JACKIE BENNETT represents individuals and corporations in cases expected to go to trial.  His practice concentrates in the areas of commercial, civil and white-collar criminal litigation, as well as regulatory investigations by state and federal agencies.  Mr. Bennett has experience and expertise in matters involving internal corporate investigations, corporate governance, securities regulation, foreign corrupt practices, patent infringement, environmental crimes and an array of contract and business tort actions.  Many of these matters have involved requests for expedited injunctive relief.

Prior to entering private practice in Indianapolis, Mr. Bennett was a federal prosecutor for 14 years.  He served in the Office of Independent Counsel Kenneth W. Starr from 1995 to 1999, the last two years as the Principal Deputy in charge of the OIC’s Washington, D.C. operations.  Mr. Bennett supervised the day-to-day operations of that office and was involved in a number of high profile investigations and prosecutions.  He served as senior advisor to Judge Starr on investigative and prosecutorial aspects of several matters, including the Impeachment Referral of William Jefferson Clinton.  In that regard, he was one of three prosecutors selected by Judge Starr to conduct the grand jury questioning of President Clinton. Mr. Bennett also played a principal role in several trials during the Arkansas phase of the Whitewater Investigation, including the 1996 fraud and conspiracy trial resulting in the convictions of then-sitting Arkansas Governor Jim Guy Tucker and former Madison Guaranty Savings & Loan owners Jim and Susan McDougal.

From 1988 to 1995, he served as Trial Attorney and Senior Trial Attorney in the elite Public Integrity Section of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division in Washington, D.C.  During his time in that office, he prosecuted numerous public corruption cases nationwide, including some of the most challenging corruption cases in the United States in recent years:

• U.S. v. Albert Bustamante (1993, M.D. Texas) - bribery and racketeering trial of U.S. Congressman from Texas.  Bustamante was the first Member of Congress to be convicted by a jury of RICO violations.
• U.S. v. Thomas McGill, et al (1990, E.D. Pa.) - bribery, case-fixing and tax evasion trial of prominent Philadelphia judge and criminal defense lawyer.   
• U.S. v. Joseph Gieniec, (1991, C.D. Cal.) - Hobbs Act extortion and illegal gratuities case against Deputy U.S. Marshal. 
• U.S. v. Darrell Tomblin (1993, M.D. Texas) – prosecution of PAC director in connection with the S&L crisis and efforts to bribe a U.S. Senator. 
• U.S. v. David Durenberger (1994, D.D.C.) –prosecution of a former U.S. Senator from Minnesota for false claims.

Mr. Bennett also served as an Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Indiana from 1985 to 1988.  Before that he was a judicial law clerk in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Indiana for the Honorable Sarah Evans Barker and her predecessor, the Honorable Cale J. Holder.

Mr. Bennett was highly-decorated as a federal prosecutor, having received numerous awards from the Justice Department.  In 1994, Attorney General Janet Reno presented Mr. Bennett with the prestigious John Marshall Award, presented annually “For Outstanding Legal Achievement,” in recognition of his work in prosecuting corruption matters.

Since 2005, Mr. Bennett has been honored in editions of Chambers USA: America’s Leading Lawyers for Business in the area of Litigation.  The Best Lawyers of America, the oldest and most respected peer-review publication in the legal profession, has named Mr. Bennett as the “Indianapolis Litigation - Environmental Lawyer of the Year” for 2012.  In preceeding years, he was also recognized by Best Lawyers for both Business Litigation and White Collar Criminal Law. Mr. Bennett has also been honored by Benchmark Litigation for Commercial Litigation and White-Collar Crime.  For several years he also has been recognized in peer rankings-based Indiana Super Lawyers.

In October 2011, Mr. Bennett was honored by the Indiana Bar Foundation for law-related education and pro bono services at the 2011 Randall T. Shepard Celebration.