Shearman & Sterling litigation partner Mark Lanpher has been named to the second edition of Global Investigations Review’s “40 Under 40” list of the world’s leading young investigations specialists. Lawyers were chosen for their superior technical skill, practical judgment and commitment to the law and practice of investigations.

Mark has been involved in numerous significant investigations and compliance reviews throughout his career.  Notably, he led the year-long FCPA investigation on behalf of the Ad Hoc Committee of the Board of Directors of Chilean mining company SQM, after press reports that SQM’s CEO had made illegal payments to politicians in Chile.  In addition, prior to rejoining the firm in 2012, Mark served as an Assistant United States Attorney at the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York.  While serving as an AUSA, Mark investigated and prosecuted the leadership of the Carpenters’ Union, which resulted in 22 criminal convictions, structural changes to the Union and the recovery of millions of dollars for the Union’s benefit funds. In 2011, as a result of this case, Mark was awarded the Department of Justice’s John Marshall Award for Trial of Litigation (its highest litigation award).

When asked what drew him to investigations, Mark notes that the area “has just always felt like a natural fit” and that he has “always been drawn to the idea of looking at complicated factual situations, understanding them and explaining them in simple terms to someone else.”  As for the advice he would impart to a young lawyer, Mark counsels to “[b]e inquisitive.  There is always more to learn, and if you do not constantly ask questions of yourself and others you are never going to learn it.”