Charles M. Farrell

Charles M. Farrell is a Senior Managing Associate in Dentons' New York office and a member of the Litigation and Dispute Resolution practice. His primary practice area is White Collar Crime, and he concentrates on complex commercial litigation, white-collar defence and government investigations, and alternative dispute resolution, with particular depth in matters involving securities, commodities, digital assets, and the gaming and hospitality industries. He is also a key member of Dentons' Blockchain, Digital Assets & Cryptocurrency team.

In addition to his litigation and investigations practice, he maintains an active counselling practice advising clients navigating the rapidly evolving regulatory and commercial landscape surrounding gaming, prediction markets, alternative investments and digital assets. Drawing on his litigation experience and deep familiarity with the regulatory frameworks governing these sectors, he helps clients identify and mitigate risk, structure compliant operations, and respond to regulatory inquiries before disputes arise.

He serves on the Securities Litigation Committee for the New York City Bar Association, the Gaming Law Committee for the American Bar Association, and on the 2026 Sports & Betting Editorial Advisory Board for Law360.

Prior to joining Dentons, he was an associate at a leading plaintiffs' firm, where he prosecuted complex securities fraud and corporate governance cases. He earned his J.D. from St. John's University School of Law, where he served on the St. John's Law Review and was a member of the Securities Arbitration Clinic. He also interned with the Honourable Jenny Rivera of the New York Court of Appeals.

His representative experience includes representing a technology company in a federal jury trial of an SEC enforcement action concerning trading in digital assets and alleged securities fraud, as well as in several cross-border government investigations; representing a Wall Street firm in an SEC investigation concerning public statements by Special Purpose Acquisition Companies (SPACs); representing the New York Stock Exchange in an SEC investigation relating to potential violations of SEC Regulation SCI and the Securities Exchange Act of 1934; and representing Cantor Fitzgerald in relation to SEC and CFTC sweeps of Wall Street firms concerning "off channel" business communications by employees, which resulted in favourable settlements, with Cantor paying by far the lowest penalties of the eleven firms in the sweeps.

He also represented Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. and certain of its subsidiaries in an SEC investigation relating to a cybersecurity incident, resulting in a favourable settlement; represented a foreign securities exchange as a third party in federal securities litigation; and is representing a technology company developing products in the gaming and prediction markets space and navigating regulatory uncertainties. He advises market makers and index providers on the gaming licence application process, commercial agreements and prediction markets, and represents a restaurant group concerning a False Claims Act investigation relating to government Covid-19 relief funding, and a farming group concerning a False Claims Act investigation relating to its farming business.

Other matters include representing a federal agency in a series of investigations relating to workplace issues; representing an investment bank in litigation against a mortgage loan servicer involving residential mortgage-backed securities and loan servicing standards; securing a favourable settlement for a distinguished hotel ownership group in an owner-operator arbitration dispute; representing major insurance companies in class action litigation concerning cost-of-insurance rate increases; and representing a confidential client alleged to have engaged in fraud associated with stock-backed loan transactions.

His pro bono work includes representing a Salvadoran migrant who was wrongfully imprisoned, asserting claims against the US government under the Federal Torts Claim Act and successfully securing a sizable settlement, and representing a high school student who was illegally searched upon entering school, also securing a sizable settlement.

He was recognised in Best Lawyers in America, "Ones to Watch" in Commercial Litigation, 2026. He holds a JD, cum laude, from St. John's University School of Law (2019) and a BS, summa cum laude, from Marist College (2016).