Led by ‘excellent attorney’ and white-collar crime expert Paul Schoeman, Herbert Smith Freehills Kramer in New York has a strong white-collar crime and government investigations practice. The group represents both individuals and corporate entities in criminal and civil litigation, regulatory enforcement proceedings, and government-facing and internal investigations, and is especially well-versed in cross-border matters, as well as in sectors such as private equity, telecoms, financial services, defense, aviation, healthcare, and nonprofit. Scott Balber focuses on internal investigations, securities and financial services litigation, and white collar criminal defense, and commercial litigator Michael Jones represents clients across sectors in cross-border litigation and investigations. Gary Naftalis has extensive experience with high-stakes civil, criminal, and regulatory matters, and Jilan Kamal is another key contact for cross-border investigations.
Legal 500 Editorial commentary
Accolades
Client satisfaction: Billing & efficiency
Client satisfaction: Sector knowledge
Testimonials
Collated independently by Legal 500 research team.
‘Strong team, including those who joined through the merger with Kramer Levin. ’
‘Paul Schoeman is an excellent attorney. He is very experienced, has great judgment, and is calm under pressure. I would trust him with the most sensitive and complex matters.’
Key clients
- Digital Currency Group
- Stephen Calk, the majority owner and former CEO/Chairman of The Federal Savings Bank.
- Ramnik Soni, the COO and CFO of Alaris Aerospace Systems LLC.
Work highlights
Representing Digital Currency Group (DCG), a cryptocurrency conglomerate, in defense of an action by the New York Attorney General against DCG, its collapsed cryptocurrency brokerage subsidiary Genesis and Gemini, a cryptocurrency exchange, alleging that the companies had lied to more than 230,000 investors regarding the safety of their crypto investments during the 2022 crash in the crypto market.
Representing Stephen Calk, the majority owner and former CEO/Chairman of The Federal Savings Bank, in connection with charges arising from $16m in loans made by Mr. Calk’s bank to Paul Manafort, the former campaign manager for Donald Trump’s campaign in 2016.
Hired as trial counsel for Ramnik Soni, the COO and CFO of Alaris Aerospace Systems LLC, to represent him in connection with changes of honest services fraud and money laundering.
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Practice head
Paul Schoeman
Other key lawyers
Scott Balber; Michael Jones; Gary Naftalis; Jilan Kamal; Boaz Cohen; John O’Donnell; Michelle Ben-David; Andrew Baum