James "Jim" P. McLoughlin, Jr.

Jim has dedicated his career to winning civil and criminal cases. He has prosecuted and defended dozens of appeals. Jim advocates for clients in regulatory and criminal investigations and cases conducted by the Department of Justice, the SEC, the IRS, the CFTC, and various state attorneys general among others. When an internal investigation is the best path forward, he brings all of his experience to the design and conduct of all aspects of the engagement.

Working with counsel in Europe, South America, and Asia he has represented clients engaged in internal investigations, regulatory and criminal investigations, as well as a range of civil cases and appeals. His international work has included Latin America, the U.K. and the European Union, as well as the Asia-Pacific region, including Hong Kong, Korea, Thailand, and Australia.

Regardless of the matter, Jim’s clients can expect careful planning, meticulous preparation, innovative analysis, transparent communication, and productive partnerships with advisors and co-counsel. Jim believes that there is no substitute for listening to his client, really listening.

Civil Litigation and Arbitration

Jim has prosecuted one of the few class actions brought against a defendant class under ERISA; tried a securities fraud class action to a jury; represented clients in antitrust class actions on subjects from collusion in the healthcare labor markets and international foreign exchange to mergers. He has prosecuted and defended dozens of arbitrations. Jim has successfully represented public companies and entrepreneurs in governance and shareholders rights disputes. He has litigated across the spectrum of business disputes and has long been a “go to” lawyer in complex cases. Jim’s priority is to be sure our client’s story is told clearly and well.

Investigations and Criminal Defense

Jim has defended clients in criminal and regulatory investigations, cases, and appeals across a remarkable range of subjects, including securities and commodities fraud, False Claims Act, antitrust, material support for a foreign terrorist organization, market manipulation, murder of a federal officer, bankruptcy fraud, tax fraud, racketeering, and conspiracy to assassinate a foreign head of state. Jim understands that in these matters absolutely everything matters. In a global economy, these matters are often cross-border and pursued by multiple countries’ authorities. Jim has the multi-dimensional perspective and experience to navigate them successfully.

Appellate 

Jim has represented clients in dozens of appeals in federal and state courts as well as international tribunals. He understands that a successful appeal demands incisive analysis of the issues that will make the difference because no client has the luxury of appealing every issue. He knows there is no substitute for clear, direct writing and oral advocacy.

Representative Experience

Civil

• Representing Royal Bank of Canada in In re Foreign Exchange Benchmark Rates Antitrust Litigation, (U.S.D.Ct. S.D.N.Y, 1:13-CV-07789-LGS), and Allianz v. Bank of America, et al., (U.S.D.Ct. S.D.N.Y. 1:18-cv-10364) and related foreign exchange cases
• Successful prosecution of class actions over the vesting of certain medical benefits under ERISA in U.S. district courts in Minnesota, Ohio and California. See, Rexam Inc. v. United Steel Workers of America, 2006 WL 2530304 (U.S. Dist. Ct., D. Minn.)
• Won a jury trial on behalf of a minority shareholder claiming breach of fiduciary duty, breach of contract, and theft of corporate assets. Blythe v. Bell (N.C. Sup. Ct. 11-cvs-933; 2012 NCBC 42 July 26, 2012)
• Won jury trial defending against claims of breach of contract, bad faith, and theft of intellectual property and defended the verdict on appeal. Robert A. Johns v. Rexam Medical Packaging, 2005 WL 1308319 (M.D. Ga. June 1, 2005), aff’d 2006 WL 1071854 (11th Cir. 2006)
• Won jury trial on directed verdict defending against claims of breach of contract, bad faith, and theft of intellectual property and defended the verdict on appeal. Robert A. Johns v. Rexam Medical Packaging, 2005 WL 1308319 (M.D. Ga. June 1, 2005), aff’d 2006 WL 1071854 (11th Cir. 2006)

