Trials

Hecker Fink boasts a formidable team of exceptionally talented trial lawyers renowned for their courtroom experience. Our lawyers have successfully handled civil and criminal cases in federal and state courts, achieving favorable verdicts for our clients. With a diverse background of eleven former federal prosecutors and four public defenders who have tried dozens of cases, we bring unique perspectives and strategic flexibility to every case we handle. Our track record demonstrates our ability to deliver compelling results.

Litigation Expertise for Success at Trial

Our lawyers have decades of combined experience handling over 100 trials ranging from prosecutions involving high-profile and white-collar criminal defendants to complex commercial disputes involving multinational corporations. These experiences have prepared our lawyers to approach each trial with the care and expertise required to secure the best results for our clients. We approach each case by mastering the facts, identifying the core issues, and strategically placing our clients at the center of the narrative. Our goal is to tell a compelling and persuasive story that resonates with judges and juries, ultimately leading to victory.

Recognized Excellence in Trial Advocacy

Partners Sean Hecker, Mack Jenkins, and David Patton have been honored as fellows of the prestigious American College of Trial Lawyers, an exclusive association comprising the top trial lawyers from the U.S. and Canada. This invitation-only fellowship recognizes experienced trial lawyers who have demonstrated exceptional advocacy skills, ethical conduct, professionalism, and collegiality. Chambers ranks Sean among the top trial lawyers in the United States, noting that he wins “universal acclaim for his sophisticated practice, which regularly sees him called on to defend complex, high-stakes criminal trials,” and that sources describe him as having “tremendous presence in the courtroom.” Benchmark Litigation also recognizes Sean as one of the country’s “Top 100 Trial Lawyers.”

Landmark Cases and Notable Achievements

We have a proven history of handling high-stakes cases and achieving historic verdicts. In a remarkable achievement, we secured a rare acquittal for the former Barclay's foreign-exchange head who faced wire fraud charges. The case was named the 2019 “Most Important Court Case of the Year” by Global Investigations Review, recognizing our firm’s exceptional work on behalf of our client.

Our team successfully represented a high-profile writer in sexual assault and defamation suits, securing two substantial jury verdicts of $5 million and $83.3 million, respectively—both returned in less than three hours.

Select Representative Trials

• Representation of a blockchain software developer in connection with a prosecution in the Southern District of New York (SDNY) that alleged violations of the Internal Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA), as well as conspiracies to engage in money laundering and unlicensed money transmitting.
• Representation of Do Kwon, the founder of Terraform Labs, in connection with an SDNY indictment and a Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) enforcement action.
• Representation of a group of New Yorkers who succeeded, through trial proceedings, appellate proceedings, and parallel federal injunction proceedings, in having a presidential candidate removed from the New York presidential ballot for deliberately listing a false residence.
• Representation of Glen Point Capital founder and former Chief Investment Officer who was indicted in the SDNY on commodities and wire fraud charges for alleged manipulative trading in connection with a foreign currency option. With less than three weeks to trial, the government voluntarily dismissed the most serious charges, which carried the highest statutory maximum penalties. A jury trial on the remaining counts culminated in an acquittal on one and a conviction on the other.
• Representation of the former Iconix Brand Group CEO in his re-trial on securities fraud charges that allege he inflated Iconix’s revenue by $11 million in 2013 and 2014. On appeal, his conviction was reversed on double jeopardy grounds litigated in the district court. Subsequently, the SEC voluntarily dismissed its parallel civil enforcement action.

Prior to joining Hecker Fink, some of our lawyers’ representative trial matters include:

• Representation of a Fortune 500 company in a multi-billion-dollar private antitrust trial that resulted in a judgment as a matter of law in the company’s favor.
• Representation and defense of Bristol-Myers Squibb against $3.4 billion in contract and tort claims by generic drug manufacturer Apotex, winning a unanimous jury verdict of no liability.
• Representation of the lead defendant in a long-standing federal insider trading case about Medicare reimbursement rate changes, concluding in a deferred prosecution agreement. Earlier trials resulted in acquittals on the insider trading charges and a successful appeal on a variety of fraud counts.
• Tried and convicted professional gambler Billy Walters for insider trading scheme.
• Tried and convicted the so-called “Chelsea Bomber,” Ahmad Khan Rahimi, for perpetrating a terrorist bombing in the Chelsea neighborhood of Manhattan in October 2016.
• Tried and convicted Usama bin Laden’s son-in-law and al Qaeda spokesman Sulaiman Abu Ghayth.
• Tried and convicted Aafia Siddiqui, an Al Qaeda operative, for attempted murder of U.S. personnel in connection with the assault of U.S. military and Federal Bureau of Investigation agents in Afghanistan.
• Tried and convicted members of an international organization (with conduct in the United States, Russia, Liberia and South America) for trafficking thousands of kilograms of cocaine and military grade weapons.
• Tried and convicted the co-conspirator of convicted international arms trafficker, Viktor Bout, for wire fraud and conspiracy to violate the International Emergency Economic Powers Act by attempting to purchase commercial airplanes from American companies in violation of U.S. sanctions.