Patrick Delahunty

Patrick Delahunty is a former federal prosecutor and a seasoned trial attorney with more than 15 years of experience litigating in federal and state courts. Patrick’s practice focuses on white-collar criminal investigations and litigation resulting from them, including regulatory issues and corporate litigation.  He guides his clients with clear advice about their options, legal risks, and—most importantly—the full spectrum of their rights that he will vigorously protect.  At each step of the way, he looks for efficient and cost-effective solutions.  He has a long track record of securing successful outcomes for his clients with this approach.

Prior to founding Delahunty & Edelman, Patrick was a federal prosecutor. For nearly eight years, he investigated and litigated fraud cases, including securities fraud, embezzlement, money laundering, mail fraud, wire fraud, and health care fraud. Many of his cases involved parallel government civil investigations, such as SEC enforcement actions and False Claims Act investigations. As an AUSA, Patrick was tasked with training new AUSAs about the prosecution of fraud cases and the interplay between commonly investigated financial crimes. He also coordinated a multi-agency financial crimes task force with a number of law enforcement stake holders, and served as the Health Care Fraud Coordinator for his office. His background in diverse white collar matters enables him to provide focused advice about navigating similar investigations and prosecutions.

Patrick has deep trial experience. As a prosecutor, Patrick took eight cases to verdict, most of which were multi-week fraud trials that he first chaired. Litigating long, contentious trials has given him an understanding of exactly what is needed to win. In private practice, Patrick represented international companies in two separate multi-week trials in federal court. Most of Patrick’s criminal and civil trial experience included working with expert witnesses, in particular forensic accountants. He has guided preparation of expert reports, deposed opposing experts, and successfully excluded proposed testimony of opposing experts.

Patrick has also briefed and argued a number of cases before the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. This appellate experience further developed Patrick’s knowledge of the issues at trial that matter the most, and the pretrial preparation necessary to win on those issues.

Patrick worked for two international law firms in San Francisco before becoming a federal prosecutor. While there, he handled complex business torts at all stages of litigation, from the initial internal investigation through to trial. He litigated intellectual property, business torts, breach of contract, and insurance coverage claims in state and federal courts. For example, Patrick was part of the trial team in a five-week copyright infringement trial between two international software companies. He also filed a series of successful summary judgment motions in several actions involving claims against a large real estate development project in northern California. Patrick has also deposed dozens of individuals, and he has prepared even more individuals to sit for a deposition, including executives of publicly traded companies.

He began his legal career as a law clerk for Chief Justice Gerry L. Alexander of the Washington Supreme Court, after graduating from the University of Washington School of Law. He served as an Articles Editor for the University of Washington’s Law Review and participated in the Washington Innocence Project legal clinic. He holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of Redlands and a master’s degree from the University of Virginia.

Public Service

• Assistant United States Attorney
  • Northern District of California, 2016-2021 Criminal Division
  • Eastern District of California, 2013-2016 White Collar Crimes Unit
• Law Clerk to Chief Justice Gerry L. Alexander (Ret.), Washington Supreme Court, 2006-2007 term
• Legal Extern for the Honorable Ronald B. Leighton (Ret.), W.D. Wash.
• Member, Board of Directors, The Campaign for Legal Services