Brooke Watson
Partner | Miami
Brooke Watson, a decorated former federal prosecutor who served in senior leadership positions in the US Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Florida (Miami), represents individuals and companies in white-collar and cyber criminal matters, crypto litigation, sanctions enforcement, internal investigations, regulatory inquiries, and complex litigation.
Brooke's tenure at the US Attorney's Office spanned multiple sections, most recently as the district's Deputy Criminal Chief. She also served as Chief and Deputy Chief of the Economic and Environmental Crimes Section and as Deputy Chief of the Major Crimes Section. In the National Security Section, Brooke investigated and prosecuted cyber cases and criminal sanctions violations. As the district's Digital Asset Coordinator and its Computer Hacking and Intellectual Property (CHIP) Coordinator, she advised prosecutors and federal agents on cryptocurrency, smart contracts, and intellectual property offenses. She has extensive federal and state trial experience.
Brooke is also an Adjunct Professor at Florida State University, where she teaches courses on cybersecurity, AI, and breach response.
Brooke studied at Brown University, Northeastern University School of Law, and Parsons School of Design. She counsels brands and platforms on cyber risk and disclosure obligations raised by generative AI.
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In her leadership roles, Brooke advised on charging decisions, litigation risk, and enforcement strategy while overseeing teams handling complex white-collar, cyber, digital asset, public corruption, violent crime, narcotics, immigration, money laundering, and national security matters.
Brooke provides invaluable advice to individuals and companies facing enforcement actions or potential actions from regulators across the United States. She brings a deep understanding of how the government builds its cases and how to respond when it does.
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Brooke has extensive experience handling some of the Department of Justice’s most complex and high-impact cybercrime and financial fraud cases. Her recent matters include the DOJ’s disruption of the BlackCat (ALPHV) ransomware group, which targeted hundreds of U.S. institutions, including critical infrastructure, and an investigation that led to numerous prosecutions of individuals involved in a massive synthetic identity and pandemic relief fraud scheme.
Brooke maintains an active litigation and trial practice. Before joining the Department of Justice, Brooke served as an Assistant District Attorney at the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office in Boston, Massachusetts, where she served as lead counsel in dozens of trials and evidentiary hearings. While at the DOJ, Brooke, in addition to her management responsibilities, maintained an active litigation practice, investigating and prosecuting hundreds of cases from inception through trial involving cybercrime, digital assets, national security, financial fraud, healthcare fraud, money laundering, and securities fraud. She also served as the district’s Digital Asset Coordinator and Computer Hacking and Intellectual Property Coordinator, helping to shape the Department’s response to emerging technologies.
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Brooke has received numerous accolades for her work. Brooke’s work has been recognized with the Attorney General’s Award for Fraud Prevention (2022) and the Assistant Attorney General’s Award for Exceptional Service (2024), two of the Department of Justice’s highest honors for performance and impact. Her leadership extended beyond the courtroom, helping to build proactive enforcement initiatives and cross-agency partnerships targeting novel and evolving threats.
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Northeastern University School of Law, J.D.
Brown University, B.A.
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Massachusetts
Florida
U.S. District Court: Massachusetts
U.S. District Court: Southern District of Florida
11th Circuit Court of Appeals
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The Landscape of Cybersecurity Regulations: USA & LATAM, Financial and International Business Association Bank Security Conference, Miami, Florida (2024).
Crypto Crime: Federal prosecutors take us inside the mysterious, complex world of cryptocurrency cases, WSVN, Channel 7 “7 INVESTIGATES” (2023).
Cybercrime and White-Collar Crime: An Overview and Case Study, St. Thomas University School of Law, Florida (2023).
Taking a Byte out of Crime: Tools and Techniques for Fighting Internet Crimes Targeting Businesses and Individuals, Financial Crimes Conference, Fort Lauderdale, Florida (2023).
The Use of Shell Companies to Facilitate Financial Crimes, Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council Financial Crimes Seminar, Virtual (2023).
Complex Fraud Schemes, FinCEN Exchange (2023).
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Adjunct Professor, Florida State University
Technology Fundamentals for Cybersecurity, AI, and Beyond
Cybersecurity Breach Response
