Jonathan N. Halpern

Jonathan N. Halpern is a partner and experienced litigation attorney in the firm's White Collar Defense and Investigations Practice, based in New York.

Mr. Halpern is a seasoned litigator who draws on his extensive experience as a former Assistant U.S. Attorney in the Southern District of New York to conduct corporate investigations, litigate complex criminal and civil matters, and, if necessary, defend clients at trial and in other court proceedings. A legal counselor, strategist and problem solver, Mr. Halpern is a skillful negotiator and forceful advocate both behind the scenes and in court. Prosecutors and clients have credited him for his creativity in proposing resolutions to challenging issues.

He represents clients in internal and government investigations in a wide array of criminal and compliance issues. Corporate institutions, business entities, company executives and high-level professionals turn to Mr. Halpern to represent them in investigations and civil matters involving, among other issues, allegations of financial misconduct; Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA); false claims and other healthcare issues; insider trading, securities, commodities, tax and art fraud, as well as for legal counseling and investigations of allegations of sexual assault, harassment and workplace misconduct. Mr. Halpern represents clients in federal and state court, as well as in matters involving U.S. Attorney's Offices, the New York State Attorney General's Office, the New York County District Attorney's Office, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), the U.S. Department of the Treasury, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) and the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC). His clients span diverse industries from banking, investor funds and other financial services to pharmaceutical and healthcare, media, energy services, cybersecurity, manufacturing and retail.

Mr. Halpern handles substantial pro bono legal work, including immigration asylum cases, and he has successfully secured asylum for individuals seeking to escape persecution in their homelands. One escapee, who was arrested at the border and detained for approximately nine months, was granted asylum – and his freedom – after Mr. Halpern litigated his case and prevailed at trial. Mr. Halpern agreed to take the case after several lawyers had declined to do so. After extensive work by Mr. Halpern and a firm associate, another pro bono client recently was granted asylum for fear of being persecuted in a former Soviet republic because of his sexual orientation. For his commitment and achievements, Mr. Halpern has been named both a Holland & Knight 2019 Public & Charitable Service All Star and 2019 Pro Bono All Star.

Mr. Halpern's tenure as a federal prosecutor in the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York (SDNY) included service as chief of the Major Crimes Unit. In that position, he supervised approximately 25 experienced federal prosecutors in investigations and prosecutions of international bribery, money laundering, healthcare and tax fraud, computer crimes, Bank Secrecy Act violations and other complex, large-scale financial crimes. As a federal prosecutor, Mr. Halpern investigated and prosecuted white collar crimes involving public corruption, extortion, money laundering, federal tax violations, bank fraud and wire, mail and healthcare fraud. He served as lead prosecutor in several high profile matters, including the investigation of the presidential pardon of Marc Rich, and supervised the investigation of corruption allegations in the United Nation's Oil for Food Program.