Liability Under Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act: Remedies for Victims; Risks for Businesses

Aaron Halegua, PLLC is a boutique law firm based in New York City that practices in the areas of human trafficking/forced labor, employment law, and general litigation. The firm has a particular focus on matters involving China, Chinese companies, and Chinese individuals. Mr. Halegua began his legal career as a Skadden Fellow and has since litigated cases involving a wide range of issues, including forced labor and human trafficking, wage and hour violations, discrimination, retaliation, sexual harassment, wrongful termination, whistleblower retaliation, wrongful death, and terrorist financing. He also routinely represents employees in severance and other negotiations with their current or former employers. Mr. Halegua's groundbreaking litigation work and advocacy have been widely recognized. In 2021, he was named the "Litigator of the Year" by the Human Trafficking Legal Center in Washington, D.C. In 2023, Mr. Halegua received the Grantee Hero Award from the Impact Fund based in Berkeley, California. Since 2024, he has been a co-chair of the American Bar Association's committee on human trafficking. Mr. Halegua previously served as a law clerk to the Honorable Richard J. Sullivan of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York. He is an affiliated scholar of NYU Law School and research associate with Oxford University. Mr. Halegua has published numerous book chapters, articles, op-eds, and policy reports on U.S. and international labor rights issues; presented his work throughout the U.S., Asia, and Europe; and consulted widely for international organizations, foundations, and non-profits across the globe.

Ms. Johannes is a Chambers USA-ranked trial attorney and former federal prosecutor who represents companies and individuals in corporate and government investigations, white collar defense, complex litigation, and compliance matters. She brings more than twenty years of legal experience, significant trial experience, and a diverse perspective to every matter. Ms. Johannes began her career as a litigation associate in New York City at an AmLaw 1 global law firm, where she was staffed on “bet-the-company” trials. She then spent a decade as an Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, where she first-chaired dozens of jury trials, led hundreds of criminal and civil investigations, and argued before the Eleventh Circuit. Ms. Johannes's cases spanned fraud, money laundering, espionage, civil rights, arms trafficking, human and sex trafficking, and murder. That work gave her an insider’s view of how high-stakes federal investigations unfold, along with close working relationships with the FBI, HSI, DEA, ATF, Secret Service, and local law enforcement partners. She handles complex and sensitive matters, including internal investigations and government inquiries into corporate bribery, fraud, and sexual misconduct, and she represents individuals facing serious criminal or civil liability. Ms. Johannes also advises boards on best practices and designs compliance and training programs that promote sound corporate governance. 

Mr. Korba is Of Counsel with Foley & Lardner in the Washington, DC office, and is a member of the firm’s Government Enforcement Defense & Investigations practice group. He draws from years as a federal prosecutor to advise clients on a variety of civil and criminal matters. Mr. Korba's experience includes investigations into cyber attacks and computer fraud, Foreign Terrorist Organizations (FTOs), export control offenses and economic sanctions evasions, wire fraud, violations of Anti-Money Laundering regulations, the Bank Secrecy Act, the Anti-Terrorism Act, and more. His experience working with a variety of federal agencies and private sector stakeholders on long-term and complex criminal investigations translates to practical guidance, minimizing business and reputational risks for clients in a variety of cases.