ABOUT US

October 2004-Present

Engages in multi-million dollar litigation from pleadings through trial and appeal in civil RICO and other complex cases including constitutional law issues. Defends clients in white collar criminal cases including RICO and various other cases such as extortion; mail and wire fraud; arson; money laundering; and homicide - from investigation through trial. Conducts and oversees large scale investigations in support of complex criminal and civil litigation as well predictions as to when and how various government entities may decide to investigate and/or indict a client.

• Supervises and participates in large scale multi-investigator investigations: designating the goals of the investigation; theory of the case; assigning tasks to investigators based upon expertise; witness location; witness questioning; surveillance of relevant subjects; use of various electronic databases; undercover operations; sworn statements; subpoenas; use of law enforcement contacts to gather information.
• Meet with and advise clients on law and legal strategy.
• Budget large scale litigation/investigation and inform clients of projected costs and cost saving options vs. lost opportunity costs.
• Subpoena and gather through discovery extensive documentation, electronic surveillance and the fruits of undercover operations - as well as "objects and things" - which are thoroughly analyzed and reduced to concise reports.
• Depose witnesses and defend depositions.
• Draft motions, pleadings, appellate briefs, discovery demands and reports, etc.
• Engage in conferences, mediations, settlement and plea negotiations.
• All phases of trials from jury selection through summation in complex multi-week trials.
• Draft and argue appeals in State Appellate and Federal Appellate Courts.
• Presented seminars on money laundering to various government agencies including the FBI; IRS; DIA; NYPD; and New York State Department of Taxation

March 2001 -September 2004

Served as an Assistant District Attorney in the Rackets Bureau. Responsible for complex investigation and prosecution of organized crime, public corruption, complex frauds such as credit card fraud and confidence games, illegal gambling, kidnapping, arson, extortion, murder for hire, money laundering, etc. Specialized in so called "Russian Organized Crime" - a term that refers to various subsets of alleged criminal activity that involved a hierarchy of individuals that are primarily emigres from the former Soviet Republics and Russia. This activity was often multi-national crossing national borders.

• Led combined multi-agency task force investigations that included the NYPD, Secret Service, IRS, New York State Tax, etc. Designated tasks and targets for each agency from witness interviews to large undercover operations; electronic surveillance; search warrants; and ultimately arrest and indictment.
• Drafted numerous applications and warrants for electronic surveillance/eavesdropping for telephones; computers; and various structures including a state courthouse.
• Drafted numerous search warrant applications including "no knocks" with "nighttime endorsements."
• Subpoenaed thousands of pages of financial documents and reviewed these documents in order to detect money laundering and other criminal activity.
• Subpoenaed hundreds of telephone accounts including cell site ("cell tower") information to track suspects in real time.
• Conducted over 50 grand jury presentations.
• Conducted jury trials and numerous hearings including pre-trial suppression.
• Negotiated plea-bargains that included millions of dollars in restitution and forfeiture.
• Researched and drafted various motions, discovery demands and discovery responses.

December 2000- December 2001

Served as an Assistant District Attorney in the Gang Bureau. Prosecuted and investigated criminal activity perpetrated by gangs that included violent crimes, theft and illegal narcotics. Also prosecuted general criminal activity like DWI; assault; and larceny, etc. Directed investigative tasks of the DA Squad and the police. Conducted arraignments, hearings and trials. Drafted various motions.

August 1996-December 2000

Represented the City of New York, its agencies and employees including elected officials in tort and civil rights cases. Specialized in "police cases" which included false arrest, malicious prosecution and Section 1983 claims. Other cases included defamation and catastrophic torts such as explosions, building collapses, scaffold failure, etc. Representation included all phases of litigation from pleadings through discovery, motions and all phases of trial. Became designated trial "floater" which entailed travelling from borough to borough in order to try high exposure cases. Engaged in many of the same tasks as enumerated in the above private practice description.

May 1996

Honors and Activities:

• Ranked 3rd In Class out of 276 students
• Various Scholarships
• Named "Outstanding Law Student: The Student who Best Exemplifies the ideals of the Legal Profession"
• Cleared a Veteran of WWII of a 55 year old homicide conviction

May 1986

Honors and Activities:

• Dean's Scholarship