Overview
Lauren Valiente is a securities, auditor liability, and white-collar government enforcement defense attorney with Foley & Lardner LLP. Her practice focuses on representing public companies and their officers and directors, audit firms and their partners, and private entities and individuals in investigations and proceedings involving the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Department of Justice (DOJ), Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB), Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA), and other government and non-government agencies. As a fluent Spanish-speaking attorney, her enforcement experience includes representing clients in connection with government investigations throughout Latin America involving alleged violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA). She serves as a member of the Foley’s Environmental, Social, and Corporate Governance (ESG) Team.
In addition to representing individual and corporate clients before government regulators, she also represents clients in a variety of complex litigation matters, including False Claims Act (FCA) litigation, securities fraud class actions, and shareholder derivative actions. She has extensive experience leading large-scale internal investigations into allegations of corporate misconduct, including international investigations throughout Latin America, China and India. She also regularly advises companies and their committees and directors, on a wide range of corporate governance issues and assists clients in building and enhancing their corporate compliance programs.
Representative Matters
- SEC Enforcement. Represented a health technology company in an SEC investigation into allegations of securities fraud relating to representations made to investors in connection with a private placement offering.
- Securities Litigation. Represented a publicly traded health insurance industry client in stock-drop securities fraud class action litigation involving claims relating to representations made to investors in public filings.
- Auditor Liability Defense. Represented an international member of a national accounting firm in a PCAOB investigation involving allegations of failing to cooperate with a PCAOB inspection.
- False Claims Act. Represented a pharmaceutical company in a False Claims Act matter regarding off-label promotion and anti-kickback issues.
- Foreign Corrupt Practice Act. Represented a Mexican national senior executive with respect to parallel DOJ and SEC FCPA investigations of the executive's employer, the Mexican subsidiary of a U.S. based multinational retail corporation.
- Internal Investigations. Conducted an internal investigation for a publicly traded health technology company into employee misconduct issues involving the theft of trade secrets and violations of non-compete agreements.
- Corporate Compliance Counseling. Designed and implemented an FCPA compliance program for a U.S. based company with subsidiaries in India and continues to assist the client in performing annual anti-corruption compliance assessments.
Selected Publications, Presentations, and Media
- Presenter, “Robinhood: The Risks of Gamification,” Southeastern Women in Financial Services (August 31, 2021)
- Co-Author, “Supreme Court Clarifies, but Declines to Significantly Alter, Class Certification Battleground in Securities-Fraud Class Actions,” Foley Insights Blog (July 1, 2021)
- Panelist, 2019 Tampa Bay Women in Leadership Symposium (March 29, 2019)
- Author, “Easing the Cuban Embargo: Automotive Industry Unlikely to Realize Any Immediate Benefit,” Dashboard Insights (January 2015)
- Co-Author, “Analysis: Easing the Cuban Embargo: U.S. Businesses Should Engage in Cuba with Three Caveats in Mind,” Cuba Standard (January 2015)
Education
Lauren received her bachelor’s degree from Harvard University in 2000, with honors, and received her law degree from the University of Florida, Levin College of Law (J.D., magna cum laude, 2006), where she was managing editor for the Journal of Law and Public Policy and elected to the Order of the Coif.
Community Involvement and Professional Memberships
Lauren serves on the board of directors of HCI Group, Inc., a Florida-based publicly traded company that, through its subsidiaries, is engaged in property and casualty insurance, reinsurance, real estate and information technology. She also serves on the board of directors of The Tampa Bay Chamber of Commerce where she currently serves on the Executive Committee as Legal Counsel and also serves on the Policy Council and Workforce Housing Committee. She is a past Co-Chair of the Chamber’s Policy Advisory Committee, past Chair of Stageworks Theatre, and past Chair of the University of South Florida’s (USF) Latin Community Advisory Committee.
Lauren is also a member of the Latino Corporate Directors Association, Women Corporate Directors, Southeastern Women in Financial Services, the Federal Bar Association, and the Harvard Club of New York.
Recognition
Lauren was selected for inclusion on the Florida Super Lawyers – Rising Stars® lists in 2012 - 2017. In 2016, she graduated from the Tampa Bay Chamber’s Leadership Tampa program and was selected as one of three finalists for the Deanne Dewey Roberts Emerging Leader Award. In 2007, she received the Tampa Bay Business Journal’s "30 Under 30" award which recognizes the top 30 young professionals in the Tampa Bay business community.
Admissions
Lauren is admitted to practice in Florida and before the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals, the United States District Courts for the Northern, Middle, and Southern Districts of Florida and the United States District Court for the District of Colorado.