Bruce Searby
Founder & CEO
Washington, DC.
Bruce Searby is the Founder & CEO of Good Ground. For 25 years Bruce's work has focused on Rule of Law, anti-corruption, and international business investment. As a former federal prosecutor and defense attorney, Bruce has successfully prosecuted and defended some of the most high-profile foreign and domestic (east and west coast) bribery cases pursued by the U.S. government. Bruce’s anti-corruption and anti-fraud prosecutions have resulted in the recovery of millions of dollars in stolen assets, domestically and in overseas tax havens. For private clients, Bruce’s advice has averted serious missteps and helped to assess and calibrate improvements to policy and procedure. On June 1, 2022, Bruce Searby was ranked by Chambers and Partners for 2022 in White-Collar Crime & Government Investigations. Chambers wrote: "Bruce Searby is well regarded for his expertise in white-collar criminal defense. He offers particular experience in matters concerning environmental crimes, as well as allegations of fraud." Chambers quoted someone as saying: "Bruce offers exceptional service and deep expertise."
He has applied his experience in successfully shaping law and policy reforms in the United States and overseas, in one case causing a regulator citing his analysis to reverse its position and to close a huge corruption loophole. Bruce’s clients have ranged from the United States of America, to international organizations and NGOs, to a variety of major corporations and individuals. Bruce has worked in the United States, Latin America, and Southeast Asia to improve government methods of prevention, detection, and enforcement of violations of corruption and other white-collar crime laws. He has been prominently featured in major media outlets, spoken on anti-corruption topics at national and international conferences, and taught courses for law enforcement and law students on anti-corruption investigation and prosecution.
Good Ground is the outgrowth of Bruce’s decades of work and professional relationships in law enforcement, civil society, and international business — making available his and his colleagues’ insights into how to affect profound change in organizations in the public interest.
Areas of Expertise
Anti-corruption, especially foreign and domestic bribery cases.
International Business Investment.
Public Procurement.
Technology Solutions for Compliance and Law Enforcement.
Human Rights, Labor Rights, and Environmental.
Social Investments.
Law and Policy Reforms.
White-collar criminal matters, high-stakes civil fraud, and asset recovery.
Education
Princeton University (magna cum laude) History & Latin American Studies.
University of Michigan Law School (Michigan Law Review and Order of the Coif).
Languages
English.
Spanish.
Russian (basic).
Speaker/lecturer experience:
Speaker/lecturer on FCPA/white-collar cases numerous times from 2008-present, including for: ABA White Collar Crime Institute (2013); American University Washington College of Law (2013 to 2019); Natl. Ass’n. Crim. Def. Lawyers Institute (2015); Third Conference on Evidence-Based Anti-Corruption Policies, Bangkok, Thailand (2015); CEELI Institute, Czech Republic (2015); American Society for International Law (2015, 2016); American Conference Institute (2015, 2018); Practicing Law Institute (2018); FCPA Professor podcast (2018); American Bar Ass'n Rule of Law Initiative, Peru (2018); INTERPOL and UN Office of Drugs and Crime environmental crime trainings and NGO roundtables (2020); Aljazeera documentary (2020); ClientEarth conference (2021); Voice of America Foro (2021).
Articles/citations:
Comment Letter cited by U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission in “Proposed Rule On Disclosure of Payments by Resource Extraction Issuers” (2019)
Law360 Expert Analysis: “FCPA Liability For Hiring Practices Gains New Credibility” (2018)
Print media quotations/citations:
The Wall Street Journal (2019, 2020)
Global Investigations Review (2018, 2019, 2021)
The Anti-Corruption Report (2018)
Contact
bsearby@goodgroundinternational.com