Margaret Cassidy, Esq.
Armed with a law degree, several years of prosecutorial experience, the knowledge she gained from working in business, an entrepreneurial spirit and love of the law, Margaret Cassidy founded Cassidy Law to provide businesses legal counsel to proactively manage legal risks through ethics and compliance programs and to defend clients under government investigation or prosecution so they may grow smartly and ethically.
Margaret is committed to working with her business clients so they may understand their legal obligations; and then to advise them on developing cost-effective ethics and compliance strategies that enable the business to add value and mitigate legal risk.
To that end, Margaret has conducted legal risk assessments and internal investigations; represented clients in government investigations and through M&A due diligence; and has advised clients on matters related to corruption, FCPA, fraud, international trade, the False Claims Act, government ethics, procurement, and national security.
Through her previous positions as PwC’s Government Ethics & Compliance Leader and GE Transportation’s Global Ethics and Compliance Counsel, Margaret not only advised on managing legal risks but also, through working with business leaders, learned about running a competitive business; about what a business needs from its lawyers; and, how vital it is for a business to manage costs and protect its reputation. She brings these business sensibilities to her client engagements.
Earlier in her career as local and then state prosecutor, Margaret handled investigations and prosecutions involving fraud, ethics, conflicts of interest, public corruption as well as other crimes.
Outside of the firm, Margaret is Chair of the ABA Business Law Section Corporate Compliance Committee, adjunct faculty at George Washington School of Law; an elected member of the D.C. Bar’s Law Practice Management Steering Committee and is a member of the Greater Cleveland Partnership Council on Small Enterprise. She is the former Global Issues Forum Co-Chair for the Association of Corporate Counsel National Capital Region Chapter. She is an appointed a hearing officer for the Washington D.C. Lawyer Board of Professional Responsibility.
Margaret has developed and conducted seminars for businesses, business executives and employees as well as organizations such as the American Bar Association, the DC Small Business Administration, the Pennsylvania Bar Institute, the Association of Corporate Counsel National Capital Region Chapter, D.C. Procurement Technology Assistance Center, and Today’s General Counsel on conducting investigations; implementing ethics and compliance programs; FCPA and anti-corruption; the False Claims Act; government procurement; and ethically interacting with governments.
Margaret earned a B.S. in Finance from Miami University in Oxford, Ohio and, after graduating from the University of Pittsburgh School of Law, clerked with the Ohio Court of Appeals. She is a member of the D.C., Ohio, Pennsylvania and New York (inactive) bars.