Nicole M. Argentieri
Partner
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Nicole Argentieri is a skilled litigator and former federal prosecutor. Her practice focuses on advising corporations, board members, and executives with respect to internal investigations, criminal defense, regulatory compliance, and related civil litigation. She also has significant recent experience conducting investigations involving allegations of sexual misconduct and harassment, and representing individuals in connection with those investigations, drawing on her role in prosecuting sexual abuse and civil rights cases at the US Attorney’s Office.
As a testament to Nicole’s talent, she was recently recognized by Crain’s New York Business in its list of 2019 Notable Women In Law, which honors “…the achievements of the brightest and boldest legal minds” and ranked among the “Up and Coming” lawyers in Litigation: White-Collar Crime & Government Investigations by Chambers USA.
Prior to joining O’Melveny, Nicole served for a decade as an Assistant US Attorney in the US Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York and as Chief of the Public Integrity Section for the last two years. As Public Integrity Chief, Nicole was the EDNY’s primary liaison with its anti-corruption law enforcement partners, including the Department of Justice, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the New York City Department of Investigation, and the New York State Attorney General. During her years in EDNY, Nicole has also held multiple other supervisory positions, leading both the General Crimes Section and the Organized Crime & Gangs Section at different times. In her role leading the General Crimes Section, she trained and supervised over a dozen new prosecutors on the fundamentals of criminal prosecution.
During her decade-long tenure as a prosecutor, Nicole led and supervised numerous complex investigations and prosecutions, including those involving official corruption, the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, the Patriot Act, and mail and wire fraud, securities fraud, money laundering, and bribery offenses. She tried nine jury trials to verdict, including multiple racketeering cases, a death penalty case, and most recently, a civil rights case charging a Bureau of Prisons lieutenant with the repeated sexual assault of a female inmate under his supervision. In these matters, Nicole coordinated with, among others, the Securities and Exchange Commission, the FBI, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, the Internal Revenue Service, and various foreign, federal, state, and local prosecutors, regulators, and law enforcement agencies.
In 2017, the New York City Bar Association awarded Nicole the Henry L. Stimson medal for Outstanding Prosecution. That same year, she received the Federal Law Enforcement Foundation’s Prosecutor of the Year Award.
Before entering public service, Nicole spent five years in the white collar practice of a major international law firm. In that role, she represented both individuals and corporations in federal and state enforcement proceedings and conducted internal investigations on matters related to potential fraud, revenue manipulation, and banking violations.
Between 2014 and 2018, Nicole served as a Lecturer in Law at Columbia University Law School, co-teaching two courses on federal litigation and federal criminal prosecutions.
Corporate & Government Experience
- Assistant US Attorney, US Attorney's Office, Eastern District of New York (2007-2017)
Honors & Awards
- Ranked “Up and Coming” by Chambers USA in Litigation: White-Collar Crime & Government Investigations
- Recognized by The Legal 500 US for Corporate Investigations & White-Collar Criminal Defense (2020)
Admissions
Bar Admissions
- New York
Court Admissions
- US Court of Appeals, Second Circuit
- US District Court, Eastern and Southern Districts of New York
Education
- University of Pennsylvania Law School, J.D. cum laude
- Columbia University, B.A., English
Professional Activities
Externships
- Columbia University Law School, Lecturer in Law, Federal Prosecution Externship (2014 — Present)
- Columbia University Law School, Lecturer in Law, Federal Litigation Judicial Externship (2014 — Present)
Author
- “Federal Public Corruption Prosecution After ‘Bridgegate’,” The New York Law Journal with Matt Cowan (June 2020)
- “Legalized sports gambling: Anti-money laundering compliance,” Westlaw Journal Bank & Lender Liability with Irwin Raij, Steve Olson, Eric Sibbitt, Jeremy Maltby, Laurel Loomis Rimon, and Marjorie B. Truwit (October 2018)
- “Tipping Liability in the Wake of ‘Martoma II’,”New York Law Journal (September 2018)
Speaking Engagements
- “Building Transnational Corruption Cases,” Columbia Law School Global Cities III (June 20, 2019)
Private Practice Experience
- Led multiple company and university MeToo investigations into allegations involving sexual harassment and retaliation
- Represent a foreign commodities trading company in a U.S. Department of Justice FCPA investigation involving allegations of bribery of foreign officials
- Represented an international ride-sharing company in a multi-jurisdictional FCPA bribery investigation, which DOJ closed without making adverse findings
- Represent the audit committee of a publicly traded company in an independent investigation into a whistleblower complaint alleging accounting improprieties and auditor independence issues
- Defended a financial institution in weeks-long FINRA arbitration that resulted in full dismissal of complaint
- Represented a leading global property management company in an investigation into alleged corruption by the Port Authority of NY/NJ and the New York Attorney General’s Office
- Represented a major financial institution in connection with federal grand jury subpoenas and a civil lawsuit related to an alleged Ponzi scheme
- Represented a professional sports team in multiple investigations into allegations of sexual misconduct
- Represented the Board of Trustees of a university in a high profile investigation involving allegations of sexual misconduct and related governance issues
Government Experience
- Supervised numerous investigations and prosecutions involving allegations of official corruption, fraud, bribery, and misappropriation of government funds
- Led investigations involving violations of the Patriot Act, violations of the FCPA, securities fraud, and mail and wire fraud by companies, financial institutions, and senior executives
- Led the investigation and prosecution of over fifty members and associates of the mafia on charges of racketeering, murder, extortion, robbery, narcotics trafficking, wire fraud, and money laundering
- Successfully briefed and argued federal appeals before the Second Circuit