PATRICK T. O'BRIEN

Patrick O'Brien spent 26 years as a Special Agent in the U.S. Treasury Department prior to joining the Firm, and occupied numerous positions, including Special Agent in Charge of South Florida and the Caribbean, and Assistant Regional Commissioner New York, where his responsibilities included combating money laundering, and drug smuggling.

Areas of Experience

• U.S. compliant internet gaming
• Offshore banking
• Money laundering detection and prevention
• White collar crime

Significant Representations

• Represents offshore gaming operators in addressing issues relating to U.S. gambling and money laundering laws.
• Represents U.S. based Internet portals and advertising agencies involved in marketing Internet gaming sites.
• Represents transaction processors and money services businesses in addressing legal issues associated with the processing of offshore gaming transactions.
• Represents foreign financial institutions in addressing legal and business risks associated with providing loans to offshore gaming companies.
• From 1997 through 1999 lived in Antigua, assisted the Government of Antigua and Barbuda in drafting offshore banking, money laundering and offshore gaming legislation, and supervising the nation's offshore financial industry.
• In 2000, assisted the Government of Panama in drafting banking and money laundering legislation so as to be removed from the FATF list of Non-Cooperative Countries and Territories.

Professional & Community Involvement

• Member, International Masters of Gaming Law (IMGL)
• Member, ABA Florida Regional Subcommittee on White Collar Crime
• Member, Florida Bar International Law Section
• Member, Board of Directors of the Port Everglades Association

Articles, Publications & Lectures

Articles

• "The Caribbean Basin," Internet Gambling Report V, 2003
• Co-Author, "Secrecy Associated with Offshore Banking Is Evaporating," The Banking Law Journal, September 2002 (co-author Barbara Kaplan)
• Author, "Tracking Narco-Dollars: The Evolution of a Potent Weapon in the Drug War", 21 Inter-American L. Rev. 637 (1990) (selected for publication by Westlaw)

Speeches

• Speaker, "Banking: The Consequences of Non-Compliance," Due Diligence and Asset Recovery Symposium, 2004
• Speaker, "The Legal Liability of U.S. Persons Providing Services to Internet Gaming Businesses," The Interactive Gaming and Entertainment Forum, September 2003
• Speaker, "Update on U.S. Gambling Laws," Olswang Gambling Conference, February 2007
• Speaker, Emergency Briefing: Online Gambling & the U.S., for World Online Gambling Law Report, August 2006
• Panelist, "Examining the Operational Impact of Regulation: How does the Current Regulatory Environment Affect Investment Opportunities?" 2006 Gaming Investor Conference
• Speaker, "Advertising Internet Gaming in the United States" World Online Gaming Law Report Summer Retreat, 2005
• Panelist, "U.S. Patriot Act," The Society of Professional Journalists' Region Three Conference, March 2004
• Panelist, "International Efforts to Combat Money Laundering," Annual Meeting of the Association of Anti-Money Laundering Specialist, October 2003

Education

• J.D., cum laude, University of Miami School of Law, 1990
  • Order of the Coif
  • Associate Editor, Inter-American Law Review
• M.A., Criminal Justice, John Jay College of Criminal Justice, City University of New York, 1976
• B.S., Physics, Wheeling Jesuit University, 1964

Admitted to Practice

• Florida
• U.S. Court of Appeals, Fifth Circuit
• U.S. Court of International Trade
• U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida

BEN J. HAYES

LYNN V. CRAVEY

JUDITH A. JARVIS

FLORIDA