Harry Sandick

Harry Sandick is a Partner in Patterson Belknap Webb and Tyler’s Litigation department and a member of the firm’s White Collar Defense and Investigations team. A former Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Mr. Sandick focuses his practice on white collar criminal defense, internal investigations, securities fraud litigation and civil and criminal appellate litigation. Mr. Sandick has represented clients at every stage of the criminal process, ranging from witnesses who require counsel for an interview with the government during a grand jury investigation, to those who have been indicted and sentenced for serious white-collar offenses.

He has been recognized by Chambers USA in the area of white-collar criminal defense and investigations. Clients quoted in Chambers praised Mr. Sandick as “super knowledgeable and incredibly responsive” and that he “is a very effective and trusted counsel”. Mr. Sandick has also been recognized as a “National Practice Area Star” and a “Litigation Star” for New York in the area of White Collar Crime by Benchmark Litigation.

During his career in private practice, Mr. Sandick has represented organizations and individuals in investigations and prosecutions in New York and around the world in many of the leading white-collar investigations conducted during the past several years. In addition to representing individuals and institutions in the banking and financial services industry, he has significant experience representing tax exempt organizations and clients in the art world in regulatory, white collar, and other litigation matters.

• Investment bank personnel who have been under investigation for manipulation of LIBOR, foreign exchange currencies and other benchmark rates, insider trading or other securities fraud allegations.
• Financial advisors and brokers who sold structured notes that led to client losses, or whose clients used their brokerage accounts to engage in illegal activity, including money-laundering.
• Financial institutions, tax exempt organizations, and art market participants in connection with investigations into violations of Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA), anti-money laundering laws (AML), the regulations promulgated by the Office of Foreign Asset Controls (OFAC), and registration under the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA).
• Institutional and individual clients in public corruption investigations into government officials.
• Representing institutions and individuals in regulatory investigations relating to alleged antiquities trafficking.
• Clients who have received subpoenas in congressional investigations.
• Individuals and businesses who have been prosecuted or investigated for violations of federal and state tax law, including a taxpayer who was prosecuted in federal and state court for having an undisclosed offshore bank account and an executive of a tax-exempt organization who was investigated for receipt of excess benefits.
• Claimants in a multi-million dollar civil forfeiture action, and the representation of major investors in Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities LLC in the recent investigation conducted by prosecutors and regulators.

Mr. Sandick has extensive experience in leading internal investigations for institutional clients, including hedge funds, private equity portfolio companies, and tax-exempt organizations, where the client believes that there has been misconduct by company personnel. Some of these matters culminate in litigation or a referral to prosecutors or regulators. In addition to leading such investigations, Mr. Sandick also has been called upon to represent individual clients in internal investigations.

Several of Mr. Sandick’s clients are the victims of financial crime. Mr. Sandick provides representation and counseling in connection with seeking restitution or other proceedings aimed at recovering stolen or defrauded assets.

Mr. Sandick also represents clients, both as plaintiffs and defendants, in complex securities and business fraud litigation, including matters involving residential mortgage-backed securities transactions. In recent years, Mr. Sandick also has represented clients who have been sued or subpoenaed due to their public advocacy on the important issue of climate change.

In addition to his white collar practice, Mr. Sandick is a skilled and experienced appellate attorney. He has argued more than 35 appeals in both criminal and civil cases, in both federal and state court. He is regularly asked to represent clients who seek new counsel on appeal, as clients often seek a different perspective for their appeal. Mr. Sandick has also authored amicus briefs in the Supreme Court and other appellate courts for clients who wish to make their voices heard in connection with an important appeal. He is a member of the Criminal Justice Act panel for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit and has won several reversals for convicted and sentenced defendants.

Prior to joining the firm, Mr. Sandick served as an Assistant U.S. Attorney in the Criminal Division of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York. During his nearly six years as a federal prosecutor, Mr. Sandick prosecuted a wide range of federal crimes, including financial fraud cases, acting as lead counsel in 12 trials and more than 20 appeals. He served as Deputy Chief for Criminal Appeals, supervising more than 80 appeals before the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, and as Acting Chief of the Violent Crimes Unit. Mr. Sandick oversaw matters involving securities fraud, business crimes, obstruction of justice, RICO, drug trafficking and terrorism issues. He successfully argued 19 appeals before the Second Circuit.

Mr. Sandick is a frequent commentator on high-profile white collar cases. He has appeared on CNN’s Erin Burnett OutFront, MSNBC’s All In With Chris Hayes, and NPR’s Morning Edition, and has been quoted in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, the Associated Press, NPR, Bloomberg, Law360, Talking Points Memo, Sports Illustrated, ESPN and BNA White Collar Crime Report, among others. A frequent speaker and writer on white collar, appellate, sentencing, and financial fraud topics, Mr. Sandick has contributed articles to New York Law Journal, Reuters, Financial Times, the BNA White Collar Crime Reporter, Law360 and many industry publications. He is co-author of a chapter on pretrial representation in a leading treatise, “Defending Federal Criminal Cases.” He is also the editor-in-chief for the Second Circuit Criminal Law Blog, which provides commentary and analysis of every criminal law decision rendered by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit.

Mr. Sandick is the Chair of the Federal Courts Committee of the New York City Bar Association, which addresses the operation of, and practice of law in, the federal courts.

Following law school graduation, Mr. Sandick clerked for the Hon. Richard J. Cardamone of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit.