Two prominent former Manhattan federal prosecutors have joined forces to launch a new boutique law firm focused on white-collar crime and cryptocurrency-related legal work, citing a growing gap in government enforcement and regulation.
The firm, Treanor Devlin Brown, officially opened its doors on Monday, June 23, in New York City, and is led by Tim Treanor, formerly a leader in Sidley Austin’s white-collar defence and investigations group, and Arlo Devlin-Brown, a former chief of the public corruption unit at the Manhattan U.S. Attorney’s Office and most recently a partner at Covington & Burling.
With their combined decades of experience on both sides of high-stakes litigation government prosecution and corporate defence, the duo plans to offer a hybrid approach: handling both defence work and plaintiffs’-side litigation, particularly in cases where they believe federal agencies have fallen short.
A Vacuum in Enforcement Creates New Opportunities
The pair said their decision to break away from large firms and launch a leaner practice was driven in part by what they see as a federal retreat from aggressive enforcement in white-collar crime and cryptocurrency fraud, especially during and after the Trump administration.
“If the government doesn’t appear to be allocating the resources, the victims of that fraud scheme are going to want to do something,” said Treanor. “We believe we provide a high-quality alternative.”
Their comments reflect a broader concern among legal experts that U.S. regulators have scaled back efforts to police complex financial crime, leaving space for private practitioners to step in. Cryptocurrency markets, in particular, have exploded in both scope and complexity over the past several years, while government oversight has struggled to keep pace.
White-Collar Experience Meets Emerging Tech
Both Treanor and Devlin-Brown bring deep institutional knowledge from years within the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York, one of the country’s most influential prosecutorial bodies. Treanor served as a senior unit supervisor before transitioning to Sidley Austin, where he led white-collar investigations for nearly a decade. He left Sidley at the end of 2024 to begin laying the groundwork for his new venture.
Devlin-Brown, meanwhile, rose through the ranks of public prosecution to become chief of the office’s public corruption unit before joining Covington & Burling. He spent nine years at the firm and indicated that although he is departing, ongoing collaboration with Covington remains likely.
“I anticipate I will continue working with the firm on certain matters,” Devlin-Brown said in an interview, though he declined to name specific clients.
From Big Law to Boutique: A Strategic Shift
Treanor Devlin Brown enters the legal landscape at a moment when specialised, agile firms are increasingly attractive to clients navigating fast-moving and high-risk sectors like cryptocurrency.
Unlike traditional Big Law firms with vast overhead and often rigid structures, boutique firms can adapt quickly, focus narrowly on client needs, and move faster in fast-changing regulatory environments. The firm’s founders say they aim to combine the resources and insights of elite legal backgrounds with the nimbleness and client focus of a smaller operation.
A spokesperson for Covington & Burling did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Devlin-Brown’s departure.
Private Sector Accountability in a Shifting Legal Landscape
With enforcement priorities shifting and financial fraud becoming increasingly complex, especially in decentralised and often opaque crypto markets, Treanor and Devlin-Brown see their firm not just as a legal service provider but as a necessary counterweight to what they describe as government underreach.
Their new practice will likely focus on cases that straddle legal innovation and financial harm, particularly where victims feel abandoned by regulators or left behind in the wake of crypto collapses, Ponzi-like schemes, or failed blockchain ventures.
By stepping into that gap, Treanor Devlin Brown is positioning itself as a new force in an evolving legal frontier, one where private action may prove increasingly vital in holding wrongdoers accountable.
