Biography: Business Crime Defence

Frederick P Hafetz has repeatedly been recognised as one of New York City's top criminal defence attorneys. In 2007 and 2008 NY Super Lawyers named him as one out of hundred best lawyers in Manhattan. For the past 10 years he has been listed in Best Lawyers of America. In 2003 he was chosen by fellow white-collar defence attorneys in New York to receive the prestigious New York council of Defense Lawyers' award as New York City's outstanding defence lawyer of the year. In 2010 he was the recipient of the New York Criminal Bar Association Award for Excellence. He is a Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers and The New York State Bar Association criminal justice section named him Outstanding Practitioner of the Year in 1993.

Mr Hafetz graduated from Princeton University and the University of Pennsylvania Law School. He started his career as a government prosecutor. He served as chief of the criminal division of the United States Attorney's Office of the Southern District of New York from 1977 to 1979. Prior to that he served two years as a special attorney of the organised crime strike force, Department of Justice, was special counsel of the United States House of Representatives, select committee on crime, and was an assistant district attorney in New York County for five years.

Mr Hafetz specialises in white-collar criminal practice, representing individuals and corporations who are under investigation for, or charged with criminal activity involving a wide variety of industries and areas. He has represented lawyers and prominent law firms which were under investigation for alleged criminal or unethical conduct. His financial and securities experience includes the successful representation of the CEO of a major accounting firm in an investigation into the firm's accounting practices, investment bankers involved in the Enron investigation, the former CEO of an investment banking firm in the investigation of research analysts, executives of pharmaceutical corporations investigated for accounting fraud, and clients in numerous other complex securities and financial investigations. He has authored many articles on the defence of business crimes.

Mr Hafetz is a member of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers and served as chair of the Grand Jury reform committee. He previously was the co-chair of the Grand Jury task force, the co-chair of the white-collar crime committee, and the co-chair of the Department of Justice dialogue committee. From 1991-1992 he was the president of the New York Counsel of Defense Lawyers.

He is admitted to practise in New York State, the Supreme Court of the United States and the district courts of the Southern District of New York and the Eastern District of New York.