Seetha Ramachandran > Proskauer Rose LLP > New York, United States > Lawyer Profile
Proskauer Rose LLP Offices
11 TIMES SQUARE
NEW YORK, NEW YORK 10036-8299
NEW YORK
United States
Seetha Ramachandran

Work Department
Litigation
Position
Seetha Ramachandran is a partner in Proskauer’s Litigation Department, and a member of the White Collar and Asset Management Litigation practices. An experienced trial and appellate lawyer, Seetha has conducted 10 criminal jury trials, argued 10 appeals before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, and handled ancillary civil proceedings in forfeiture cases.
Seetha is a leading expert in anti-money laundering (AML), Bank Secrecy Act, economic sanctions and asset forfeiture matters. Her practice focuses on white collar and regulatory enforcement defense, internal investigations, and compliance counseling. She represents banks, broker dealers, hedge funds, private equity funds, online payment companies, and individual executives and officers in high stakes and sensitive matters. Seetha has deep experience representing institutions and individuals in financial penalty phase of criminal and regulatory matters, and is often retained to litigate forfeiture and restitution claims on behalf of victims and third parties in criminal cases, as well as handling these issues for individual defendants.
Seetha served as a federal prosecutor for nearly 10 years, including as Deputy Chief in the Asset Forfeiture and Money Laundering Section (AFMLS), Criminal Division, U.S. Department of Justice. She was the first head of DOJ’s Money Laundering & Bank Integrity Unit, where she supervised DOJ’s first major AML prosecutions, and oversaw all of the Criminal Division’s AML cases. In that role, Seetha coordinated closely with state and federal banking regulators, including FinCEN, the OCC and the New York State Department of Financial Services, giving her deep experience with how these agencies work together, especially in matters involving civil and criminal liability. Her work developing and charging criminal cases under the Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) formed the model for AML enforcement that regulators and prosecutors follow today.
Seetha also served as an Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York for nearly six years, in the Complex Frauds, Major Crimes and Asset Forfeiture units where she investigated and prosecuted white-collar cases involving a wide range of financial crimes, including bank fraud, mail and wire fraud, tax fraud, money laundering, stolen art and cultural property, and civil and criminal forfeiture cases.
Seetha is a frequent speaker and prolific author on topics including enforcement trends in the financial services industry, OFAC sanctions, effective AML programs and asset forfeiture.
Lawyer Rankings
United States > Dispute resolution > Corporate investigations and white-collar criminal defense
Proskauer Rose LLP‘s New York-based practice offers extensive experience in complex matters, including securities fraud, FCPA violations, and antitrust issues. Mark Harris , former clerk to two Supreme Court Justices and an ex-federal prosecutor, leads the practice. Former federal prosecutors William Komaroff and Seetha Ramachandran bring significant trial experience; Komaroff focuses on corporate defense and internal investigations, while Ramachandran specializes in AML, Bank Secrecy Act violations, and asset forfeiture. Hadassa Waxman, with extensive prosecutorial experience, handles various cases, including wire fraud and corporate criminal liability. Kevin Abikoff, based in Washington DC, complements the team with expertise in corporate investigations, compliance, and FCPA matters, advising boards and senior executives.
Lawyer Rankings
Top Tier Firm Rankings
- Labor and employment > Employee benefits, executive compensation and retirement plans: design
- Labor and employment > Labor and employment disputes (including collective actions)
- Labor and employment > Labor-management relations
- Environment > Environment: transactional
- Finance > Commercial lending
- Industry focus > Sport
- Labor and employment > Workplace and employment counseling
Firm Rankings
- Media, technology and telecoms > Advertising and marketing: litigation
- Insurance > Advice to policyholders
- Investment fund formation and management > Alternative/hedge funds
- Finance > Commercial lending > Advice to direct lenders/private credit
- Labor and employment > Employee benefits, executive compensation and retirement plans: transactional
- Labor and employment > ERISA litigation
- Dispute resolution > General commercial disputes
- Tax > International tax
- Tax > Not-for-profit (Fortune 1000 private foundations, national trade associations, and charities)
- M&A/corporate and commercial > Private equity buyouts: middle-market (Up to $500m)
- Investment fund formation and management > Private equity funds (including venture capital)
- Real estate > Real estate
- Tax > US taxes: non-contentious
- Finance > Commercial lending: Advice to bank lenders
- Intellectual property > Copyright
- Media, technology and telecoms > Cyber law (including data privacy and data protection)
- Media, technology and telecoms > Media and entertainment: litigation
- Finance > Restructuring (including bankruptcy): corporate
- Dispute resolution > Appellate: courts of appeals / Appellate: supreme courts (states and federal)
- Antitrust > Civil litigation/class actions: defense
- Dispute resolution > Corporate investigations and white-collar criminal defense
- Environment > Environment: transactional
- Dispute resolution > Leading trial lawyers
- Healthcare > Life sciences
- Investment fund formation and management > Mutual/registered/exchange-traded funds
- Dispute resolution > Securities litigation: defense
- Media, technology and telecoms > Technology transactions
- M&A/corporate and commercial > M&A: large deals ($1bn+)
- Real estate > Real estate finance
- Healthcare > Service providers
- Intellectual property > Patents: litigation (full coverage)