• Successful defense of public company from fraud charges arising from merger. Lentine v. Fairpoint Communications, Inc., (Case No. 3:17-cv51 W.D.N.C. 2017)
• Represented a national healthcare company in the defense of an antitrust class action alleging price-fixing in the employment of hospital staff. Johnson v. Arizona Hospital and Healthcare Association (U.S.D.Ct., D.Az. 07-cv-01292)
• Won a FINRA arbitration defending a client against multi-million dollar Sarbanes-Oxley and state law claims brought by a terminated trading employee who alleged he was terminated for whistleblowing (Martin v. Banc of America Securities)
• Defended a national broker dealer against a class action arising from a criminal Ponzi scheme. Mancuso v. Charles R. Schwab & Co., (U.S. Dist. Ct., D.S.C., 2:07-cv-03852)

White Collar & Regulatory

• Defended the former CEO of a national poultry producer against criminal antitrust conspiracy charges alleging price-fixing and big rigging across three consecutive trials. United States v. Penn, et al., (Case No. 20-cr-00152-PAB-8 D.Colo. 2020-2022)
• Defended the first criminal fraud case and asset seizure brought by North Carolina state authorities related to cryptocurrencies. (State v. Calabro, (Sup. Ct. Guilford Co., N.C.18-CR-090131)
• Defended at trial the first VOIP provider indicted for alleged participation in a cross-border fraud conspiracy. United States v. Dodt, (U.S. D. Ct. W.D.N.C. 3:15-cr-00213)(2019)
• Principal counsel for a major U.S. international bank in response to the government investigations in the United States, Europe, and Asia-Pacific related to LIBOR and other reference rates
• Represented major U.S. financial institution in the investigation by and settlement with the DOJ and CFTC of market manipulation in the precious metals market
• Represented a national mortgage broker in a fraud action by the North Carolina Commissioner of Banks. State of North Carolina Commissioner of Banks v. W.R. Starkey Mortgage, (Sup. Ct. Wake County, N.C. 09-cvs-023513)
• Conducted a multi-jurisdictional international investigation on behalf of a client to respond to international regulatory inquiries regarding the Panama Papers
• Principal counsel for a major U.S. international bank in the government investigations in the United States, Europe, and Asia-Pacific related to foreign exchange trading
• Assisted an international bank client with the management of its litigation portfolio, including tax, civil, regulatory, and labor matters in South America.
• Successfully represented a client in a state attorney general investigation of sales practices by placement agents in dealings with state pension officials
• Represented the Bank of America Corporation in the investigation by and settlement with the attorney general of North Carolina arising from its merger with Merrill Lynch
• Conducted a successful, accelerated internal investigation of financial misreporting in a client's division to preserve the sale of the division
• Represented one of two defendants in the first anti-terrorism jury trial after the September 11 tragedy. U.S. v. Chawki Hammoud, (U.S. Dist. Ct., W.D.N.C. 3:00-cr-147)
• Represented defendant against multiple charges arising from conspiracy to assassinate the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia by the Libyan government. E.g., United States v. Alamoudi, (U.S. Dist. Ct. E.D.Va. 03-M-1009)

Civil & Criminal Appeals

• Successfully represented independent directors of Reynolds American arising from the acquisition of Lorillard by Reynolds American. Corwin v. British American Tobacco, PLC, et al., 796 S.E.2d 324 (N.C. App. 2016)
• Successful appeal defending challenged design patent. Vanguard Identification Systems, Inc. v. Kappos, 407 Fed. Appx. 479 (Fed. Cir. 2011)
• Successful defense on appeal of judgment of dismissal of claims arising from defaulted aircraft lease in Brazil. Paulicopter Cia. v. Bank of America, N.A., 182 A.D. 3d 458 (App. Div. First Dept. 2020)
• Represented petitioner in en banc appeal of denial of habeas corpus petition. Hammoud v. Ma’at, 2022 U.S. App. LEXIS 24793, 2022 WL 3904659 (5th Cir. August 31, 2022)(en banc)
• Successful appeal of sentence to the U.S. Supreme Court after en banc decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit (381 F. 3d 316). United States v. Mohamad Hammoud, 543 U.S. 1097 (2005)
• Challenged armed career criminal determination on Apprendi and definitional grounds in advance of Wooden v. United States, 142 S. Ct. 1063 (2022). United States v. Kevin Smith, 703 Fed. Appx. 174 (4th Cir. 2017)

