financier Worldwide’s Power Players list.
Nick’s matters have included:
Nick’s matters have involved allegations relating to:
- Accounting and securities fraud
- Market and benchmark manipulation
- Insider trading
- Investment Advisors Act compliance
- Computer hacking, ransomware, and data breaches
- OFAC and other international trade sanctions
- FCPA (Foreign Corrupt Practices Act) and domestic corruption
- FARA (Foreign Agents Registration Act)
- FCRA (Fair Credit Reporting Act)
- Criminal bid rigging and price fixing
- Healthcare fraud
- Workplace behavior including sexual harassment
- Money laundering and Bank Secrecy Act violations
- Misappropriation of trade secrets
- Obstruction of justice
- False Claims Act and FIRREA
Before joining Simpson Thacher in 2010, Nick served in the Department of Justice as an Assistant United States Attorney in the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York, where he was a member of the Securities and Commodities Fraud Task Force and the computer hacking group of the Major Crimes Unit. As a federal prosecutor, Nick led parallel investigations with the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, FBI, and other law enforcement and regulatory agencies. He also conducted numerous criminal jury trials and evidentiary hearings in the SDNY and argued appeals in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit.
Nick graduated from Cornell Law School, where he was Editor-in-Chief of the Cornell Law Review, and from Cornell University, magna cum laude and with distinction in all subjects, where he was Assistant Managing Editor of The Cornell Daily Sun. He taught a full semester course on cybercrime as an adjunct professor at Fordham Law School and lectured at the Department of Justice’s national training center. Among Nick’s recent publications is the chapter covering FCPA/anti-corruption monitorships in “The Guide to Monitorships” published by Global Investigations Review.
Nick has served as Co-Chair of Simpson Thacher’s Finance Committee and as a Hiring Partner.