CARL BLACKSTONE
cblackstone@yarmuth.com
(206) 516-3877
PRACTICE AREAS
White Collar Defense & Government Investigations
Strategic Advice & Counsel
Appellate Litigation
EDUCATION
University of Oregon School of Law, J.D., 1983,
First in Class, Order of the Coif
Stanford Law School, 1982-1983
University of California, Berkeley, B.A., 1978,
Phi Beta Kappa
CLERKSHIP
Hon. Cecil F. Poole, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, 1983-1984
PRIOR EXPERIENCE
Assistant U.S. Attorney, W.D. Wash., 1990-2013
Assistant U.S. Attorney, E.D. Cal., 1987-1990
Morrison & Foerster, 1984-1987
Carl Blackstone is an experienced trial lawyer and a former federal prosecutor with the Criminal Division of the U.S. Department of Justice. Carl’s practice consists of white collar criminal defense, internal investigations, qui tam litigation and complex civil litigation. Carl also has significant appellate experience and has briefed and argued a number of cases before the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.
From 1987 to 1990, Carl served as an Assistant United States Attorney with the United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of California. His tenure in that office culminated with a successful two week trial in which he convicted an individual of first degree murder for pushing his wife to her death off a 350 foot cliff in Yosemite National Park in order to collect almost $500,000 in life insurance.
From 1990 to November 2013, Carl served as an Assistant United States Attorney with the United States Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Washington. While in that office Carl investigated and prosecuted cases involving a wide variety of federal criminal offenses. He specialized in prosecuting complex white collar crime cases, including health care fraud, environmental crimes, cybercrime, intellectual property crimes, FDA violations, securities fraud, bank, mail and wire fraud, accounting fraud, embezzlement, bankruptcy fraud, money laundering, and tax fraud. Between 2006 and November 2013, Carl was the supervisor of the Complex Crimes Unit for the United States Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Washington and was responsible for the day-to-day supervision of all complex white collar crime investigations and prosecutions in the office. During that same period Carl also served as the International Coordinator for the United States Attorney’s Office, responsible for overseeing Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty (“MLAT”) requests and extradition.
Carl is an accomplished trial lawyer who has successfully tried a number of document intensive multi-week federal jury trials. Carl was the recipient of the prestigious Director’s Award for Superior Performance as an Assistant United States Attorney, as the lead prosecutor in securing the convictions of two individuals who orchestrated a $73 million investment scheme which defrauded over 3,000 individuals, following a seven-week trial.
At the firm, Carl joins forces with another experienced former prosecutor and colleague, Bob Westinghouse, to provide the highest quality of legal representation to clients who are facing government investigations or who seek internal investigations. Their practice includes experience successfully representing clients with FCPA and SEC investigations.
Carl is admitted to the bar in Washington and California (inactive).