Barry H. Berke

Represented former New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio in federal and local criminal investigations that were successfully concluded with no charges brought or any other actions taken.

Represented a former Deutsche Bank AG broker who had been accused of participating in one of the largest tax fraud cases in history. Under the terms of a rare deferred prosecution agreement with the Manhattan U.S. attorney’s office, all charges against our client were dismissed.

Represented former SAC Capital Fund Advisors fund manager Michael Steinberg in a prominent insider-trading case that was dropped by U.S. prosecutors following the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision not to review a 2nd Circuit ruling in a related case, which agreed with arguments Kramer Levin had made in Steinberg’s case and preserved for appeal that the government had overstepped the bounds of insider-trading law in seeking to prosecute remote tippees.

Represented a former investment representative at Deutsche Bank Alex. Brown in a criminal prosecution in the Southern District of New York related to what has been characterized as the largest tax fraud prosecution in U.S. history. He was charged with conspiring to deprive the IRS of billions of tax dollars through the use of allegedly abusive tax shelters, but was acquitted on all nine criminal charges after a ten-week trial.

Represented the head of a multibillion-dollar investment fund, and succeeded in clearing him of all charges, in an indictment alleging that he conspired 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.

Represented JP Morgan Bear Stearns Asset Management in the first bank-against-bank lawsuit arising out of the financial crisis, and won dismissal of all claims prior to trial in the federal action brought by Bank of America seeking to recover $3 billion in losses.

Conducted internal investigations on behalf of boards of directors and audit committees of many public and private companies, including Moody’s, AIG, Bear Stearns and DoubleClick.

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.

Represented a lawyer who was charged with participating in a multimillion-dollar securities arbitrage fraud. Following a two-month trial, the jury returned a verdict acquitting his client on all 23 counts.

Represented the president of an investment company charged with engaging in a $60 million bond fraud. All charges were dismissed following the close of the government’s case at trial.

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, Barry successfully persuaded the SEC to not file any charges against his client.

Represented a doctor, who eventually avoided criminal prosecution, regained his medical license and resumed the practice of medicine, in a health care fraud case that received widespread media attention.

Represented the owner of a 1933 Double Eagle gold coin, believed to be the rarest and most valuable coin in the world, that the U.S. government claimed was stolen government property. After successfully persuading the government to dismiss criminal charges, Barry 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.

Represented a well-known law firm in an arbitration brought by a former partner, achieving a significant decision that upheld the enforceability of the firm’s partnership agreement and noncompete provisions.

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 the client.

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 U.S. attorney’s office for the Southern District of New York to drop criminal charges against him.

Represented world-champion boxers and others in the boxing profession in high-profile arbitrations and court proceedings, all of which Barry won on behalf of his clients.