NEW YORK — The law firm Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson LLP announced that Audrey Strauss is rejoining the Firm. Ms. Strauss most recently served as the US Attorney for the Southern District of New York (SDNY), and prior to that, as Deputy US Attorney to former US Attorney and current Head of the Firm’s White Collar Defense, Regulatory Enforcement & Investigations Practice Geoffrey S. Berman. She will serve as senior counsel in the White Collar Defense, Regulatory Enforcement & Investigations Practice and will be based in New York.
“We are thrilled to welcome Audrey back to the Firm,” said David J. Greenwald, chairman of Fried Frank. “Her vast experience and leadership qualities will contribute greatly to our growing Litigation Department and further enhance our significant offerings in the Firm’s White Collar Practice.”
Ms. Strauss led Fried Frank’s White Collar Practice from 1995 to 2012. In 2012, she was named as Chief Legal Officer of Alcoa, where she also served on the Alcoa Executive Council. Before entering private practice, Ms. Strauss was an Assistant US Attorney in SDNY from 1975 through 1982, trying more than twenty cases, and serving as Chief of the Securities and Commodities Fraud Unit and as the Criminal Division’s Chief of Appeals. She also served on the staff for the Independent Counsel for the Iran Contra matter. In 2018, Ms. Strauss returned to SDNY as Senior Counsel to the US Attorney, before becoming Deputy US Attorney and US Attorney.
“Audrey is an incredible addition to our practice,” said Geoffrey S. Berman. “She is widely admired as one of the legal community’s wisest and most effective counselors and advocates, with unique expertise and insight into DOJ, the SEC, and other enforcement authorities. I’m lucky to have had the privilege of working with her for many years, and I am very much looking forward to doing so again.”
“Audrey brings extensive knowledge and experience stemming from her prodigious career in government and private practice. I am excited for her to join the White Collar Practice and continue the expansion of our talented bench of attorneys,” said James D. Wareham, global chair of Fried Frank’s Litigation Department.
During her most recent tenure at SDNY, Ms. Strauss spearheaded a series of high-profile cases, including prosecutions of white collar crime, securities and commodities fraud, and official corruption.
“I am excited to be returning to Fried Frank, rejoining my former partners and friends in the firm, as well as my recent colleagues from the US Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York, former US Attorney Geoff Berman and former Deputy US Attorney Ilan Graff,” added Ms. Strauss. “We look forward to practicing together as part of the firm’s renowned white collar and regulatory enforcement group.”
Ms. Strauss received her JD from Columbia Law School, where she was a Harlan Fiske Stone Scholar and Kent Scholar, and her BA, cum laude, from Barnard College. After graduating from law school, Ms. Strauss clerked for the Honorable Lawrence W. Pierce. Ms. Strauss has served as an Officer and Trustee of the Federal Bar Council, as President of the New York Council of Defense Lawyers, and as a board member of the Office of the Appellate Defender and the Innocence Project. Ms. Strauss is a Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers. She has received numerous awards from organizations such as the Federal Bar Council and the New York Council of Defense Lawyers and been consistently recognized by the highly regarded “Chambers USA: America’s Leading Lawyers for Business.”
