Overview

Linda Dale Hoffa is recognized as one of Philadelphia’s leading white-collar defense lawyers and chairs Dilworth’s Criminal Law Group. She was the Criminal Division Chief at the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Philadelphia and the Pa. Attorney General’s top criminal prosecutor before entering private practice. She is a Fellow of both the International Academy of Trial Lawyers and the American College of Trial Lawyers. Both organizations offer invitation-only admission after a rigorous vetting process to elite trial lawyers who have achieved a career of excellence and demonstrated superior trial skills, and who possess outstanding character, absolute integrity, and consummate professionalism.

Linda helps individuals and entities successfully navigate regulatory and law enforcement investigations and proceedings. Her outstanding trial skills and prior work as a prosecutor—at both the federal and state level—provide her with unique insight into law enforcement and trial strategies that strongly benefit her clients and achieve for them the best and most efficient results. She focuses her practice in the areas of internal investigations, criminal defense and counseling, and corporate compliance. 

Linda has conducted hundreds of investigations and numerous high-profile criminal 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, health care fraud, securities fraud, bankruptcy fraud, corruption, criminal tax, antitrust, False Claims Act, Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, environmental crimes, and 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 U.S. Supreme Court and Justices from the United Kingdom as part of the U.K. and U.S. Exchange sponsored by the American College of Trial Lawyers in 2016.

During her tenure as a federal prosecutor, Linda was the Chair of the Criminal Chiefs Working Group at the U.S. Department of Justice and worked in the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee for five-term incumbent U.S. Senator Arlen Specter as his Senior Criminal Counsel. Earlier in her DOJ career, she was appointed as Special Assistant to Attorney General Janet Reno to serve 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 fraud and corruption cases.

After her service at DOJ, Linda worked on the executive team for the Pennsylvania Attorney General, serving as the most-high ranking criminal prosecutor at the Pa. Attorney General’s Office. Before that, she worked at the Pennsylvania Governor’s Office of General Counsel as the Executive Deputy General Counsel for Criminal Justice where she was responsible for handling criminal-related issues for all Commonwealth agencies.

She is currently a Lecturer in Law at the University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School, and previously taught trial advocacy at Temple University School of Law, Villanova University School of Law, and Tsinghua University in Beijing China. Linda speaks at many conferences and frequently comments on criminal cases for television, radio, and print media, including CBS and NBC News, The Washington Post, The Philadelphia Inquirer, Law 360, The Legal Intelligencer, The New Yorker, and Sirius XM Radio Dan Abrams’ Show.

Earlier in her career, Linda was a law clerk to the Honorable Dickinson R. Debevoise, U.S. District Judge for the District of New Jersey, and a civil litigator at a major Philadelphia law firm.

Representative Experience

  • U.S. Supreme Court win obtained for client when petition for certiorari granted and client’s judgment of conviction vacated, resulting in client’s immediate release from prison.
  • Favorable resolutions achieved in False Claims Act cases for health care professionals and government contractors with no admission of wrongdoing and no exclusion orders or loss of licenses.
  • Immunity agreement negotiated for licensed administrator for nursing home where three deaths occurred from systemic failures driven by inadequate staffing practices.
  • Successful resolution of an SEC investigation into alleged unfair municipal trading practices with payment of a modest fine and no loss of license.
  • Probationary sentence on misdemeanor charges achieved for medical doctor charged with sexually assaulting patients addicted to opioids.
  • Probationary sentence obtained for manager of pill mill conspiracy charged in federal court.
  • Declination of criminal prosecution secured for teacher accused of sexually assaulting special needs student.
  • Declination of criminal prosecution obtained for reality television star investigated for federal tax violations.
  • No contest plea for low level summary offenses negotiated in highly publicized celebrity prosecution.
  • Dismissal of Title IX case achieved for university student accused of sexual assault.
  • Dismissal of code of conduct violations attained and all records purged for group of nursing students accused of cheating.
  • All seized cash returned to client whose home was searched pursuant to federal search warrant related to large federal drug smuggling investigation.
  • Favorable sentencing won in bankruptcy fraud case for client released after just 3 months’ imprisonment.
  • Conducted protracted federal criminal jury trial involving complex fraud allegations in biodiesel industry challenging government’s regulations as unconstitutionally void for vagueness.
  • Conducted numerous internal investigations regarding allegations of misconduct and instituted corporate compliance programs.
  • Served as Special Counsel for the Pennsylvania Judicial Conduct Board and conducted investigations of high-level judges accused of judicial misconduct.

