December 2009
Danny Onorato, David Schertler, Veronica Jennings, and Lisa Hertzer Schertler obtained a dismissal of all charges against their client, Dustin L. Heard, a Blackwater security contractor, in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia. In a landmark 90 page decision, the Honorable Ricardo M. Urbina found that prosecutors and agents improperly used the compelled statements of Mr. Heard and four codefendants, thereby violating the defendants’ constitutional rights and requiring the dismissal of the indictment against all the defendants.
December 2009
Lisa Fishberg secures the dismissal of a civil lawsuit in the D.C. Superior Court, filed against our client, a third–party defendant in a legal malpractice lawsuit. Schertler & Onorato’s client, a highly experienced local attorney, was sued by his former client’s predecessor counsel for contribution and indemnifcation. Following oral argument, the court granted Ms. Fishberg’s Rule 12(b)(6) motion to dismiss.
November 2009
Schertler & Onorato obtained a dismissal of all charges on behalf of a former insurance executive charged in multi–million dollar price fixing case in New York. The case, originally brought by then Attorney–General Eliot Spitzer and later Andrew Cuomo, alleged that major insurance firms and insurance brokers engaged in unfair business practices in a massive bid rigging scheme. Schertler & Onorato obtained a dismissal of some of the original charges in 2007 and obtained the dismissal of all remaining charges on November 19th. Read the story.
November 2009
David Schertler has been recognized by Washingtonian Magazine as one of the Top 30 lawyers in the Washington, D.C. area, home to more than 80,000 lawyers.
November 2009
David Schertler and Danny Onorato have been named elite criminal defense attorneys in the Washington D.C. area by Washingtonian Magazine.
October 2009
Schertler & Onorato obtained a Rule 29 Judgment of Acquittal on all charges for client in massive white collar investigation in the US District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia. Following a two year investigation and a month long trial, the Schertler & Onorato trial team obtained the Rule 29 dismissal of the Indictment. Our client was a seminar speaker for a national publicly traded seminar company. The US Attorney’s Office, with the FBI and US Postal Inspectors, alleged a multimillion dollar fraud with over ten thousand victims.
October 2009
David Dickieson completed the presentation of evidence in a complex case in the US Tax Court involving secret Swiss bank accounts. A decision in the case is expected in early 2010. Mr. Dickieson has been on the forefront of the turmoil involving the implosion of the Swiss bank, UBS, as a tax haven for wealthy Americans.
October 2009
Schertler & Onorato, representing former United States Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, secured the dismissal of a federal civil lawsuit. Schertler & Onorato successfully argued that the plaintiffs, Justice Department applicants who alleged discrimination, had no legally cognizable claim against Attorney General Gonzales. Read the story.
October 2009
David Schertler has been named a "rising star" in the area of corporate compliance by The Ethisphere Institute on its Attorneys Who Matter list, which recognizes leading legal professionals that have excelled in and made a significant contribution to the corporate compliance arena. The research–based Ethisphere Institute is a leading international think–tank dedicated to the creation, advancement and sharing of best practices in business ethics, corporate social responsibility, anti–corruption and sustainability.
October 2009
David Schertler and Danny Onorato have been selected for inclusion in 2010 edition of The Best Lawyers in America. Best Lawyers is among the most respected peer–review publications in the legal profession. Mr. Schertler was selected by his peers as one of the nation’ best lawyers in the specialties of Criminal Defense: White Collar and Criminal Defense: Non–White–Collar; Mr. Onorato was selected as one of the nation’s best lawyers in the specialty of Criminal Defense: Non–White–Collar. To learn more about this prestigious honor, please go to www.bestlawyers.com.
July 2009
Danny Onorato has been appointed to the Board of Directors of the Mid–Atlantic Innocence Project, a non-profit organization dedicated to helping innocent people who have been wrongfully convicted of crimes in the District of Columbia, Maryland and Virginia.
