Jan Lawrence Handzlik is an experienced investigations and trial lawyer with a national and international practice. He represents individuals and organizations in investigations, prosecutions, regulatory actions, and complex civil litigation in the United States and abroad. Jan conducts corporate internal investigations and coordinates cross‑border criminal, civil, and regulatory matters.
Before entering the United States Attorney’s Office in Los Angeles, Jan served as a Law Clerk to a United States District Judge. As an Assistant United States Attorney, he worked in the Fraud & Special Prosecutions Section conducting grand jury investigations and prosecuting federal fraud cases at trial and on appeal.
An accomplished trial lawyer, Jan has tried well over 100 jury trials and numerous bench trials to verdict in U.S. federal and state courts. He also served as the independent law‑compliance monitor for a Swiss multinational corporation, having been appointed under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA).
Jan focuses on regulatory and white‑collar criminal investigations and defense. In addition to trial practice, his expertise includes financial fraud and transnational crime. Jan’s matters involve, among other things, civil and criminal securities fraud, investment fraud, bank fraud and money laundering, tax fraud, internet gambling, cybercrime and cryptocurrency trading issues. His expertise extends to allegations of commercial and official bribery and enforcement under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA), the U.K. Bribery Act and the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO).
Jan earned an undergraduate Bachelor of Arts degree the University of Southern California. Subsequently, he was awarded a Juris Doctor law degree from the UCLA School of Law.
Jan has been consistently recognized as a leading regulatory and business crime defense lawyer both nationally and internationally. He has been recognized in numerous national and international publications including, through 2026, all thirty-two editions of Best Lawyers in America, the respected peer review journal for the U.S. and global legal profession.
Lexology Index and Global Investigations Review (GIR)
Lexology Index, formerly Who’s Who Legal, and Global Investigations Review (GIR), both published in the UK, have again recognized Jan as a Who’s Who Legal Global Thought Leader: GIR 2025 in Business Crime Defence. These respected publications identify law firms and “practitioners [who] are among the very best in the world in their respective fields, without exception.” Based on thousands of votes and nominations, Lexology Index and GIR rank Jan as one of the “world’s foremost… business crime defence…lawyers.”
NACDL White-Collar Criminal Defense Award — The National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers award for outstanding accomplishments in white-collar criminal defense. “>https://globalreferral.group/jan-lawrence-handzlik/]
California Attorney of the Year Award (CLAY Award) — Awarded to Jan by California Lawyer Magazine for “extraordinary achievement” in criminal law. “>https://globalreferral.group/jan-lawrence-handzlik/]
Named one of the “Top 100 Lawyers in California” — The leading daily periodical for the California legal community, The Daily Journal, recognized Jan as “…one of the state’s most influential attorneys.” “>https://globalreferral.group/jan-lawrence-handzlik/]
Euromoney / Expert Guides recognition — Jan has been recognized by Euromoney’s Expert Guides as one of the leading white-collar crime practitioners in the United States. “>https://profiles.superlawyers.com/california/lawyer/jan-lawrence-handzlik/b788d755-9654-4522-962d-4ff1252a9a91.html]
Best Lawyers in America / Best Law Firms in America, Regional Tier 1 ranking (Los Angeles) — Criminal Defense: White-Collar —Jan is recognized in all thirty-two volumes, through 2026, of Best Lawyers in America , in which he is ranked Tier 1 in Los Angeles for Criminal Defense: White-Collar. Handzlik & Associates has again been recognized in its companion publication, Best Law Firms in America, in its 2026 edition. “>https://www.bestlawfirms.com/firms/jan-lawrence-handzlik-apc/73224/US]
For more than 20 years, Jan has been listed in the Thomsen Reuters publication, Super Lawyers, which recognizes the top five percent of lawyers nationally. He has received additional recognition from The American Lawyer Magazine, Chambers USA: America’s Leading Lawyers, Haute Lawyer, Lexinter Law Directory and Martindale Hubbell, which rates him AV Preeminent, Peer Rated for Highest Level of Professional Excellence.
Jan is deeply involved in bar association and public service activities. He served as Co-Chair of the International Bar Association’s Business Crime Committee for two years. In that position, he helped organize and present the IBA’s Annual Transnational Crime Conference and mock trials at the IBA’s Annual Conference in Austria, Panama and Washington, DC.
Jan served as National Chair of the American Bar Association’s National White Collar Crime Committee for two years. He was also on the Governing Council of the ABA’s Criminal Justice Section for six years and the ABA President’s Task Force on the Attorney-Client Privilege for five years. Jan has also served as an officer of ABA’s International Law Section and the International Anti-Corruption Committee and International Criminal Law Committee.
“>https://globalreferral.group/jan-lawrence-handzlik/] “>https://www.bestlawyers.com/lawyers/jan-lawrence-handzlik/12743]
Jan Handzlik is an accomplished investigations and trial lawyer with a national and international practice. He specializes in white-collar criminal investigations and defense, regulatory enforcement acctions and complex civil litigation, with a focus on financial fraud, and transnational crime.
Jan has conducted over 100 jury and bench trials to verdict in the US federal and state courts. He served in the Special Prosecutions and Major Fraud Section of the United States Attorney’s Office in Los Angeles. There he prosecuted federal fraud cases at trial and on appeal. In private practice, Jan was appointed as an independent law‑compliance monitor under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA). In that capacity, he monitored the operations of a multinational Swiss medical device company.
Jan has been recognized in all 26 editions, through 2026, of Best Lawyers, a leading peer review journal for the global legal profession. Its companion publication, Best Law Firms, has again recognized Handzlik & Associates in the field of white-collar criminal defense. The National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (NACDL) presented Jan with its White-Collar Criminal Defense Award. Jan recieved the California Attorney of the Year Award (CLAY) and was recognized as one of the Top 100 Lawyers in California by California Lawyer Magazine. Jan has again been recognized by the UK publication Lexology Index, formerly known as Who’s Who Legal, as a Global Thought Leader for 2026.
Jan attended the University of Southern California undergraduate and earned his law degree from the UCLA School of Law.
Yes. Jan is ranked in Best Lawyers and recognized in Best Law Firms Tier 1 for Criminal Defense: White-Collar in Los Angeles.
He has served as an independent FCPA monitor and has been involved in evaluating multinational corporations for compliance and enforcement efforts.
Jan is one of a few U.S. lawyers to have successfully defended a corporation and its CEO in a major FCPA prosecution, United States v. Lindsay Manufacturing Corporation.
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