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Contact

28 Liberty Street
41st Fl.
New York, New York 10005
D/212-238-8647

I take enormous pride in being a lawyer. My practice encompasses the representation of those who have been unfairly accused, defamed or penalized. At root, whether the risk my clients face is to their liberty, reputation, business or employment, I draw upon a reservoir of advocacy skills honed over the course of 35 years. It is always an honor when a client trusts me with deeply sensitive and potentially life altering problems.

Alan Lewis chairs Carter Ledyard’s criminal and media law practice groups and represents those whose careers and businesses have been impacted by false accusations. The common thread to these seemingly disparate practice areas is that each involves representing those accused of serious misconduct – whether the maker of the accusation is the government, the media, an employer or another private actor. Alan’s diverse clients include CEOs and other officers of large public corporations, world class musicians, former United States Attorneys, entrepreneurs, so-called Russian oligarchs – as well as the indigent. The different contexts of these representations include government and internal investigations, trials, appeals, sentencing proceedings, as well as reputational rehabilitation efforts and frequent interaction with media.

Whether arguing in a trial or appellate court or conducting an arbitration or negotiation, Alan brings a variety of advocacy and negotiation skills to bear, honed over his 35 year-long career. Alan takes particular pride in his oral and written advocacy as well as his approach to witness confrontation. He distills complicated concepts to their essence and expresses them in language that is simultaneously passionate as well as succinct and understandable. Earlier in his career Alan was a prosecutor, and ultimately became the Chief Appellate Attorney in the Homicide Bureau of the Kings County (New York) District Attorney’s Office.

No matter the industry or issue involved, Alan quickly masters the topic at hand and counters the opposition with vigorous and highly informed strategies.

Experience

  • Ongoing Representation of Mikhail Fridman, Petr Aven and German Khan as plaintiffs in defamation case arising out of publication of the infamous "Trump dossier."
  • Ongoing Representation of one the nation’s most successful investors in the biotechnology industry in connection with pending defamation lawsuits against the publishers of workplace misconduct allegations – misconduct of a kind that the investor could not have perpetrated given his paralysis from the neck down.
  • Representation of internationally prominent alternative medicine practitioner in connection with successful effort to remove defamatory content from the Internet.
  • Representation of Stephen B. Pence, former United States Attorney for the Western District of Kentucky and former Lieutenant Governor of Kentucky, resulting in favorable settlement of lawsuit brought by the Securities and Exchange Commission in the Southern District of New York.
  • Representation of Dennis Kozlowski, the former CEO of Tyco, including the successful Article 78 challenge to the Parole Board’s denial of his initial application for parole, the filing of a petition for a writ of certiorari from the United States Supreme Court; a habeas corpus appeal to the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit; and the appeal of the denial of his work release application to the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court, following which Mr. Kozlowski was admitted to work release.
  • Representation in post-conviction proceedings resulting in the release from imprisonment of several incarcerated clients on grounds that include court ordered compassionate release and successful appeals of parole denials.
  • Representation of a major player in the biotech investment sector threatened with publication, by a leading news agency, of an article accusing it of creating a conflicted securities marketing structure that disadvantages investors.
  • Representation of Bernard Jay Bagdis, a prominent Philadelphia, Pa. attorney, in the appeal of his criminal tax conviction to the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit.
  • Representation of Christopher Finazzo, the former Chief Merchandising Officer of Aéropostale, Inc., including the successful defense at trial against the government’s accusation that Mr. Finazzo defrauded Aéropostale of money.
  • Representation of Appellant Bulldog Investors L.P., on appeal to the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts, stemming from a civil rights lawsuit brought under Section 1983 of the Civil Rights Act challenging a blanket prohibition on hedge fund advertising as violative of the First Amendment.
  • Successfully defended an individual accused by the government of having invented many of the most sophisticated modern techniques of money laundering.
  • Briefed and argued the first appeal argued under New York’s death penalty statute after its enactment in 1995.
  • Represented purported Russian Oligarch in a dispute with the Putin government.
  • Defeated efforts to extradite well-known United Kingdom business figure.
  • Defended a Public Company CEO sued by the SEC.

Presentations

  • New York State Bar Association:  Lecturer at CLE Seminar, “Ethics for Litigators and Trial Lawyers”
  • The Association of the Bar of the City of New York:  Bridge the Gap Program Instructor on Direct and Cross-Examination in Criminal Cases
  • The Association of the Bar of the City of New York: Breakfast Series Presentation on Grand Jury Practice and Federal Habeas Corpus Litigation
  • Anti-Defamation League Lawyers Committee: Presentation on the Significance of Israel’s Law of Return to Bail Determinations

Outside the Office

I’m married and have three children, so family life keeps me busy. I’m also an avid hiker, bicyclist, and cross-country skier and spend as much time as I can in the Adirondacks. I’m active as a volunteer in both my town and profession. I help to select candidates for the town’s non-partisan slate of nominees to run its local government, and for many years have been a member of the Executive Committee of the New York State Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, for which I currently serve as the Treasurer. I care deeply about that organization’s work.

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