James "Jim" P. McLoughlin, Jr.

The services Mr. McLoughlin provides to his diverse clients include: complex business litigation; corporate investigations; securities litigation and arbitration; class action litigation; and criminal defense. 

Mr. McLoughlin has extensive litigation and arbitration experience, including arbitrations before the NASD, the NYSE, the American Arbitration Association, and the International Chamber of Commerce; trials and appeals in numerous states; and international matters.

Mr. McLoughlin is currently representing clients under investigation related to financial matters by the Department of Justice, the SEC, the CFTC, the North Carolina Attorney General, and other U.S. agencies, as well as the U.K. Financial Services Authority.

He assists a client with the management of its litigation portfolio, including tax, civil, regulatory and labor matters in South America.

Recent internal investigations and criminal matters include:

• He recently represented a healthcare company in the defense of an anti-trust class action in Arizona arising from alleged price-fixing by hospitals in the hiring and payment of hospital staff.
• In 2009, Mr. McLoughlin represented a defendant in a federal criminal fraud case arising from a multi-national, multi-million dollar telephone sweepstakes fraud. 
• After conducting an internal investigation of a whistleblower’s allegations of misconduct, he won an arbitration defending a client against multi-million dollar Sarbanes-Oxley and state law claims brought by the terminated employee, who alleged he was terminated because he was a whistleblower.
• He represented the Bank of America Corporation in connection with the investigation of that corporation's merger with Merrill Lynch and related matters by the Attorney General of North Carolina.
• Representing a public company client in an investigation by the SEC and others arising from the company’s restatement of earnings.
• He supervised and conducted an internal investigation for a health care client during the sale of one of its operations when allegations of fraudulent recognition of revenue and lack of internal controls were made in the division to be sold.
• He conducted an internal investigation of a public company client’s securities reporting and management procedures when the company determined unregistered shares had been sold to the public, and the resolution of those issues with the SEC.
• He conducted an internal investigation in response to an SEC investigation regarding allegations of insider trading by a public company’s CEO.
• Mr. McLoughlin conducted an internal investigation in response to allegations an employee of a financial institution was embezzling.  That investigation led to civil and criminal charges against the employee. 
• Recently, Mr. McLoughlin supervised an internal investigation on behalf of an international medical device manufacturer into allegations individuals affiliated with the company endangered patients’ safety in procedures conducted outside the United States as the result of the knowing misuse of certain medical equipment.

Notable

• Named to Lawdragon’s 500 Leading Litigators in America list, 2022
• 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
• 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, 2009-2023; Litigation - Mergers and Acquisitions, 2022
• Chambers USA - North Carolina, Litigation: General Commercial, 2006-2022, Litigation: White-Collar Crime & Government Investigations, 2021-2022, (“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, 2010-2023
• Super Lawyers, "Top 100" list North Carolina, 2011, 2022-2023
• North Carolina Super Lawyers list, “Top Rated Business Litigation Attorney in Charlotte, NC”, 2006-2023
• North Carolina Pro Bono Honor Society, 2018-2021
• 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:

• 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