Notable

• Legal 500 US, Corporate Investigations White-Collar Criminal Defense, 2024
• Named to Lawdragon’s 500 Leading Litigators in America list, 2022-2023, 2025
• Best Lawyers in America, Charlotte Litigation-Banking and Finance "Lawyer of the Year," 2012; Charlotte Litigation-Regulatory Enforcement (SEC, Telecom, Energy) "Lawyer of the Year," 2020, 2022, 2025
• Best Lawyers in America, Bet-the-Company Litigation; Commercial Litigation; Criminal Defense: White-Collar; Litigation - Banking & Finance; Litigation - Regulatory Enforcement (SEC, Telecom, Energy); Litigation - Securities, 2009-2025; Litigation - Mergers and Acquisitions, 2022, 2024-2025; Litigation - Antitrust, 2024-2025
• Chambers USA - North Carolina, Litigation: General Commercial, 2006-2024, Litigation: White-Collar Crime & Government Investigations, 2021-2024, (“He is a ‘fantastic litigator, who is very, very good at what he does….’”)
• Business North Carolina Legal Elite, Litigation, 2023
• Awarded the AV Preeminent™ Judicial Rating by Martindale-Hubbell
• Benchmark Litigation, "Local Litigation Star", Appellate, Civil, Criminal, Corporate Governance, General Commercial, Healthcare, Internal Investigations & Securities, 2010-2025
• Super Lawyers, "Top 100" list North Carolina, 2011, 2022-2024
• North Carolina Super Lawyers list, “Top Rated Business Litigation Attorney in Charlotte, NC”, 2006-2024
• North Carolina Pro Bono Honor Society, 2018-2023
• Recipient of the Sally and Bill Van Allen Public Service Award

News

Insights

Affiliations

• Law Clerk to Hon. Eugene Gordon, Senior Judge, United States District Court, Middle District of North Carolina
• Member, Board of Trustees, Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law
• Fellow of the American Bar Foundation
• American Bar Association
• North Carolina Bar Association
• New York State Bar Association
• National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers

Publications

Jim has published on a number of subjects:

• Challenging Prosecutors' Use Of Defendants' Jail Phone Calls, Jim Mcloughlin and Fielding Huseth, Law360, July 2024
• Challenging Prosecutorial Use of a Pretrial Detainee’s Electronic Communications, Jim Mcloughlin, Fielding Huseth, and Catherine Prater, University of Southern California Review of Law & Social Justice (Volume 33, Issue 1), March 2024
• In Loper Bright and Relentless, Supreme Court returns to high-stakes question of viability of the Chevron doctrine,  Jim Mcloughlin, Mary Katherine Stukes and Pierce Werner, Westlaw Today, a part of Thomson Reuters, November 7, 2023
• SUPREME COURT DRAMATICALLY EXPANDS SCOPE OF STATE COURT JURISDICTION OVER BUSINESSES, Kyle Jacob and Jim McLoughlin, Westlaw, July 25, 2023
• THE FOURTH CIRCUIT HAS THE LIBERAL RULE 33 INTERPRETATION, Tanisha Palvia and James P. McLoughlin, Bloomberg Law, July 18, 2023
• WHITE COLLAR ENFORCEMENT UNDER THE BIDEN ADMINISTRATION, commentary James P. McLoughlin, Jr. & John Fagg, Lawdragon, April 25, 2023
• 3RD CIRCUIT PANEL RAISES THE BAR ON RISK DISCLOSURES AS THE TREND TOWARDS GREATER DISCLOSURE CONTINUES, James P. McLoughlin, Jr. & Neil T. Bloomfield, Westlaw Today, March 30, 2021
• WHEN CORPORATE REPORTING CREATES CRIMINAL RISK: CIRCUIT COURT LIMITS CRIMINAL LIABILITY UNDER AMBIGUOUS REPORTING REQUIREMENTS, James P. McLoughlin, Jr. & Edward P. O'Keefe, Westlaw Today, Practitioner Insights Commentaries, 2021 prindbrf 0075, March 5, 2021
• FEDERAL DISCOVERY IN INTERNATIONAL ARBITRATION MAY BE HEADED FOR THE SUPREME COURT, James P. McLoughlin, Jr., North Carolina Lawyers Weekly, July 24, 2020
• INSIGHT: PROFFERS AND GOVERNMENT REPORTING—CAUSE FOR COMFORT AND CAUTION, James P. McLoughlin, Jr. & William Butler, Bloomberg Law, May 5, 2020

