Biography
EPHRAIM (FRY) WERNICK is a partner in the Government Investigations and White Collar Practice Group in the Washington, D.C. office of Vinson & Elkins LLP (“V&E”), an international law firm with 700 attorneys in 12 offices worldwide. Fry represents public and private companies and individuals in connection with internal investigations, advises on compliance matters and transactional risk, and defends against federal, state and congressional inquiries. Fry joined V&E in 2019 after serving 11 years as a federal prosecutor with the U.S. Department of Justice (“DOJ”), including as Assistant Chief of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section, where he supervised dozens of cases involving violations of the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (“FCPA”), including six of the largest-ever global corporate criminal resolutions for foreign bribery. Fry represented the United States as the DOJ delegate and expert on international corruption and asset recovery issues at multiple international fora, including the U.N. Convention Against Corruption (UNCAC) in Vienna and the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) in Paris. Fry also served as Counsel to the U.S. Senate on two occasions, including for the Chairman of the Senate Committee on the Judiciary in 2017 and the Ranking Member of the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations in 2008. Fry frequently writes and comments on white collar criminal and anti-corruption matters, and his work has been published and he has been quoted by the Financial Times, Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg, Law 360, Global Investigations Review and The Anti-Corruption Report, among other publications. Fry also has been recognized by Legal 500 and Who’s Who Legal for his investigations practice and Law360 recently named Fry as one of only three “2021 Compliance MVPs.” Fry is a graduate of Brown University and the University of Texas School of Law.