Amelia Schmidt
Counsel
aschmidt@kaiserlaw.com | P (202) 869-1301
Amelia Schmidt defends clients who come from different walks of life but live the same nightmare: finding themselves caught up in white-collar criminal and regulatory enforcement cases that involve complicated laws and life-altering consequences.
As part of this practice, Amelia uses her substantial regulatory experience – particularly in government contracts and export control cases – to defend clients in investigations that involve complicated factual and legal issues. Facing a government investigation, or a civil or criminal enforcement proceeding of any kind, is a serious and unsettling experience for anyone – especially when the investigation involves dense regulations that are difficult to navigate. Amelia’s experience in both white-collar and regulatory matters gives her the ability to cut through the jargon and advocate for her clients caught in the government’s crosshairs, including clients who work in highly sophisticated and heavily regulated industries.
Amelia also works on legal ethics and professional responsibility matters. She has advised lawyers and their clients on attorneys’ ethical obligations, including attorney advertising restrictions and conflict of interest rules.
In addition to her work in these areas, Amelia represents clients in complex civil litigation, and both accused students and sexual assault victims in campus disciplinary proceedings.
Amelia’s passion for helping clients from all walks of life includes fighting for justice for her pro bono clients. She has maintained an active pro bono practice throughout her career. She has represented indigent criminal defendants, both at trial and in postconviction proceedings. She has represented immigrants seeking asylum in U.S. Immigration Court for fear of being harmed or even killed if forced to return to their native countries.
Amelia is also a co-chair of the Solo and Small Practice Forum of the Women’s Bar Association for the District of Columbia.
Before joining Kaiser, Amelia worked at other law firms in the District, where she represented clients in white collar, government contracts, and international trade-related matters, including government and internal investigations, litigation, and regulatory compliance counseling. She represented both individual and corporate clients in investigations for violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA), the False Claims Act, U.S. export control laws and sanctions, and Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) regulations.
Amelia is a 2010 graduate of Harvard Law School and a 2007 graduate, summa cum laude, of the University of Notre Dame. After law school, she clerked for the Honorable Lawrence E. Kahn, Senior U.S. District Judge of the United States District Court for the Northern District of New York.
Amelia is licensed to practice law in the State of New York, the District of Columbia, the U.S. Court of Federal Claims, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, and the U.S. Supreme Court.
Education
- J.D., Harvard Law School
- B.A., University of Notre Dame - summa cum laude
Government Service
- Clerkship, The Honorable Lawrence E. Kahn, Senior U.S. District Judge, Albany NY
Amelia Schmidt
Counsel
aschmidt@kaiserlaw.com | P (202) 869-1301
Law 360 – “Handling Corporate Congressional Probes In The Trump Era” co-authored by Bill Pittard
January 17, 2019Matt Kaiser in The Washington Post: The Education Department wants to make campus sexual misconduct hearings fairer. It should go further.
September 6, 2018Law360 – “The Latest On Sexual Harassment Reform On The Hill” by Bill Pittard
February 23, 2018Matt Kaiser Publishes Op-Ed for The Washington Post: Lawyers: DeVos is bringing due process to campus sexual assault cases
September 11, 2017Law 360 – “When Russia Investigations Collide” by Bill Pittard
June 7, 2017Matt Kaiser Publishes Op-Ed: Minnesota’s Failed Football Boycott Was a Blow to Fairness in Campus Sexual Assault Hearings
December 20, 2016Matt Kaiser Co-Authors Op-Ed in Los Angeles Times: Absurdity Reigns in Campus Sexual Assault Trials.
April 21, 2016Matt Kaiser Guest Blogs on Washington Legal Foundation The Legal Pulse: Overcriminalization Timeline: Mens Rea, Public Welfare Offenses and Responsible Corporate Officer Doctrine
November 16, 2015Matt Kaiser Co-Authors Editorial in the Los Angeles Times: How to Punish Campus Sexual Assault
November 14, 2015Matt Kaiser Publishes an Editorial in The Washington Times: Being an Executive is not a Crime
November 11, 2015Matt Kaiser Publishes Editorial in LA Times: Why It’s Unfair for Colleges to Use Outside Investigators in Rape Cases.
September 16, 2015Matt Kaiser Co-Authors Op-Ed in the National Law Journal: The DOJ’s Crackdown on White-Collar Crime Creates ‘Cruel Alternative’
September 14, 2015Matt Kaiser Publishes Op-ed in The Weekly Standard: The Campus Sex Scene: How Congress Can Make It Worse
August 6, 2015Matt Kaiser Co-Authors Op-ed in The Washington Post: We’ve defended lots of campus sexual assault cases, so we know just how unfair they are
July 24, 2015Matt Kaiser Publishes Editorial in Baltimore Sun: A Minimum of Reform
November 14, 2014Matt Kaiser Co-Authors Op-Ed in San Diego Union-Tribune: California Bill Won’t Solve Sexual Assault Problem on Campus
September 3, 2014Matt Kaiser Publishes Op-Ed in Boston Herald: College Courts Flunks Fairness Test
August 16, 2014Matt Kaiser Publishes an Article for Time Magazine: Some Rules about Consent are “Unfair” to Male Students”
May 15, 2014Matt Kaiser Publishes an Editorial in the Wall Street Journal: The White House Flunks a Test on Sexual Assault
May 5, 2014Matt Kaiser Co-Authors Opinion for The Wall Street Journal: The White House Flunks a Test on Sexual Assault
May 5, 2014Matt Kaiser Co-Authors a Letter to the Editor in the New York Times: The Rights of the Accused
April 28, 2014Amelia Schmidt
Counsel
aschmidt@kaiserlaw.com | P (202) 869-1301
Amelia Schmidt Joins Panel at C&SN Event, “Ask an Expert: Navigating OFAC/BIS Licensing & Sanctions”
Kaiser Recognized for Both White Collar Defense and Ethics and Professional Responsibility
Amelia Schmidt
Counsel
aschmidt@kaiserlaw.com | P (202) 869-1301
Amelia Schmidt
Counsel
aschmidt@kaiserlaw.com | P (202) 869-1301
Some of the matters that Ms. Schmidt has handled include:
- Represented an individual witness in an investigation by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission involving allegations of violations of environmental protection statutes and regulations.
- Represented numerous corporate clients in internal investigations and disclosures of violations of International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR), Export Administration Regulations (EAR), and regulations administered by the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) to various government agencies.
- Represented a U.S. government contractor that was a potential witness in an investigation by the Naval Criminal Investigative Service, relating to prosecutions of U.S. government official and subcontractor based on allegations of procurement fraud.
- Represented clients in internal investigations for violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) and researched and drafted portions of submission to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on behalf of a high-ranking corporate employee in FCPA investigation, resulting in a decision by SEC staff not to recommend charges against the employee.
- Represented clients in litigation—both trial and appellate stages—and internal investigations for allegations of state and federal False Claims Act (FCA) violations.
- Represented clients accused of sexual assault and other forms of sexual misconduct in Title IX disciplinary proceedings on college campuses.
- Represented client in a criminal case at oral argument before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit.
