Morvillo Abramowitz Grand Iason & Anello P.C.

Benjamin S. Fischer represents corporate executives and corporations in high stakes business litigation, criminal actions, and regulatory investigations. He has significant experience litigating almost every aspect of civil and criminal cases in both federal and state court and also has extensive experience handling all phases of arbitrations. Ben has tried criminal and civil cases to verdict and arbitrations to final decisions. He has led corporate internal investigations for multinational corporations. Ben also has significant appellate experience in both state and federal appellate courts. His cases have involved allegations of hedge fund mismanagement, private equity fund mismanagement, securities fraud, insider trading, stock option backdating, market timing, collusion, rate fixing, price fixing, bribery, tax fraud, and money laundering. In addition, Ben has represented both individuals and corporations under investigation by the Department of Justice, the Securities and Exchange Commission, the District Attorney’s Office, the Attorney General’s Office, and FINRA. He also has represented companies conducting internal investigations and individuals in connection with those investigations.

Brian A. Jacobs is a former federal prosecutor who represents individuals and organizations in criminal, civil, and regulatory matters, internal investigations, and appeals. His cases have involved allegations of financial fraud, antitrust violations, accounting fraud, insider trading, bribery and corruption, computer hacking, and trade-secrets theft. Brian previously served as an Assistant U.S. Attorney in the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York, where he was Deputy Chief of Appeals. During his six and a half years at the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Brian led the investigations and prosecutions of a wide range of federal crimes, including bank, wire, mail, and securities fraud, public corruption, money laundering, obstruction of justice, embezzlement, and cybercrime.

Catherine M. Foti has more than twenty-five years of experience in complex civil and white collar criminal matters, including frauds, employment discrimination, sexual harassment, and attorney disciplinary matters. She conducts internal investigations for corporations and also counsels individuals involved in such investigations.

Christopher B. Harwood is a former federal prosecutor with many years of experience handling complex civil litigation, as well as criminal and regulatory matters. His extensive experience includes dozens of investigations, litigations, and settlements involving the False Claims Act, the Bank Secrecy Act, the Anti-Kickback Statute, and FIRREA. Chris’s cases have involved allegations of financial fraud, healthcare fraud, federal program and grant fraud, money laundering, failure to file SARs, failure to implement an effective anti-money laundering program, violation of U.S. sanctions laws, breach of contract, and employment discrimination and retaliation.

Edward M. Spiro is a litigator with many years of experience handling complex commercial and criminal litigation at the trial and appellate level in state and federal courts, and in arbitrations for high-profile, high-net worth individual and corporate clients. Ed has represented clients in diverse matters, including business and partnership disputes, securities litigation, employment disputes, including sexual harassment and discrimination, tax fraud, real estate disputes, professional responsibility and liability, and insurance coverage litigation. Ed has extensive experience defending litigation related to concurrent governmental investigations or prosecutions, including class actions, derivative cases, and other complex matters involving the securities and antitrust laws. He has represented public and privately held corporations, financial institutions, hedge funds, accounting firms, law firms, and corporate directors and officers, and served as an expert in the areas of legal ethics and standards of care.

Elkan Abramowitz is a leading white collar criminal defense lawyer experienced in handling civil and criminal matters in state and federal court for individual and corporate clients. He has built his career as a trial lawyer representing prestigious clients who have fallen into high stakes personal and professional crises both in and outside the courtroom. Elkan is the recipient of the 1999 Milton S. Gould Award for Outstanding Oral Advocacy presented by the Office of the Appellate Defender. In 2008, he was honored with the New York Council of Defense Lawyers’ Norman S. Ostrow award for the defense of liberty and the preservation of individual rights. More recently, Elkan received the New York Law Journal’s Lifetime Achievement Award.

Jeremy H. Temkin represents individuals and corporations in white collar criminal investigations. He handles a wide variety of criminal, regulatory, and civil matters in state and federal courts and before arbitration panels. His cases have involved allegations of tax fraud and securities fraud (including claims of insider trading and accounting violations), as well as violations of the antitrust laws and the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (“FCPA”). Jeremy has tried high-profile tax and securities fraud cases, has conducted internal investigations for public corporations and committees of their Boards of Directors, and has represented employees in corporate internal investigations.

Jonathan S. Sack has extensive experience litigating complex civil and criminal cases. He represents individuals and companies in federal and state criminal, civil, and regulatory matters, and conducts internal investigations. He served for thirteen years as an Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, where he handled significant prosecutions in the areas of securities and financial institution fraud, RICO violations, export control offenses, money laundering, and drug trafficking. He held a number of supervisory positions, including Chief of the Criminal Division, overseeing investigations and prosecutions conducted by more than one hundred prosecutors in all areas of federal criminal law. He tried more than a dozen federal cases and has argued on numerous occasions in the Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. In 1996, he received a Department of Justice Director’s Award for Superior Performance as an Assistant U.S. Attorney.

Karen R. King has more than 20 years of experience in complex commercial litigation, BSA/AML and OFAC compliance and enforcement matters, securities litigation and regulation, internal investigations, and strategic advice. She is a skilled trial attorney and advocate, representing clients in numerous federal and state courts, including in jury and bench trials. She has also represented multiple global institutions before the Department of Justice, the Securities and Exchange Commission, the New York Department of Financial Services, the Federal Reserve, FinCEN, OFAC, and FINRA. In March 2022, Karen argued the groundbreaking case, Golan v. Saada, before the U.S. Supreme Court. To listen to the audio recording, click here. In 2021, Karen was named a "Notable Woman in Law" by Crain's New York Business. She is also a recipient of the Federal Bar Council’s Thurgood Marshall Award for Exceptional Pro Bono Service and the Pro Bono award from the National Asian Pacific American Bar Association. Her pro bono clients include Asian police officers, survivors of domestic violence, students with learning disabilities, and victims of gun violence. She serves as the Co-Chair of the Pro Bono and Community Service Committee of the Asian American Bar Association of New York and is a member of the Federal Bar Council and Second Circuit Pro Bono panel.  

