Quarles Boosts Government Enforcement Defense Team With Addition of Former Assistant U.S. Attorney Eric Pruitt as Partner
The national law firm of Quarles & Brady LLP announced today that Eric Pruitt, who spent more than a decade as a federal prosecutor, has joined the firm’s Litigation & Dispute Resolution Practice Group as a partner in the firm’s Chicago office.
The impressive growth of the firm’s existing white collar defense practice has led Quarles, with the addition of Pruitt, to establish a formal Government Enforcement Defense and Investigations team. Pruitt will co-chair the group with Kirti Vaidya Reddy, a partner in the Quarles Washington office who was a federal prosecutor in the Southern District of New York (SDNY) for 16 years before joining the firm.
Pruitt advises in-house counsel and management on global and internal investigations, as well as responses to government investigations and enforcement actions. He is experienced with cases involving the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, False Claims Act, Stark Act and Anti-Kickback Statute; fraud in the areas of government contracting, securities and tax; environmental crime and public corruption; and litigation and investigations related to health care fraud and abuse.
“Eric has deep experience with white collar, civil and criminal defense matters, combined with long-standing, meaningful working relationships with federal and state enforcement agencies and regulators,” said Josh Maggard, national chair of the Quarles Litigation & Dispute Resolution Group. “This makes him especially qualified to provide valuable guidance to existing clients while helping us continue to grow our Government Enforcement Defense practice.”
Most recently, Pruitt was a partner at a Chicago boutique firm known for its work with white collar, civil and criminal defense matters. Before that, he served as an assistant U.S. attorney in Chicago for 12 years, including several years as a member of the Health Care Fraud Unit within the office’s Financial Crimes Section.
“Coming to Quarles presents me with a unique opportunity to expand the firm’s Government Enforcement Defense and Investigations practice and collaborate with the firm’s national team of all-stars across its practice groups,” said Pruitt. “Quarles has expanded into three new markets in the past year - San Diego, Denver and St. Louis - and I’m excited to add to the firm’s existing strengths and contribute to its dynamic growth.”
Pruitt earned his B.A. from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, his M.A. from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and his J.D. from the University of Illinois Chicago John Marshall Law School.