Patrick Hanes focuses his practice on handling all manner of disputes that arise from business competition and regulation. He is a member of the Litigation Section and serves as co-chair of the White Collar and Investigations Team. His practice has included a broad base of civil and criminal litigation at both the trial and appellate levels. In addition, Patrick has substantial experience conducting investigations both in the United States and overseas. He has represented businesses and individuals in government and corporate investigations in matters involving securities and banking regulation, antitrust, conspiracy, public corruption, wire fraud, tax disputes, environmental laws and the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.
Patrick advises clients’ general counsel, c-suite management and boards of directors on their highest-profile crisis and litigation matters. He has handled the defense of several dozen criminal and civil investigations conducted by the Department of Justice, the Securities and Exchange Commission, state prosecutors and other federal and state investigative and regulatory agencies. He regularly supports corporate transactions by conducting regulatory due diligence on a variety of matters. He has advised many clients on whistleblower matters, including employment retaliation claims. He also has assisted clients with Capitol Hill and press strategies.
In his civil practice, Patrick developed particular proficiency in complex commercial legal disputes in areas such as antitrust, patent and trademark, trade secret, and corporate governance matters. He has represented parties in litigated disputes in each of these areas in courtrooms across the country. He also advises several public and private company clients regarding their legal compliance programs and has conducted compliance investigations, risk assessments and training inside the United States as well as in several other countries in the Americas, Asia, Africa and Europe.
Patrick is the co-chair of the American Bar Association's White Collar Crime Regional Committee for the Southeast Region and the co-chair of the ABA Criminal Justice Section's International White Collar Crime Committee. A member of the Virginia State Bar, he serves on the board of governors of the Antitrust, Franchise and Trade Regulation Section. He is also a member of the Virginia Bar Association's Criminal Law Section Council. He is also licensed to practice in West Virginia and the District of Columbia, and he is admitted to practice before the U.S. District Courts for the Eastern and Western Districts of Virginia, the U.S. District Courts for the Northern and Southern Districts of West Virginia and the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. In addition, he is admitted to practice before the U.S. Courts of Appeals for the Federal, Fourth and Fifth Circuits and the U.S. Bankruptcy Courts for the Eastern District of Virginia and the District of Columbia. He has argued cases as lead counsel before each of those courts as well as before the Supreme Court of Virginia.
He has been named to Virginia Business magazine’s list of the “Legal Elite” several times (most recently in 2020), and he is listed in The Best Lawyers in America© for Intellectual Property Litigation, Patent Litigation, Commercial Litigation and Criminal Defense: White Collar law (2009-present). He was named the Best Lawyers® 2017 and 2022 Richmond "Lawyer of the Year" for Criminal Defense: White Collar Law. He also is listed in Virginia Super Lawyers magazine (2010-present). In addition, Martindale-Hubbell has rated Patrick an AV attorney, its highest rating available.
He has served as an adjunct professor of law at the University of Richmond School of Law and the Washington and Lee University School of Law, teaching in the areas of appellate advocacy and white-collar crime and investigations. He is the co-editor of An International Guide to Corporate Internal Investigations published by the American Bar Association. He is the co-author, with professor Kent Sinclair, of an article published in the William and Mary Law Review and cited in a published opinion of the Supreme Court of Virginia. Also, Patrick serves as deputy counsel and chief ethics counsel to the law firm.
Prior to joining Williams Mullen, Patrick served as a law clerk to the Honorable Albert V. Bryan, Jr., Senior Judge for the U.S. District Court in the Eastern District of Virginia. He received his law degree in 1994 from the University of Virginia School of Law, where he was a member of the University of Virginia Law Review. He received his Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Virginia in 1988, where he was an Echols Scholar.
White Collar and Investigations
Intellectual Property
Other Corporate Commercial