White-collar defense lawyer Nancy Luque’s long been known for tenaciously representing controversial clients such as convicted Israeli spy Jonathan Pollard and, more recently, former Washington Teachers’ Union official Gwendolyn Hemphill.

Though that fervor has won her acclaim from clients, it recently came back to haunt Luque, who not long ago was appointed co-chair of the white-collar practice at the D.C. office of DLA Piper Rudnick Gray Cary.