NEW YORK – Florida Attorney General Pamela Bondi’s younger brother has recently landed a job with New York City law firm Cahill Gordon & Reindel.
Bradley Bondi, who previously worked for Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft as lead litigator in its securities enforcement and investigation group, currently works as a “senior adviser to boards of directors, audit committees, special committees, public companies, financial institutions, and officers and directors in civil and criminal matters concerning securities and financial laws, crisis management, anti-corruption and business laws worldwide”, according to Cahill’s website.
Prior to leaving Cadwalader, Bondi was involved in defending pharmaceutical giant Valeant’s Salix unit, accused of paying illegal kickbacks to doctors who prescribed seven of its products (Apriso, Deflux, MoviPrep, OsmoPrep, Relistor, Solesta and Xifaxan), prompting thousands of fraud claims. Salix was found guilty of violating the U.S. False Claims Act in suits filed by physician Steven Peikin and four former Salix employees, forcing Valeant to pay damages of $54 million.
On Oct. 25, Valeant’s vice president and general counsel, Christina Ackermann, told the American Lawyer that her company was in the process of “transitioning its securities litigation to Bradley Bondi” at Cahill. The move occurs despite Cadwalader’s prior work in the sale of Salix to Valeant for $10.1 billion.
Kimberly Brooks, communications manager for Cadwalader, was contacted by the Florida Record to comment on the exit of such a prominent client. In a statement from Ackermann delivered via email, the Valeant VP said, “In an effort to create efficiencies in the ongoing Salix litigation and SEC investigation, and in order to leverage the historical knowledge and expertise, we moved the two matters to one firm, Cahill, and to the attorney (Bradley Bondi) with the deepest knowledge of the subject matter. Cahill Gordon & Reindel has a strong securities litigation practice, and is well placed to manage complex litigations and investigations. We are confident we are well represented by Mr. Bondi and the Cahill team.”