Alex Little

Alex Little helps clients solve complex problems. He concentrates his practice in the areas of criminal defense, government investigations, criminal and civil appeals, victims’ rights, and general litigation and dispute resolution. Immediately prior to joining Bone McAllester Norton, Alex served as an Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Middle District of Tennessee. As a former prosecutor, Alex draws on extensive trial and appellate experience in state and federal courts to aggressively represent clients facing investigations, defending against criminal charges, or navigating a complex lawsuit.

In a recent landmark win, Alex led an appellate team that convinced the Department of Justice to stop prosecuting doctors and medical professionals who had innocently received misbranded medicines from abroad. As a result, federal prosecutors abandoned their prosecution of his clients and later declined to prosecute other clients facing similar investigations by the Food and Drug Administration.

Alex also has a particular passion for representing victims and those injured by others. In 2015, along with Bone McAllester Norton member Ed Yarbrough, he argued before the Tennessee Supreme Court on behalf of a victim of rape asserting her rights under the Tennessee Crime Victims’ Bill of Rights. In this case, and others like it, he has advised individual victims of crime and their families as they undertake the often difficult process of holding their perpetrators accountable.

Alex also advises clients about the intersection of law and technology — whether it involves helping a company defend itself from a cyber attack or responding to one that already has occurred. During his time with the U.S. Department of Justice, Alex developed a deep understanding of this terrain, including the legal issues implicated by the Electronic Communications Privacy Act (ECPA), Title III wiretaps, GPS tracking, the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA),video surveillance and evidence obtained from social networking sites like Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

Before his time as a federal prosecutor, Alex worked on a broad range of foreign policy matters in the United States and abroad. He has served as a law clerk and consultant to the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC), as an analyst at the Central Intelligence Agency and as an adviser to former President Jimmy Carter in the Conflict Resolution Program at The Carter Center. In those roles, he assisted in the development of the first indictments issued by the ICC for war crimes in Uganda, drafted intelligence briefings for senior U.S. policymakers and facilitated negotiations between governments and rebel groups in Africa.

Alex also serves as an Adjunct Professor of Law at Vanderbilt Law School, where he teaches a course on “The Law of Secrets and Lies,” which covers everything from perjury, defamation and fraud to the Espionage Act, grand jury secrecy and the Fourth Amendment.

Alex is a native of Murfreesboro, Tennessee and an alumnus of Riverdale High School. He received his undergraduate degree from the University of North Carolina and attended law school at Georgetown University Law Center.

Alex on… law, life and passion.

Recent Successes

• In 2015, successfully represented a Tennessee oncologist and his wife who were charged in federal court with receiving misbranded drugs. On appeal in the Sixth Circuit, secured a reversal of all convictions and dismissal with prejudice.
• In 2015, successfully represented other physicians facing FDA investigations for ordering and distributing misbranded drugs. Federal prosecutors declined to bring criminal charges.
• In 2014, at trial, successfully defended an individual charged with murder in state court for his alleged role in the drug-overdose of his partner. The trial judge dismissed all charges at the close of the case.
• In 2014, successfully represented a bankruptcy lawyer charged in federal court with perjury and bankruptcy fraud. On appeal in the Tenth Circuit, secured reversal of perjury conviction for lack of evidence.
• In 2014, successfully represented a bank executive against proposed regulatory enforcement action by the FDIC for alleged misconduct in connection with loans. FDIC attorneys closed the case without taking action.

Recent Representative Matters

• Represent healthcare companies and individual physicians across the country in criminal and civil False Claim Act investigations by state and federal authorities.
• Represent defense contractor in complex international criminal matter involving arrest of employee abroad, export control compliance and related legal issues.
• Represent medical management company in multimillion dollar civil lawsuit brought by large insurance company alleging fraud.
• Represent former local government official in Tennessee facing federal criminal charges of wire fraud related to federal grant program.
• Represent businessman facing federal criminal charges of wire fraud related to sale of coal mining investments.
• Represent mortgage broker facing federal criminal charges of bank fraud related to origination of home loans.
• Represent bank executive facing civil regulatory action by Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) involving allegations related to supervision of trusts.
• Represent luxury automobile exporters in federal civil forfeiture proceedings involving purchase of vehicles for resale in China.
• Represent multiple individuals at the trial level in Tennessee state courts facing serious criminal charges, including solicitation of murder, sexual assault, burglary and statutory rape.
• Represent on appeal before the Tennessee Court of Appeals an individual convicted at trial of vehicular homicide.
• Represent on appeal before the Tennessee Supreme Court the victim of a sexual assault in an open records case brought by a newspaper seeking evidence gathered by police when investigating her assault.

Attorney Advertising – Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome.

Clerkship

• The Honorable Marsha Berzon, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit

Publications

• “Three Strikes and Kony’s Still There: What I Learned from Negotiations with Joseph Kony and the International Criminal Court’s Efforts to Indict Him,” Beyond #Kony2012: Atrocity, Awareness & Activism in the Internet Age, April 2012
• Secrecy at the International Criminal Court, 103 Proceedings of the American Society of International Law (Proc. 232), 2009
• “Balancing Accountability and Victim Autonomy at the International Criminal Court,” 38 Georgetown Journal of International Law (363), 2007

Community Involvement

• Democrats for Education Reform: Chair, Nashville Steering Committee
• New Leaders Council: Curriculum Co-Chair, Nashville Chapter
• Nurses for Newborns Foundation: Executive Committee, Advisory Board
• Discovery Center at Murfree Spring: Member, Advisory Board
• International Peace and Security Institute: Founding Board Member, Board Secretary