Dino L. LaVerghetta

DINO LAVERGHETTA is a former White House official with two decades of experience advising the nation's most senior officials and largest corporations on high-stakes legal, reputational, and national security matters. His practice focuses on representing highly-regulated companies in matters at the intersection of law, regulation, policy, and politics. Dino helps clients navigate their most challenging issues by coordinating litigation, government enforcement, and public advocacy strategies. He is co-founder of the firm’s Robotics, Automation, and Drones (RAD) team and co-leader of the firm’s First Amendment Law focus area. Dino is also a Public Member of the Administrative Conference of the United States (ACUS).

Many of Dino’s clients are within the life sciences industry, including biotech, food, pharmaceutical, and medical device companies. On behalf of these clients, he regularly interacts with FDA, USDA, Congress, and DOJ. Dino also has broad experience representing clients in other industries, including robotics, AI, autonomy, energy, and finance.

Dino served as a lawyer in the Office of White House Counsel during both of President Trump’s terms. During the first Trump Administration, Dino served in the White House for approximately three years, ultimately holding the titles of Senior Associate Counsel to the President and Special Assistant to the President. Dino temporarily returned to the White House as a Special Government Employee at the beginning of the second Trump Administration, holding the title of Senior Counsel to the President.

Dino’s experience includes:

• Government Strategies and Counseling: Dino regularly helps clients navigate the complex regulatory and political labyrinth in Washington, D.C.. Among other things, he advises clients in heavily-regulated industries on government oversight, regulatory compliance, legislation, rulemaking, and enforcement risks.
• Government Investigations: Dino has represented clients in a diverse array of government investigations and inquiries, including: Congressional investigations; DOJ investigations of potential FCPA, FCA, and FIRREA violations; enforcement actions brought by federal agencies, including the FDA and the CFPB; and, investigations by state attorneys general.
• Internal Investigations: Dino has conducted internal investigations on numerous topics, including investigations related to: potential cGMP violations, potential FCPA violations, UDAAP allegations, employment and fraud issues, and ESG issues.
• Litigation: Dino has represented companies in state and federal litigation across the country. His matters have included individual civil suits and class actions implicating, among other things: claims under the federal FCA and its state law equivalents, common law fraud claims, securities fraud claims, and common law and statutory tort claims.

Dino maintains an active pro bono practice focused on matters related to the First Amendment and religious liberties. Among other things, during the COVID pandemic, Dino represented houses of worship and religious schools in challenging various state restrictions on the free exercise of religion. For example, Dino played a leading role in litigating Samuel A. Fryer Yavneh Academy et al v. Gavin Newsom (D.C. Cal.), a lawsuit brought by Jewish and Christian schools challenging the constitutionality of California’s school closure order. Dino argued the preliminary injunction motion for the schools. The matter was soon thereafter resolved through a settlement that allowed the resumption of in-person education with appropriate safeguards.

Dino has also argued free exercise matters at the federal appellate level and has submitted free exercise amicus briefs in the United States Supreme Court and in the federal appellate courts. These briefs have been submitted in support of and/or on behalf of adherents of a diverse array of faiths, including Christian, Jewish, Muslim, Native American, and Amish faiths. Dino often submits these briefs as part of Sidley’s partnership with Yale Law School’s Free Exercise clinic. 

Dino has also drafted amicus briefs related to wrongful convictions. Much of Dino’s work in this area has focused on the reliability of forensic tools. For example, Dino represented two world-renowned computer scientists in a groundbreaking case before a New Jersey appellate court relating to probabilistic genotyping technology. In addition to taking the lead on the amicus briefing, Dino gave oral argument before the court. In a case of “first impression,” the New Jersey Appellate Division in State v. Pickett held that an expert witness presenting evidence produced by TrueAllele, a black-box probabilistic genotyping program, had to disclose the source code and other proprietary materials to the defendant for scrutiny.