Valecia M. McDowell

Co-head of White Collar, Regulatory Defense & Investigations; Co-head of DEI Advice, Audits & Assessments

Valecia McDowell is a national thought leader in the areas of governmental and internal investigations, conduct risk management, and civil rights and racial equity assessments. Valecia is ranked in Chambers USA and Best Lawyers, included in national publications such as Bloomberg, American Banker, Corporate Compliance Insights, and Inside Counsel, and was one of the ten “Innovative Legal Practitioners” identified by the London-based Financial Times in 2023. For more than 25 years Valecia has brought her candor, pragmaticism, and diligence to bear on behalf of her clients, establishing herself as a go-to attorney in the investigations arena. Valecia has experience conducting large scale internal and governmental investigations reviews across the United States, Europe, Asia, and South America, with specific knowledge and experience in the areas of consumer finance, financial crimes, and employee conduct risk, including practice and company-wide reviews and racial equity assessments. Valecia has represented clients in disputes, investigations, and negotiations involving domestic authorities, such as the Federal Reserve Board, OCC, CFPB, DOJ, SEC, HUD, FINRA, CFTC, DOA, OIG, Congress, State Attorneys General in the United States, and international authorities, such as the U.K. Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), the Japanese Financial Services Agency (JFSA), and the Comissão de Valores Mobiliarios (the Brazilian Securities Commission). She frequently uses her years of project management experience to lead sensitive, confidential internal investigations and civil rights reviews and assessments for Fortune 500 companies and recently led the team that published a racial equity audit report for CoreCivic, the largest private operator of corrections and detention facilities in the US. Over the past year, the London-based Financial Times identified Valecia as one of ten “Innovative Legal Practitioners” in North America and Lawdragon listed her as one of the Top 500 Lawyers in America for her achievements in governmental investigations and civil rights. Valecia has also served as a guest instructor at the Duke University School of Law, teaching a course on internal investigations, and has frequently been selected to speak regarding conduct risk management at the SIFMA C&L Annual Seminar. Valecia has also written or been featured in articles published by Bloomberg, American Banker, Corporate Compliance Insights, and Inside Counsel on the topics of internal investigations, financial services compliance, and risk management.