Gabrielle S. Friedman
Gabi represents U.S. and international clients, both individuals and corporates, in matters ranging from cross-border criminal investigations and prosecutions to complex civil and regulatory matters, often with a global dimension. She has obtained favorable results for clients in a wide variety of cases, including matters raising issues of corporate and securities fraud, accounting fraud, criminal antitrust law, contract disputes, entertainment and art law, and the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. Gabi is ranked by Chambers USA in Litigation: White Collar Crime and Government Investigations.
With a strong focus on pre-indictment advocacy, Gabi explores all facts and strategies available, and in many cases her clients avoid charges altogether. Gabi also represents lawyers facing alleged ethics violations or other forms of potential professional misconduct. Her matters have involved investigative authorities such as various United States Attorney’s Offices and state prosecutors offices, units of the Department of Justice including the Fraud Section, the FCPA Unit, the Antitrust Division and the Tax Division, and the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Gabi has represented clients in investigations, in the complex strategic negotiations that accompany a non-litigated resolution of criminal or regulatory charges, and when necessary at trial. She has had matters involving extradition proceedings, proceedings pursuant to MLATs, and has represented clients facing parallel investigations in more than one country. Such matters often involve coordinating the rights accorded suspects and witnesses in different criminal justice systems as well as complex issues of data privacy law.
A fluent German speaker who has lived and worked in Germany, Gabi brings a firsthand understanding of European cultural norms and business practices to her work. She has extensive experience representing citizens of foreign countries under investigation by U.S. authorities. Gabi works closely with foreign counsel and has attended proceedings conducted by German state prosecutors. She has lectured to German criminal defense lawyers and in German law schools about representing corporations and individuals in U.S. corporate internal and governmental investigations.
After graduating from law school, Gabi received a Bosch Foundation Fellowship to conduct research in Berlin, Germany. Before joining LSW, she was a litigation associate at Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton, and served as a federal law clerk at the trial level to the Honorable Gerard E. Lynch in New York City.
Show More +Gabrielle S. Friedman vertritt sowohl US-amerikanische als auch internationale Mandanten. Ein Schwerpunkt ihrer Tätigkeit liegt in der Beratung und Begleitung von Managern bei unternehmensinternen Ermittlungen, der Verteidigung in Verfahren vor US-amerikanischen Strafverfolgungs- und Aufsichtsbehörden. lm zivilrechtlichen Unternehmenshaftungsrecht sowie im Bereich der Haftung von Unternehmensführern vertritt Frau Friedman Unternehmensleiter sowie leitende Angestellte – oft im Zusammenhang mit gleichzeitig laufenden Strafverfahren.
lhre Mandanten stammen vorwiegend aus der Finanz- und Bankenbranche, lndustrie und Handel sowie Kunst- und Unterhaltungsbranche. Entsprechend war Frau Friedman in zahlreichen Verfahren wegen des Vorwurfs von (Kapitalanlage-) Betrug und Untreue, von lnsiderhandel und Marktmanipulation, Kartellvorwürfen, Bilanzbetrugs-, lnsolvenz- und Korruptionsfällen als Verteidigerin tätig. Dabei ist sie vor diversen Stellen der US-amerikanischen Staatsanwaltschaften, den Kartellrechts-, Steuer- und Betrugsdezernaten des US-Justizministeriums, der US-SEC und weiteren Bundesbehörden aufgetreten.
Frau Friedman spricht flieβend Deutsch. Dies ermöglicht es ihr, ohne sprachliche Barriere lnteressen ihrer Mandanten aus dem US-Ausland – insbesondere aus Deutschland und der Schweiz – wahrzunehmen und diese in Aufsichts- und Strafverfolgungsverfahren zu vertreten. Sie arbeitete dabei eng mit ausländischen Rechtsanwälten zusammen und kann im Bedarfsfall auf ein entsprechendes Netzwerk zurückgreifen. lm Zuge der im Ausland begleiteten Ermittlungen konnte Frau Friedman viel Erfahrung sammeln in Strafverfahren, die parallel von US- amerikanischen als auch deutschen Strafverfolgungsbehörden geführt wurden.
Frau Friedman schloss ihr Bachelors Studium im Jahre 1992 an der Columbia University ab. lhren Masters Degree in Europäische Geschichte” bekam sie an der Brown University im Jahr 1993 verliehen. Darauf folgte im Jahre 2000 die Promotion an der Yale Law School. lm Anschluss daran arbeitete Frau Friedman als Rechtsreferentin für einen Bundesrichter in New York und als Associate bei Cleary, Gottlieb, Steen & Hamilton LLP.
