Linda Dale Hoffa

Linda Dale Hoffa is recognized as one of Philadelphia’s leading white collar defense lawyers and chairs Dilworth’s White Collar/Government Investigations Practice Group. She is a Fellow in the American College of Trial Lawyers (ACTL) and a Lecturer-in-Law at the University of Pennsylvania Law School. 

Linda is an outstanding trial attorney, skilled negotiator and empathetic counselor. Her prior executive level experience as the Criminal Division Chief at the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Philadelphia and as the Senior Executive Deputy Attorney General at the Pennsylvania Attorney General’s Office provides her with unique insight into law enforcement’s investigative and trial strategies.

Linda helps individuals and entities involved in regulatory and law enforcement investigations and proceedings. She focuses her practice in the areas of investigations, criminal defense and counseling, and corporate compliance.

Linda has conducted hundreds of investigations and numerous high profile trials. Her clients include business executives, medical and legal professionals, educators and students, and government officials, as well as corporations and non-profits. She has worked on virtually every kind of investigation and criminal case, including RICO, wire and mail fraud, health care fraud, securities fraud, corruption, criminal tax, antitrust, False Claims Act, Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, environmental crimes, sexual and violent crimes.  She also represents individuals in Title IX matters and Office of Inspector General investigations.

In recognition of her trial skills, Linda was selected to present a mock trial before Justices of the United States Supreme Court and Justices from the United Kingdom as part of the U.K. and U.S. Exchange sponsored by the ACTL in 2016.

During her tenure as a federal prosecutor, Linda also served in policy positions as the Chair of the Criminal Chiefs Working Group for the U.S. Department of Justice, and as Senior Criminal Counsel at the Senate Judiciary Committee. At the Senate Linda worked for five-term incumbent U.S. Senator Arlen Specter during the Supreme Court confirmation hearings of Justices Sotomayor and Kagan. Early in her career she was appointed as a Special Assistant to Attorney General Janet Reno to work as DOJ’s Spokesperson for the Oklahoma City Bombing prosecution. On two separate occasions she was awarded DOJ’s Director’s Award for Superior Performance for complex case trials.

After working at the U.S. Department of Justice, Linda worked in the Executive Office at the Pennsylvania Attorney General’s Office as the Senior Executive Deputy Attorney General. She also worked at the Governor’s Office of General Counsel as the Executive Deputy General Counsel for Criminal Justice where she was the most senior attorney handling criminal related issues for all Commonwealth agencies.

She currently teaches at the University of Pennsylvania Law School two seminars: White Collar Crime and Securities Fraud, and The Law of Investigations. Linda speaks at many conferences and frequently comments on criminal cases for television, radio and print media, including The Washington Post, The Philadelphia Inquirer, Law 360, The Legal Intelligencer, The New Yorker, Sirius XM Radio Dan Abrams’ Show, and CBS Philly.

Representative Experience

• Represented a defendant in a four week federal criminal trial involving allegations of a $27M biodiesel fraud scheme.
• Represent students in Title IX and University Code of Conduct investigations for sexual and other forms of misconduct with successful outcomes. Investigations and adjudicative proceedings were successfully concluded without findings of misconduct or serious penalties.
• Handle criminal trials, sentencing hearings, and appeals, post-conviction relief motions, and applications for parole and pardons – at both the federal and state level – for both white collar and violent crimes, including fraud, environmental offenses, corruption, health care fraud and tax crimes.
• Represent individuals and companies subpoenaed by federal and state grand juries, including negotiating for immunity protection.
• Conduct internal investigations for Companies and Boards, including Pennsylvania State Employee Retirement System (SERS), colleges, and other non-profit entities.
• Represent medical doctors, teachers and others in sex crime investigations. Have obtained declination decisions and probationary sentences.
• Served as Special Counsel by the Pennsylvania Judicial Conduct Board to conduct investigations of judges accused of judicial misconduct.
• Represent companies and individuals in False Claims Act investigations by state and federal governments.
• Represent bond counsel in SEC and DOJ joint investigation.
• Represent mental health care agencies and professionals in investigations of billing practices.
• Advise entities, agencies and individuals victimized by embezzlement and fraud.
• Advise companies regarding Minority Business Enterprise (MBE) and Women Business Enterprises (WBE) certifications.

Professional & Community Activities

• Member, Investigating Grand Jury Task Force, The Supreme Court of Pennsylvania
• Women’s White Collar Defense Association – Member of Branding Subcommittee and Member of Thought Leadership Team; for Philadelphia Chapter Secretary and Member of Executive Committee
• Member, Executive Committee of the Federal Criminal Law Committee (2016)
• Member, Forum of Executive Women
• Member, Law360 White Collar Editorial Advisory Board (2016)
• Lecturer in Law, University of Pennsylvania Law School
• Member, Women of Fels Advisory Network, Fels Institute of Government, University of Pennsylvania
• Member, Advisory Committee on Model Criminal Jury Instructions for the Third Circuit (2006 – 07)
• Member, Case Review Committee, The Innocence Project

Speeches & Presentations

• Panelist, "Whistleblowers: The Challenges, Risks, Rewards, and Protections", PBI, November, 2017.
• Keynote Speaker for The POWER of Professional WoMen (POWER), “Are You Protected?” December 16, 2016 .
• Moderator, Federal Bar Association, Criminal Law Committee, Philadelphia, PA, “State Investigating Grand Jury Practice: Essentials for Federal Practitioners,” June 20, 2016.
• Panelist, Pennsylvania Psychological Association 2016 Annual Convention, Harrisburg, PA, “White Collar Criminals, Clinical, Ethical and Legal Issues, June 18, 2016.
• Speaker at numerous legal seminars sponsored by the American Law Institute, U.S. Department of Justice, U.S. Sentencing Commission, Third Circuit Judicial Conference, Federal Bench Bar Conference, American Bar Association, Pennsylvania and Philadelphia Bar Associations, and the Pennsylvania Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers.
• Panelist, "Business Ethics in the Financial Industry," Wharton Executive Education, November 13, 2015.
• Keynote Speaker, 22nd Annual Fraud Conference, Association of Certified Fraud Examiners (Philadelphia Chapter), December 1, 2014.
• Speaker, Regulators Roundtable: the Latest in Government Enforcement at the American Bar Association’s sixth annual National Institute on Internal Corporate Investigations and Forum for in-house counsel, April 24, 2014.
• Co-Author with Senator Arlen Specter: A Quiet But Growing Judicial Rebellion Against Harsh Sentences for Child Pornography Offenses, The Champion, October 2011.
• Author: How Likely is Congress to Fix Federal Sentencing Laws? The National Law Journal, November 28, 2011.

Professional Recognition

• Selected to The Best Lawyers in America® in the area of White Collar/Government Investigations, 2019.
• Fellow, American College of Trial Lawyers – inducted in 2007.
• Twice awarded Director's Award for Superior Performance, U.S. Department of Justice.

• 08/15/2019Eighteen Dilworth Paxson Attorneys Named to 2020 The Best Lawyers in America© List
• 07/20/2017Dilworth's Linda Dale Hoffa Appointed to Investigating Grand Jury Task Force by The Supreme Court of Pennsylvania