• FOURTH CIRCUIT FOREIGN DISCOVERY RULING CHAMPIONS INTERNATIONAL ARBITRATION, James P. McLoughlin, Jr., Law360, Expert Analysis, April 15, 2020

• NAVIGATING IMPLIED WAIVER OF THE ATTORNEY-CLIENT PRIVILEGE AFTER ADOPTION OF FEDERAL RULE 502 OF THE FEDERAL RULES OF EVIDENCE, James P. McLoughlin, Jr., Neil T. Bloomfield, Renee D.K. Miller & Tonya L. Mercer, 67 N.Y.U. Ann. Survey American L. 693, 2012
• DECONSTRUCTING UNITED STATES SENTENCING GUIDELINES SECTION 3A1.4: SENTENCING FAILURE IN CASES OF FINANCIAL SUPPORT FOR FOREIGN TERRORIST ORGANIZATIONS, 28 Minnesota J. of Law & Inequality. 51, 2010

His writings have been cited by a number of courts as contributing to the rationale for decisions, including U.S. district courts in Colorado and California:

• United States v. Alhaggagi, 372 F. Supp. 3d 1005, 2019 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 37889, 2019 WL 1102991
• United States v. Muhtorov, 329 F. Supp. 3d 1289, 2018 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 148175, 2018 WL 4148262
• United States v. Jumaev, 2018 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 119916, 2018 WL 3490886

His writings have been cited by in a number of publications, including the Yale Law Journal, the Harvard Journal on Legislation, and the Cornell Journal of Law and Public Policy. Here is a sampling:

• Article: FAILING TO KEEP THE CAT IN THE BAG: A DECENNIAL ASSESSMENT OF FEDERAL RULE OF EVIDENCE 502'S IMPACT ON FORFEITURE OF LEGAL PRIVILEGE UNDER CUSTOMARY WAIVER DOCTRINE, 68 Clev. St. L. Rev. 637
• Article: PROTECTING THE ATTORNEY-CLIENT PRIVILEGE IN BUSINESS NEGOTIATIONS: WOULD THE APPLICATION OF THE SUBJECT-MATTER WAIVER DOCTRINE REALLY DRIVE ATTORNEYS FROM THE BARGAINING TABLE?, 51 Duq. L. Rev. 167
• Article: THE YATES MEMO: LOOKING FOR "INDIVIDUAL ACCOUNTABILITY" IN ALL THE WRONG PLACES, 102 Iowa L. Rev. 1897
• Article: WHY DYLANN ROOF IS A TERRORIST UNDER FEDERAL LAW, AND WHY IT MATTERS, 54 Harv. J. on Legis. 259
• Article: IS HISTORY REPEATING ITSELF? SENTENCING YOUNG AMERICAN MUSLIMS IN THE WAR ON TERROR, 126 Yale L.J. 1520
• Article: AVOIDING THE TERRORISM ENHANCEMENT, 43 Champion 24
• Article: PUNISHING CRIMES OF TERROR IN ARTICLE III COURTS, 31 Yale L. & Pol'y Rev. 309
• Article: PUNISHING TERRORISTS: CONGRESS, THE SENTENCING COMMISSION, THE GUIDELINES, AND THE COURTS, 23 Cornell J. L. & Pub. Pol'y 517