Show More +Representative Matters
- Advised an international organization in relation to a U.S. DOJ investigation.
- Represented an individual from the Middle East accused of violating U.S. sanctions under IEEPA, obtaining a no-jail sentence.
- Advised a German manufacturing company and its U.S. subsidiary in connection with allegations of wire fraud arising from cross-border M&A transactions.
- Represented a European executive arrested on an Interpol red notice and extradited to the United States on FCPA charges, obtaining a non-jail sentence.
- Served as pool counsel representing over three dozen potential witnesses in a federal investigation of potential tax and wire fraud involving a European tax authority in both criminal and civil arenas.
- Defended a financial executive in a month-long federal criminal trial brought by the DOJ Antitrust Division involving allegations of conspiracy and fraud in the municipal bond industry, resulting in victory on appeal.
- Defended a German manufacturing executive on the U.S. side of a parallel cross-border criminal investigation of alleged fraud by the DOJ Fraud Section and European authorities, concluding with no U.S. charges filed.
- Represented a non-U.S. citizen CFO of an international insurance company in an FCPA investigation, achieving a resolution not involving any charges against the client.
- Represented German financial traders in a cross-border investigation by the DOJ Fraud Section of alleged fraud and benchmark rate-rigging in the banking industry, resulting in no U.S. charges filed.
- Represented a Swiss banker in an investigation relating to the U.S.-Swiss Bank Program regarding use of foreign bank accounts to facilitate evasion of U.S. taxes and reporting requirements.
- Represented a German artist in an investigation conducted by the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office.
- Represented Japanese executives in connection with a DOJ Antitrust Division investigation of bid-rigging in the auto parts industry. No charges were filed.
Publications
Articles
“International executives facing a US internal investigation: what to consider,” Financier Worldwide, (January 25, 2023)
“EU Double Jeopardy Ruling May Complicate US Extraditions,” Law360 -- Expert Analysis (January 24, 2023)
“How the CARES Act Will Affect Federal Criminal Justice,” LinkedIn (March 31, 2020)
“The Legal Ethics of Multiple-Client Representations,” New York Law Journal (June 18, 2019)
“Challenging the Guidelines’ Loss Table,” Federal Sentencing Reporter (February 1, 2008)
“Must a Firm Report Child Porn on Company Server?,” New York Law Journal (November 15, 2007)
Show More +Recognition
- Chambers USA
- Litigation: White Collar Crime and Government Investigations
- Legal 500
- Next Generation in Corporate Investigations and White-collar Criminal Defense: Advice to Individuals
- Benchmark Litigation
- Local Litigation Star: White Collar Crime
- Best Lawyers in America
- Criminal Defense: White Collar
- Commercial Litigation
- Super Lawyers
- Criminal Defense: White Collar; International
Activities
Professional Affiliations
- New York Council of Defense Lawyers
- Member
- New York City Bar Association
- White Collar Crime Committee Member
- Ethics Committee Former Member
- Committee on Federal Legislation Former Member
- New York State Bar Association
- White Collar Crime Committee Member
- Women’s White Collar Defense Association
- Member
- European Criminal Bar Association
- European Fraud and Compliance Lawyers sub-association
- German American Lawyers Association
- Deutsch-Amerikanische Juristen-Vereinigung e.V.
- Global Criminal Law Counsel
- Federal Bar Council
- American Bar Association
- Law Firm Antiracism Alliance
Speaking Engagements
Gabrielle Friedman Presents CLE on the Ethics of “Pool Counsel” for ABA Criminal Justice Section, (October 25, 2022)
Gabrielle S. Friedman Moderates Ethics Panel on Social Media at “Trial By Jury” Program at the Practicing Law Institute, (October 20, 2022)
Gabrielle Friedman Speaks at AWI on Investigations that Cross Borders, (July 26, 2022)
Cross-Border Internal Investigations: Online Seminar with Frank Wohl and Gabi Friedman, Lawline.com (May 27, 2021)
Gabi Friedman and Frank Wohl Host Program on Ethics in Corporate Internal Investigations, Lawline.com (December 17, 2020)
Gabrielle Friedman Invited to Hamburg to Speak on Cross-Border Criminal Investigations (in German), Bucerius Law School, Hamburg, Germany (November 6, 2019)
Gabrielle Friedman Featured Speaker at Berlin Symposium on Internal Investigations (in German), Humboldt University, Berlin, Germany (November 7, 2018)
Gabrielle Friedman Moderates Judicial Panel on Recurring Ethics Issues, American Bar Association (August 10, 2017)
Show More +