David Schertler is widely recognized as one of the top white–collar criminal defense attorneys in the Washington area and nationwide. In 1996, he left the United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia to start the law firm that is now Schertler Onorato Mead & Sears. Over more than 25 years in private practice, Mr. Schertler has built the firm into a premier litigation boutique. Mr. Schertler is known for his skilled and tenacious representations of high-level executives, government officials, and other individuals and entities in criminal and civil investigations throughout the United States and abroad. Mr. Schertler is also a renowned trial attorney with a demonstrated record of courtroom successes. Most recently, Mr. Schertler obtained a jury acquittal of a British currency trader in a highly-publicized criminal antitrust trial in the Southern District of New York.
Mr. Schertler’s white-collar criminal representations have included executives and individuals involved in high–profile matters such as the Volkswagen diesel emissions investigation; the KPMG tax shelter investigation; the Enron, Worldcom, and AOL financial fraud investigations; the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) “Africa Sting” prosecution; and the Teamsters’ corruption investigation. Mr. Schertler has represented clients in criminal and civil antitrust investigations in the United States, Asia, and South America, financial and securities investigations in the United States and Europe, and FCPA investigations worldwide. Mr. Schertler’s practice has included investigative and trial matters involving antitrust law, the Foreign Agents Registration Act, bribery and gratuities law, mail and wire fraud, honest services fraud, federal procurement regulations, campaign finance law, conflicts of interest, health care fraud, money laundering, environmental crimes, securities and tax laws, and false statements and perjury. Mr. Schertler regularly represents clients in hearings and depositions before Congressional committees and in internal investigations conducted by a range of federal agencies, including the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Federal Election Commission, the Department of Defense, and the General Services Administration.
Mr. Schertler is a Fellow in the American College of Trial Lawyers. He is ranked in Chambers USA and has been recognized repeatedly as a leading white-collar attorney by “The Best Lawyers in America,” which named Mr. Schertler its 2021 “Lawyer of the Year” in criminal defense in Washington, D.C. He also has repeatedly been named one of the “Top 30 Lawyers” in Washington, D.C., by Washingtonian magazine.
Updated Sep 2023
