A partner and co-chair of Kramer Levin’s White Collar Defense and SEC Regulatory practice, Barry H. Berke has extensive trial experience and has represented clients in all phases of criminal, regulatory and civil matters. Mr. Berke has represented individuals and corporations in many sensitive and high-profile investigations and proceedings, and has tried dozens of cases before juries and judges. He has handled major matters involving all aspects of white collar crime, including allegations of securities, accounting and bank fraud, RICO and FCPA violations, tax offenses, bribery, bid-rigging, and embezzlement. Mr. Berke also has represented prominent corporations and individuals in class action and other complex litigation.

Mr. Berke was profiled in The American Lawyer's "Young Litigators Fab Fifty" as one of the 50 leading litigation attorneys in the United States under the age of 45. Mr. Berke also was selected by The Best Lawyers in America as one of the leading white-collar criminal defense lawyers in the United States and was recognized as one of the “Top 100 Lawyers in New York” by Super Lawyers. In addition, Chambers USA: America’s Leading Lawyers for Business recognized Mr. Berke as a leading litigator in white-collar crime and commercial litigation.

Mr. Berke is co-author of the textbook The Practice of Federal Criminal Law: Prosecution and Defense, published in January 2006 by Thomson/West as part of its American Casebook Series. In a review in the New York Law Journal , the book was described as both a "comprehensive guide for the beginning federal criminal defense lawyer and federal prosecutor" and a "valuable and savvy text for the veteran practitioner." Mr. Berke is also an Adjunct Professor at New York University School of Law, where he has taught courses on criminal law and professional responsibility, and lectures frequently on criminal justice issues in a variety of forums. Additionally, he is vice-chairman of the board of directors of the Coalition for the Homeless.

Prior to joining Kramer Levin, Mr. Berke was a trial lawyer with the Federal Defenders' Office for the Southern District of New York for four years. During that time, he defended individuals accused of a wide range of federal offenses, serving as lead counsel in numerous jury trials and achieving favorable verdicts in a large majority of those cases.

Representative Matters

• Mr. Berke represents Bear Stearns in a variety of proceedings related to the collapse of two Bear Stearns investment funds.
  
  
• Mr. Berke represents the head of an investment fund in a criminal case pending in the Southern District of New York in which his client is alleged to have joined a conspiracy to bribe the President of Azerbaijan in connection with the privatization of the state-owned oil company in violation of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.
  
  
• Mr. Berke represents the former Police Commissioner of New York City in a criminal case pending in the Southern District of New York.
  
  
• Mr. Berke represented American International Group, Inc. in a variety of regulatory and law enforcement proceedings, including recent investigations by the Justice Department and Securities and Exchange Commission.
  
  
• Mr. Berke represents the former Chairman of ImClone Systems Inc. in a variety of proceedings.
  Mr. Berke represented a well-known law firm in an arbitration brought by a former partner. He won the arbitration in a significant decision that upheld the enforceability of the firm’s partnership agreement and non-compete provisions that had been challenged by the former partner.
  
  
• Mr. Berke represented an accountant and officer of a Fortune 20 company in an accounting fraud investigation by the SEC. Following the issuance of two Wells submissions, Mr. Berke successfully persuaded the SEC to not file any charges against his client.
  
  
• Mr. Berke successfully represented a doctor who operated a large medical center in a significant health care fraud case that received wide-spread media attention. The doctor avoided criminal prosecution, regained his medical license, and resumed the practice of medicine.
  
  
• Mr. Berke represented the general counsel of a company charged with violating federal immigration and labor laws. Following successful motions to sever and limit the charges, all charges were dismissed on the eve of trial and the client has resumed the private practice of law.
  
  
• Mr. Berke represented the owner of a 1933 Double Eagle gold coin, believed to be the rarest and most valuable coin in the world, that the United States government claimed was stolen government property. After successfully persuading the government to dismiss criminal charges, he represented the coin dealer in a protracted civil forfeiture proceeding that resulted in a landmark settlement on the eve of trial whereby the coin was auctioned for a record $7.6 million and the proceeds divided between his client and the government.
  
  
• Mr. Berke represented a businessman at the center of the State of Connecticut Treasurer’s office corruption scandal, and, with co-counsel, successfully persuaded the government to end its investigation and criminal prosecution of his client.
  
  
• Mr. Berke represented a former officer of a leading investment bank alleged to have participated in a fraud involving hundreds of millions of dollars, and successfully persuaded the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York to not pursue criminal charges against him.
  
  
• Mr. Berke represented the former CFO of Oxford Health Plans Inc. in an SEC investigation and related class action proceedings.
  
  
• Mr. Berke won a high profile boxing arbitration and subsequent court proceeding establishing that his client had the exclusive promotional rights for all boxing matches involving the light-heavyweight champion of the world.
  
  
• Mr. Berke also recently won a high profile boxing arbitration for his client, Jermain Taylor, the middleweight champion of the world, against Mr. Taylor's former manager in a dispute over whether the management company had properly exercised its contractual right to extend its contract with Mr. Taylor.

J.D., cum laude, Harvard Law School, 1989
B.A., summa cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa, Duke University, 1986

Honorable Mary Johnson Lowe, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York, 1989 - 1990

New York, 1989

U.S. District Court, Eastern District of New York, 1995
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, 1992
U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York, 1990

Teaching
New York University, Adjunct Professor, 2003-Present
New York University, Adjunct Assistant Professor, 1995-2003
New York University, Acting Assistant Professor of Law, 1995
National Institute for Trial Advocacy, Hauppauge, NY, 1997-Present, teaching trial advocacy skills as a member of the faculty for the NITA Northeast Regional Program

The Association of the Bar of the City of New York, Judiciary Committee, 2002-2003; Committee on Criminal Advocacy, 1999-2002; Special Committee on Representation in Capital Cases, 1995-1998
American Bar Association
National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers
New York State Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers