Ayako Russell

Ayako's criminal defense and investigations practice involves representing public and private corporations and business professionals in response to criminal or regulatory investigations. She has experience defending foreign individuals in Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) and money laundering matters, as well as representing government contractors and individual employees during criminal investigations of public corruption, including grand jury testimony. Ayako has assisted with anticorruption due diligence for multiple Fortune 500 companies in global mergers and acquisitions and conducted numerous internal investigations into allegations of employee misconduct, fraud or other business crimes, including potential violations of US trade sanctions and FCPA.  Complementing her experience representing clients in internal investigations, Ayako has represented professional athletes and other high-net-worth individuals in their business and personal ventures, such as asset recovery for those who are the victims of fraud and violations of trust.

Ayako also practices in the Litigation Practice, where she focuses on complex commercial matters, including consumer class actions, arbitration proceedings, contract disputes, business torts, property matters and product liability. She has experience litigating on behalf of employers in discrimination, harassment, retaliation and wrongful termination cases as well as assisting with in-house counsel in the review, renegotiation and revision of existing third-party supplier contracts.

Prior to joining the firm, Ayako was a law clerk at a Cleveland-based law firm assisting primarily in creditor representation and insurance subrogation.

Ayako regularly writes articles on the firm's blogs and with specialized press. She is a member of the Federal Bar Association, Florida Bar Association, and Cleveland Metropolitan Bar Association.