Professional & Community Activities

  • Lecturer in Law, University of Pennsylvania Law School
  • State Committee Member, American College of Trial Lawyers
  • Secretary of the Philadelphia Chapter of the Women’s White Collar Defense Association
  • Member, Advisory Committee of the Federal Criminal Law Committee EDPA
  • Task Force Member, State-wide Investigating Grand Jury Task Force, appointed by the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania (2017-19)
  • Member, Law360 White Collar Editorial Advisory Board (2016)
  • Member, Committee on Model Criminal Jury Instructions for the Third Circuit (2006–07)

Speeches & Presentations

  • What the Bobby Henon and Johnny Doc Convictions Could Mean for the Kenyatta Johnson Trial,” NBC Philadelphia, (November 2021).
  • Linda Dale Hoffa & Lorraine Marie Simonis, “Pa. is Leading the Way on Pardon Reform | Opinion,” The Philadelphia Inquirer, (June 2021).
  • Panelist, Brainstorming Session about PPP Criminal Loan Fraud Investigations and Cases, Women’s White Collar Defense Association, January 2021
  • Moderator, “Federal Courts in the Time of COVID: A View from the Bench”, Women’s White Collar Defense Association, October 2020.
  • 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.
  • 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.

Professional Recognition

  • Fellow, International Academy of Trial Lawyers, inducted 2022
  • Selected to The Best Lawyers in America® in the area of White Collar/Government Investigations, 2019-2023
  • Fellow, American College of Trial Lawyers, inducted in 2007
  • Twice awarded Director’s Award for Superior Performance, U.S. Department of Justice.

Further information on methodologies is available via these links.

Representative Experience

  • U.S. Supreme Court win obtained for client when petition for certiorari granted and client’s judgment of conviction vacated, resulting in client’s immediate release from prison.
  • Favorable resolutions achieved in False Claims Act cases for health care professionals and government contractors with no admission of wrongdoing and no exclusion orders or loss of licenses.
  • Immunity agreement negotiated for licensed administrator for nursing home where three deaths occurred from systemic failures driven by inadequate staffing practices.
  • Successful resolution of an SEC investigation into alleged unfair municipal trading practices with payment of a modest fine and no loss of license.
  • Probationary sentence on misdemeanor charges achieved for medical doctor charged with sexually assaulting patients addicted to opioids.
  • Probationary sentence obtained for manager of pill mill conspiracy charged in federal court.
  • Declination of criminal prosecution secured for teacher accused of sexually assaulting special needs student.
  • Declination of criminal prosecution obtained for reality television star investigated for federal tax violations.
  • No contest plea for low level summary offenses negotiated in highly publicized celebrity prosecution.
  • Dismissal of Title IX case achieved for university student accused of sexual assault.
  • Dismissal of code of conduct violations attained and all records purged for group of nursing students accused of cheating.
  • All seized cash returned to client whose home was searched pursuant to federal search warrant related to large federal drug smuggling investigation.
  • Favorable sentencing won in bankruptcy fraud case for client released after just 3 months’ imprisonment.
  • Conducted protracted federal criminal jury trial involving complex fraud allegations in biodiesel industry challenging government’s regulations as unconstitutionally void for vagueness.
  • Conducted numerous internal investigations regarding allegations of misconduct and instituted corporate compliance programs.
  • Served as Special Counsel for the Pennsylvania Judicial Conduct Board and conducted investigations of high-level judges accused of judicial misconduct.

Insights