Colin C Bridge
Counsel, New York
Colin C Bridge
Counsel, New York
Colin Bridge has experience in white collar defense and regulatory enforcement, multinational FCPA investigations, securities litigation, complex commercial litigation, internal investigations, bankruptcy litigation, and accountants’ liability.
Colin is a graduate of Northwestern University School of Law, where he was an Associate Editor of the Northwestern University Law Review. Prior to joining the firm, he was an associate at Davis Polk & Wardwell.
He has been named one of New York’s Super Lawyers for business litigation each year since 2017, and before that was recognized as a Rising Star.
Colin Bridge has experience in white collar defense and regulatory enforcement, multinational FCPA investigations, securities litigation, complex commercial litigation, internal investigations, bankruptcy litigation, and accountants’…
Education
Northwestern University School of Law (J.D. 2002); St. John's College (B.A. 1991)
Bar Admissions
New York State; U.S. District Courts for the Southern and Eastern Districts of New York
Activities and Affiliations
Member, New York City Bar Association (E-Discovery Working Group)
Litigation
Representation of a big four accounting firm, the outside auditor of a company accused of accounting fraud, in connection with an SEC investigation including document review, drafting response to the SEC’s inquiries, and preparation of witnesses for SEC interviews.
Representation of a national pharmacy chain in connection with a securities class action as well as a subsequent SEC enforcement proceeding. The representation included working with a big four accounting firm’s audit team, document production, SEC interviews, defending depositions, and drafting a Wells submission.
A Cohen & Gresser litigation team led by Mark S Cohen and Jonathan S Abernethy recently won a major victory in a high profile Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) case on behalf of client, Vanja Baros, a former investment analyst with hedge fund Och-Ziff (one of the world’s largest publicly traded hedge funds). In July, a federal court in New York dismissed the SEC’s entire complaint against Baros and his co-defendant, and the SEC recently declined to appeal the court’s decision, which is therefore final.
Global Investigations Review (GIR) has nominated Cohen & Gresser for its Most Important Court Case of the Year award for C&G’s major victory in a high profile FCPA case on behalf of a former investment analyst with international hedge fund Och-Ziff. A federal court in New York dismissed the SEC’s entire complaint against our client and his co-defendant, and the SEC declined to appeal. Mark S Cohen and Jonathan S Abernethy led the C&G team, which also included S Gale Dick, Colin C Bridge, and Reggie B Schafer.
The long arm of U.S. law can be seen clearly in recent enforcement of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act or FCPA, a criminal law prohibiting bribery of non-U.S. government officials. Companies whose operations even remotely touch the U.S. and who therefore could come within the FCPA’s jurisdiction should consider implementing anti-corruption compliance programs to prevent, detect, and remediate violations. Such programs can be a key mitigating factor in U.S. regulators’ decisions whether to bring an enforcement action or in the penalties sought if an action is brought.
The Guide addresses several key issues arising from the FCPA on which multinationals have long sought guidance, including (i) the elements of an effective anti-corruption compliance program; (ii) gifts and entertainment expenses; (iii) facilitating payments; (iv) the FCPA's broad definition of "foreign official"; (v) successor liability when a company merges with or acquires another company that has committed acts of bribery; and (vi) FCPA jurisdiction over foreign companies that do not trade on U.S. exchanges.