HSW Launches New D.C. Office With Elite White-Collar Defense Trial Lawyers Barry Pollack, Addy Schmitt
February 6, 2023
The premier New York City boutique Harris St. Laurent & Wechsler LLP has significantly expanded its white-collar and civil litigation practice with the addition of two elite trial lawyers, Barry J. Pollack and Addy R. Schmitt, who are launching the firm’s new Washington, D.C. office. Both are go-to Chambers-rated litigators with extensive experience.
Pollack was a partner with Kramer Levin Naftalis & Frankel LLP, which his previous firm, Robbins Russell Englert, Orseck & Untereiner, LLP, joined last April. Schmitt was the vice chair of the litigation department at Miller & Chevalier. HSW will look immediately to begin to grow the D.C. office by hiring exceptional lawyers and is in active discussions with additional high-profile potential lateral partners for both of its locations.
“Barry and Addy are world-class trial lawyers,” said Jonathan Harris, the firm’s co-founder and managing partner. “Adding them supercharges our white-collar practice, enhances our ability to serve clients, and gives us a great platform on which to build a premier DC boutique practice. We continue to look to add talented lawyers."
Pollack is a Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers, a Fellow of the American Board of Criminal Lawyers, and a past president of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers. He is widely recognized as one of the leading trial lawyers in the country. Pollack represents corporations and individuals, including business professionals and high-ranking state and federal government officials, in sensitive and often headline-making criminal and government investigations, enforcement actions, criminal trials, complex commercial litigation and internal investigations. He obtained acquittals on all counts in a federal criminal trial of a former executive of Enron Corp., one of only two executives found not guilty in the myriad prosecutions arising out of the company’s collapse. Most recently, Pollack obtained a new trial for a client who had been convicted in a federal public corruption trial in Texas and secured the dismissal of a federal criminal case in Colorado against a national sales manager for a chicken producer charged with price-fixing in the poultry industry.
Schmitt will serve as the managing partner of the Washington, D.C. office and has extensive experience litigating complex criminal and civil cases. She represents corporations, organizations and individuals in criminal investigations and prosecutions, regulatory and enforcement matters, commercial litigation and internal investigations. Schmitt’s experience ranges from defending clients against public corruption charges and False Claims Act violations to partnership disputes, employment discrimination litigation and retaliation cases. At her previous firm, Schmitt defended numerous individuals and corporations at all stages of litigation—from investigation to trial and on appeal—including businesses, executives and employees, public officials, government contractors and federal employees. Schmitt serves on the board of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers.
“What attracted me to HSW was the ability to join a firm that has not only an established white-collar defense and civil litigation practice of the highest caliber, but also the flexible and pragmatic approach of a boutique law firm,” said Pollack. “I am looking forward to starting a D.C. office and expanding the capabilities of a firm already so well-known in New York as a top-flight trial firm.”
“HSW has carved out a national reputation for its white-collar defense and high-stakes commercial litigation and employment work, and I’ve been impressed with this firm from the start,” said Schmitt. “When it came time for the next step in my career, HSW was a natural fit.”
Harris, St. Laurent & Wechsler has long been a go-to firm for representing executives in the financial services sector, for representing founders and entrepreneurs, and for taking on the government in enforcement and criminal cases. Currently, the firm is litigating a $150 million malicious prosecution lawsuit against Deutsche Bank on behalf of former Deutsche Bank trader Matthew Connolly, who, the suit alleges, the bank wrongfully implicated in the LIBOR scandal. The firm is also currently representing, with co-counsel, artist Mason Rothschild who has been sued by Hermes for trademark infringement in a precedent-setting case involving NFTs.
“Clients come to HSW because of our reputation for being skilled trial lawyers and advocates in tough circumstances,” said Harris. “That’s the reputation we are bringing to D.C.”