Linda Burns

Linda is a Senior Staff Attorney within our Litigation group where she advises the Litigation team on approaches to improving efficiency and accuracy of large-scale, complex, and foreign language reviews related to litigation, arbitration and investigations. She is responsible for providing guidance to review teams on US legal privilege and protection of commercially sensitive and personal identifying information (PII).

In addition to conducting US reviews, Linda has over a decade’s experience working on large-scale and complex matters relating to whistleblower investigations, insider trading, and AML and FCPA investigations, with a special emphasis on Portuguese, Spanish, and French speaking countries. She also has experience working on matters involving US regulators (US Department of Justice, Federal Bureau of Investigation, US Securities & Exchange Commission, US Commodity Future Trading Commission) and overseas regulators (Brazil’s Public Prosecutor’s Office, Brazil Attorney Generals’ Office, Switzerland Office of the Attorney General, UK Financial Conduct Authority).

Linda obtained her J.D. from the University of Illinois-Chicago and her A.B. from the University of Chicago. During law school she was a judicial extern in Argentina’s National Appellate Court for Financial Crimes. She also co-authored a report analyzing Peru’s compliance with rulings issued by the Inter-American Court of Human Rights related to retrials of defendants.

Prior to joining Wilk Auslander, Linda worked in the Discovery practice group of an international law firm and at New York law firms and review providers. She previously worked as a criminal defense attorney representing clients in federal court.

She is fluent in Portuguese and Spanish and intermediate in French.

• Conducted review of complex financial documents on behalf of an investment banking client in response to an investigation by US regulators.
• Responded to third party subpoenas received by a financial services company involving the institution’s M&A, Debt Advisory, and Equity Capital Markets clients from multiple sectors, including pharmaceutical, energy and technology.
• Conducted a Portuguese-language FCPA compliance review of a Brazilian entity subject to a DOJ enforcement action.
• Managed a team of attorneys in review of documents relating to a fraud and breach of contract matter filed with the American Arbitration Association against a clinical research organization in connection with a global pharmaceutical trial.
• Conducted review of Spanish-language documents on behalf of a global construction and services company relating to a breach of contract matter involving an $80 million contract in connection with the construction of a highway in Chile.
• Participated as second chair at a federal securities fraud trial in the Southern District of New York related to violations of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934.