July 2009
In the United States District Court for the District of Columbia, Lisa Schertler and Danny Onorato successfully argued for a significant downward variance from the federal sentencing guidelines, resulting in a probationary sentence for our client.
November 2008
Schertler & Onorato prevails over the Department of Justice Tax Division in an appeal before the District of Columbia Circuit Court. In a seminal decision from the District of Columbia Circuit, the Court agreed with the position of Schertler & Onorato on behalf of its client, and upheld the decision of the Honorable Henry M. Kennedy, Jr. to depart downward from the United States Sentencing Guidelines and sentence our client to probation.
September 2008
David Schertler was inducted as a Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers, one of the premier legal associations in the United States. The College is composed of the best trial attorneys from the United States and Canada and membership is extended by invitation only after a careful and thorough investigation, to experienced trial laywers who have practiced for at least 15 years and who have mastered the art of advocacy and whose professional careers have been marked by the highest standards of ethical conduct, professionalism, civility and collegiality.
August 2008
Schertler & Onorato successfully challenges debarment of government official and has client removed from the Government Service Agency (GSA) Excluded Parties List System (EPLS). The firm client is now able to resume his government contracting consulting business.
August 2008
Schertler & Onorato succeeds in obtaining dismissal of all charges in attempted first degree murder case in Charles County, Maryland. All charges stemming from an April shooting were dismissed against client.
July 2008
Schertler & Onorato attorney wins civil domestic violence trial in The Superior Court for the District of Columbia.
July 2008
Robert J. Spagnoletti was sworn in as the 37th president of the D.C. Bar at its Annual Business Meeting and Awards Dinner on June 26 at the Hyatt Regency Washington on Capitol Hill.
Read the article: D.C. Bar Inaugurates Spagnoletti, Bestows Honors at Annual Dinner.
View photos of the D.C. Bar Inauguration.
April 2008
After a seven-week jury trial in federal court in Washington, D.C., David Schertler, Habib Ilahi and Jasmin Mize obtained a complete acquittal for their client, a former executive of PurchasePro.com, with respect to charges of violations of the securities laws brought by the Securities and Exchange Commission. This civil trial was related to earlier criminal charges brought against the same client by the Department of Justice, all of which were dismissed.
April 2008
All criminal charges dismissed against client charged with vehicular manslaughter, Veronica Jennings represented a client facing charges stemming from a traffic fatality in Montgomery County, Maryland. Three weeks prior to trial, all charges were dropped.
March 2008
Veronica Jennings obtained dismissal of attempted first degree murder charges in Montgomery County, Maryland. Schertler & Onorato’s client was charged with attempted first degree murder and related assault and weapons charges following a shooting. Our client received a probationary misdemeanor reckless endangerment charge.
March 2008
David Schertler has been named by Super Lawyers magazine as one of the top attorneys in Washington, DC for 2008. Only five percent of the lawyers in the Washington, D.C. area are named by Super Lawyers.
February 2008
Schertler & Onorato obtains release for client being held on attempted first degree murder charges following a shooting at a party in suburban Maryland. Following a contested hearing at which the government alleged that our client should be held pending trial for disabling his GPS monitoring device, Schertler & Onorato secured the client’s release.
February 2008
After a month-long jury trial in the Eastern District of North Carolina, David Schertler, Habib Ilahi and Claire Clark were successful in obtaining a complete acquittal on all 15 counts of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and fraud charges brought against a Washington, D.C. securities lawyer, who, if convicted, faced over 20 years under the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines. Two other codefendants were convicted in the case and the Government had secured guilty pleas from three other codefendants, who cooperated with the Government at trial.
January 2008
Robert Spagnoletti and Habib Ilahi successfully defended an entity affiliated with a leading business development company (BDC) in the U.S. that invests private debt and equity capital in middle market businesses nationwide, by securing a dismissal of all claims in an action filed under the federal False Claims Act (FCA) in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Georgia.