Kathleen E. Cassidy is an experienced criminal defense lawyer whose practice focuses on representing individuals and organizations in federal and state criminal investigations and proceedings, as well as regulatory and internal corporate investigations. Kate has defended clients in high-profile cases and investigations involving RICO charges, public corruption and bribery allegations, antitrust violations, all manner of financial frauds, Foreign Corrupt Practices Act violations, campaign finance irregularities, and sexual assault allegations. Kate is adept at helping clients navigate the stressful process of a criminal investigation and is devoted to achieving the most favorable result for her clients. Kate has trial experience in both state and federal court and in front of FINRA disciplinary panels. She also often achieves favorable results for clients without going to trial, including convincing prosecutors not to charge, obtaining dismissal of pending charges, and resolving charges by negotiating favorable pleas and sentences. Kate has been on both sides of internal investigations – she has conducted investigations on behalf of the Board or Audit Committee as well as represented employees being interviewed in internal investigations. Kate has also represented clients in university gender misconduct proceedings. Kate was selected as a NY Metro Super Lawyer in the area of White Collar Criminal Defense in 2019 and 2020, and was featured as a NY Metro Super Lawyer Rising Star from 2013 to 2018. Kate is the co-chair of the White Collar Criminal Litigation Committee of the New York State Bar Association and is a member of the Women's White Collar Defense Association. She recently completed a term as a Board Member of the New York Council of Defense Lawyers. Prior to joining Morvillo Abramowitz, Kate was a partner at Necheles Cassidy LLP, formerly Hafetz & Necheles LLP, defending clients in federal and state criminal cases. Earlier in her career Kate practiced at Cooley LLP, where she was part of a trial team that obtained an acquittal at the retrial of a wrongfully convicted man who spent more than fifteen years behind bars for a murder he did not commit.  

One of the country’s leading securities regulation and enforcement and white collar defense attorneys, Lawrence Iason represents financial institutions, major corporations and their senior corporate officers, and prominent individuals in a wide variety of high-profile and complex white collar cases. He has successfully represented clients in investigations by the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Department of Justice, and the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority. Larry is an experienced trial attorney who has successfully represented clients at all stages of criminal and civil trials, in arbitrations, and on appeal. He has also counseled corporate boards in connection with numerous issues, including corporate governance and accounting issues.

Richard F. Albert represents clients in white collar criminal and regulatory matters, and in civil litigation. His cases have included a wide range of allegations of securities fraud, including claims of market manipulation, insider trading, and accounting violations, as well as alleged Foreign Corrupt Practices Act violations, healthcare fraud, money laundering, antitrust violations, tax fraud, and obstruction of justice. He also has conducted internal investigations and represented public companies, banks, brokerage firms, hedge funds, and their officers and employees in complex civil litigation and arbitration.

Richard D. Weinberg has substantial expertise and experience in representing individuals and corporations in investigations by the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, the United States Department of Justice, and state regulatory agencies, and in conducting corporate internal investigations. He represents clients in highly sensitive and complex civil litigation and regulatory enforcement matters such as those involving allegations of improper trading, misleading or incomplete disclosure, market manipulation, accounting fraud, FCPA violations, and other forms of financial fraud. He also represents individual and corporate clients in parallel investigations conducted by both the Securities and Exchange Commission and the United States Department of Justice.

Robert J. Anello has litigated in the federal and state courts for more than thirty years. He focuses his practice on white collar criminal defense, securities and regulatory enforcement matters, complex civil litigation, internal investigations and reviews, and employment discrimination and sexual harassment. Bob is widely recognized for his skills as a criminal and civil trial and appellate attorney, his ability to negotiate effectively on behalf of his clients, and his efficiency and discretion in conducting investigations and reviews on behalf of a wide variety of institutions. He has acted as independent, outside counsel and consultant in a number of matters including to a Big Four accounting firm and a major global financial institution in connection with those firms’ participation in SEC Look-Back Programs, which have included reviews of the firms’ internal compliance programs.

Robert M. Radick represents individuals and organizations in a wide range of criminal, civil, and regulatory enforcement matters. As the former Chief of Health Care Fraud Prosecutions and Deputy Chief of the Public Integrity Section in the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York, Rob has special expertise in matters that include allegations of fraud against health care benefit programs, fraud against other government programs, violations of anti-bribery and anti-kickback statutes, and the misbranding of drugs and devices. Rob’s practice further includes internal investigations and the representation of corporations and individuals in connection with a variety of federal and state offenses, including securities fraud, insider trading, tax fraud, mail and wire fraud, money laundering, export violations, and the theft of trade secrets. In addition to his practice in the criminal law arena, Rob also represents individuals and organizations in complex commercial disputes, arbitrations, and proceedings before entities such as the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority.

Telemachus P. Kasulis represents individuals and organizations in high-stakes criminal, civil, and regulatory matters, and in internal corporate investigations. During his eleven years at the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York, Tim investigated and prosecuted cases involving insider trading, accounting fraud, market manipulation, investment adviser and broker-dealer fraud, Ponzi schemes, mail and wire fraud, money laundering, racketeering, murder, and obstruction of justice.