Nicole M. Argentieri

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.

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