McDermott Will & Schulte, a global law firm

Raminta Dereskeviciute focuses her practice on product compliance, trade regulation (sanctions and export controls) and ESG. She has significant experience in advising on EU and UK chemical legislation (REACH), product safety and liability rules and frequently represents clients before the European Chemicals Agency Board of Appeal. Raminta also advises businesses on the implications Brexit has in relation to a range of regulatory compliance issues.

Raminta counsels clients on the EU and the UK sanctions regimes and export controls, including in higher risk jurisdictions such as Russia and Iran. Her experience covers the review and design of compliance programs, including giving training to client teams on controlled goods, prohibited jurisdictions, persons and activities. Raminta assists companies in liaising with regulators when assessing whether their activities are in breach of EU or UK sanctions regimes, or whether authorisations / licenses from the national authorities are appropriate. Raminta has participated as a chair and speaker on sanctions related panels at the Cambridge International Symposium on Economic Crime.

Raminta has a peerless grasp of EU chemicals, metals and mining policy, including conflict minerals legislation and the issues surrounding ethical supply chain management for these industries. She also advises companies and trade associations on the European Commission’s Chemical Strategy for Sustainability, building upon her long standing experience on legislative developments in the field of chemicals (REACH, CLP, GHS, WFD, Seveso III, RoHS, WEEE and others).  Raminta devises compliance and crisis management programs and assists global industrial products manufacturers with international product recalls. Raminta featured  in Chemical Watch, Bloomberg Environment and numerous other publications discussing EU chemicals and environmental policy, industry compliance and Member State enforcement as well as implications that Brexit will have on various stakeholders. She is a contributor to the most comprehensive book published on REACH, “Best Practice Guide to Regulation (EC) No 1907/2006”, by Beck/Hart.

Advises on anti-money laundering and sanctions regulatory compliance matters.

Melissa advises banks, broker-dealers, investment advisers, funds, insurance companies and money services businesses, including those involved in global e-commerce and virtual currency, on the anti-money laundering and sanctions regulations, rules, and related issues governing their investment and business activities.

She has particular experience with issues arising out of the Bank Secrecy Act, as amended by the USA PATRIOT Act, the AML Act of 2020, and the Corporate Transparency Act.

Before joining McDermott Will & Schulte, Melissa was an attorney-advisor with the US Department of the Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN). At FinCEN, she assisted in the development of anti-money laundering regulations and guidance and served as counsel on enforcement actions involving issues such as failure to implement and maintain an adequate anti-money laundering compliance program, failure to register as a money services business and failure to maintain confidentiality of suspicious activity reports.

In recognition of Melissa’s significant accomplishments during her Treasury career, Melissa received the Secretary’s Meritorious Service Award, which honors individuals whose achievements are substantial and significantly advance the Treasury Department’s mission.

She is recognized as a “Rising Star” in Washington DC Super Lawyers.

Todd Harrison focuses his practice on white-collar and corporate defense, internal investigations, regulatory and compliance matters, and complex civil litigation in state and federal courts, including the defense of Foreign Corrupt Practices Act cases and the defense of companies and executives charged with violating various international sanctions regimes, including the US government sanctions on Iran. He has represented numerous companies facing government investigations, prosecutions and enforcement actions from both state and federal agencies, including the US Department of Justice (DOJ), US attorneys and state attorneys general offices, the Treasury Department, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA), various congressional committees of the US House and Senate, the Inspectors General of numerous federal agencies, the US Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB – formerly ATF), as well as the New York State Attorney General’s office, the New York State Department of Taxation and Finance and the New York State Department of Financial Services.

Todd is a critical member of McDermott’s industry-leading Cryptocurrency practice. Todd has been instrumental in gaining favorable resolutions for numerous large companies in the cryptocurrency industry, in relation to fraud and regulatory investigations by the DOJ, the SEC, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), and the Treasury Department.

Todd has been first-chair in more than forty trials in federal and state courts and has filed appellate briefs and conducted appellate arguments in more than a dozen cases in the US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. Todd has been named a “Litigation Star” by Benchmark Litigation.

In August 2015, Todd was named the national “Litigator of the Week” by American Lawyer for the rare defense trial win he secured in a federal insider trading case. Todd's client was a hedge fund manager who faced 36 counts of securities fraud, wire fraud and conspiracy related to an alleged insider trading scheme. At trial in federal district court, Todd won a full acquittal of all 36 counts, vindicating his client and saving his client from a potential maximum of 25 years in jail. Todd has won on every single count of all 12 of the federal trials in which he has served as lead chair.

Previously, Todd served for more than five years as an Assistant US Attorney and Deputy Chief for the US Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York and as an Assistant District Attorney for the New York County District Attorney’s Office. In 2003, the DOJ recognized Todd’s outstanding trial work in a racketeering case with the Director’s Award for Superior Performance by an Assistant US Attorney. He has handled complex and high-profile matters involving federal and state crimes, including insider trading, securities violations, sanctions violations, racketeering, conspiracy, money laundering, bank fraud, mortgage fraud, export control violations, tax fraud, bankruptcy fraud, bribery, environmental crimes, terrorist financing, mail and wire fraud, health care fraud, obstruction of justice, false statements, murder and public corruption.

From January 2011 to October 2012, Todd served as chief counsel of the Energy & Commerce Committee of the US House of Representatives, where he was responsible for oversight and investigations covering the energy, health care, telecommunications and environmental sectors. He oversaw complex investigations of private-sector companies and government agencies, including the US Department of Energy, the Federal Trade Commission, the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission, the US Department of Commerce, the US Department of Health and Human Services, the US Food and Drug Administration, the US Environmental Protection Agency, the Federal Communications Commission, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, the Consumer Products Safety Commission and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

Todd is also a member of our legal cannabis industry group. Our Cannabis Industry group is a multidisciplinary team of lawyers providing clients with regulatory, litigation, intellectual property, trade and tax services with respect to their investments and participation in the cannabis industry, all subject to the Firm’s obligations under federal and state laws and bar licensure rules.