Karen Patton Seymour is a member of Sullivan & Cromwell’s Litigation Group, where her practice focuses on corporate governance, crisis management, commercial litigation, white-collar criminal defense and internal investigations. She also represents clients in complex federal and state civil litigation. She is also a member of the firm's Management Committee.
She previously served as General Counsel of Goldman Sachs, where she served on the Management Committee. She oversaw the firm's strategy regarding litigation and enforcement issues and served as a key advisor to the firm across a variety of legal, reputational and other matters. She was responsible for overseeing the firm's legal affairs worldwide.
As a federal prosecutor, she was lead trial counsel for the government in the prosecution of Martha Stewart and Peter Bacanovic. She served as Chief of the Criminal Division for the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York from 2002 to 2004, where she supervised 165 federal prosecutors and oversaw all criminal investigations and prosecutions in the district.
Ms. Seymour has tried numerous jury and bench trials in federal court and argued many appeals before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. She also has in-depth experience representing corporations and individuals outside the United States in responding to U.S. inquiries and investigations.
During her first tenure in the U.S. Attorney 's Office from 1990 to 1996, she prosecuted a wide variety of cases and served as Chief of the General Crimes Unit.
EDUCATION: Southern Methodist University, B.A./B.S.; The University of Texas School of Law, J.D.; University of London, LL.M.