Jan Handzlik is a partner in Venable's national SEC/White Collar Criminal Defense Group. He is a nationally recognized trial lawyer focusing on white collar criminal defense and complex business litigation. Mr. Handzlik has represented numerous individuals and companies across the country in the full spectrum of business crime investigations and prosecutions. His practice includes matters involving allegations of financial and accounting fraud, securities fraud and the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (“FCPA”), as well as tax, bank and government contract fraud. Mr. Handzlik also represents clients in antitrust investigations and prosecutions, export control matters and allegations of environmental crimes.
Mr. Handzlik has extensive international experience and frequently leads investigations into alleged bribery of foreign officials, foreign asset control violations and anti-competition matters. He frequently seeks the recovery of assets stemming from criminal activity on an international basis. Mr. Handzlik has conducted numerous corporate internal investigations and often advises in-house counsel on compliance, disclosure and corporate governance issues. For three years, Mr. Handzlik served as one of the first independent FCPA law compliance monitors. He was appointed to monitor a Swiss-US company operating under a deferred prosecution agreement.
Mr. Handzlik’s representation spans all phases of white collar criminal and securities enforcement matters, including civil enforcement and criminal grand jury investigations, regulatory and parallel civil proceedings, as well as representation at trial and on appeal. An accomplished trial lawyer, he has handled nearly 100 jury trials to verdict.
Prior to joining Venable, Mr. Handzlik was a partner at Greenberg Traurig. Earlier in his career, he served as an Assistant United States Attorney prosecuting federal fraud cases in the Central District of California, Los Angeles. Mr. Handzlik also clerked for the Honorable Francis C. Whelan, United States District Judge, Central District of California, in Los Angeles.
Activities
Mr. Handzlik is active with the American Bar Association’s Criminal Justice Section. Since 2010, he has chaired the Task Force on the Attorney-Client Privilege & Work Product Doctrine, and in 2011, he was named Co-Executive Director of the Practice Development Committee. From 2005-2007 and 2008-2011, he was a member of the ABA’s Criminal Justice Section Governing Council. From 2006-2009, he was a member of the Task Force on the Revision of Model Trial Practice Standards for Criminal Prosecution and Defense Lawyers.
Mr. Handzlik’s other recent activities include serving as Vice Chair of the International Bar Association’s Business Crime Committee since 2010. In addition, Mr. Handzlik is also a member of the IBA’s Working Group on the United Kingdom's Bribery Act of 2010. From 2009-2011, he was the Corporate Counsel Liaison Officer of the IBA’s Criminal Law Section. Between 2005 and 2010, he was a member of the American Bar Association President’s Task Force on the Attorney-Client Privilege.
Mr. Handzlik has been very active with numerous public service and pro bono activities over the years. In 2007, he was a member of the Blue Ribbon Rampart After-Action Assessment Panel which evaluated the response of criminal justice system to the Los Angeles Police Department’s Rampart corruption incident. From 2006-2009, he was a member of the Standing Committee on Attorney Discipline for the United States District Court, Central District of California. From 2005-2006, he served as Deputy General Counsel for the Rampart Independent Review Panel during its investigation of police corruption and officer-involved shootings in the LAPD. From 2003-2004, he was a member of the Blue Ribbon Committee to evaluate the operations of the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office. He served as the Deputy General Counsel to the Independent William Webster Commission that investigated the response of the LAPD to civil disturbances following the Rodney King verdict from 1993-1994. In 1992, Mr. Handzlik served as the Counsel to the Independent Warren Christopher Commission, investigating issues of police brutality and racism in the LAPD.