Former Justice Department Executive Marshall L. Miller Joins as Partner SDNY Assistant U.S. Attorney Mike Ferrara to Join as Counsel

NEW YORK, NY, January 15, 2020 – Kaplan Hecker & Fink LLP today announced that Marshall L. Miller, a prominent litigator and former high-ranking Justice Department official, has joined the firm as partner, continuing the firm’s growth of its white collar defense, investigations, and trial practices. Mike Ferrara will be joining the firm as counsel from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York, where he has served since 2010. With the addition of Miller and Ferrara, the firm will offer clients a white collar practice with three former defenders and three former prosecutors, which uniquely positions the team to help clients navigate their most complex legal challenges.

Miller, who previously served as Chief of the Criminal Division at the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York and, later, as Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General & Chief of Staff at the U.S. Department of Justice’s Criminal Division, joins the firm from Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz LLP, where he was widely recognized for his white collar, regulatory, and cybersecurity work.

At the Department of Justice, Miller oversaw the Department of Justice’s most significant criminal matters and programs, including its Foreign Corrupt Practices Act program, its Health Care Fraud Strike Force, its Office of International Affairs, and its flagship cybercrime and public corruption units. Miller worked to develop and implement the Department’s strategic priorities and policies, including its policy on corporate cooperation with government investigations. Miller also oversaw the Department’s most critical prosecutions, including the ground-breaking FIFA corruption case and the investigation that resulted in guilty pleas from five of the world’s largest financial institutions for currency price manipulation in the foreign exchange markets. Additionally, Miller personally led numerous high-profile international terrorism prosecutions, including the convictions after trial of several defendants for plotting to explode the jet-fuel supply tanks at John F. Kennedy International Airport. 

Kaplan Hecker & Fink founding partner Roberta (“Robbie”) Kaplan said: “We are so excited to welcome Marshall and Mike into the Kaplan Hecker & Fink family. Their combined insight and experience in white collar defense and investigations, as well as their extensive experience as lawyers at the United States Department of Justice, will be of tremendous value to our clients. Equally important, they both share a profound dedication to the core values we embrace at our firm -- including our focus on fostering a strong firm culture, as well as an enduring commitment to pursuing justice.”

Kaplan Hecker & Fink partner Sean Hecker said: “Marshall brings an extensive array of expertise to our robust and rapidly growing white collar defense and investigations practice. We’re thrilled to have him join our firm, and know that the experience he garnered serving clients at Wachtell Lipton, as well as his extraordinary service and leadership at the Justice Department and at the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York, will be of great value to our clients.”

Miller said: “The opportunity to join Kaplan Hecker & Fink at this stage is unique and compelling. I feel very lucky to be able to move from the world’s foremost corporate law firm to this preeminent litigation boutique. I’m excited to grow my practice in the firm’s cutting-edge environment, while continuing to pursue public interest goals from a new and different platform. I am looking forward to building on the firm’s success alongside my new colleagues.”

Mike Ferrara begins at Kaplan Hecker & Fink on January 27. He will come to the firm from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York, where he was a member of the Securities and Commodities Fraud Task before serving as Co-Chief of both the Complex Frauds and Cybercrime and Terrorism and International Narcotics Units. Over the course of Mike’s 14 years in government, he served as counsel in twelve federal criminal trials, and briefed over forty and argued nine appeals before U.S. Courts of Appeals.

Kaplan Hecker & Fink partner Sean Hecker commented: “We couldn’t be more pleased that Mike will be joining Kaplan Hecker & Fink. Mike will further strengthen our white collar defense, investigation, and trial practices, and we know that his deep government experience and institutional knowledge gained during his years at the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Manhattan will undoubtedly prove invaluable to our practice and our clients.”

Ferrara said: “Kaplan Hecker & Fink has quickly built a powerhouse litigation boutique that not only takes on the some of the most high-profile white collar criminal defense cases but also works tirelessly to uphold integrity and justice in the law. I am thrilled to be joining this team and look forward to getting to work on behalf of our clients.”

Since Sean Hecker and Jenna Dabbs joined Kaplan Hecker in 2018, the firm’s white collar practice has already made an impact – representing executives and businesses in white collar criminal investigations and enforcement and regulatory proceedings. In 2019, Global Investigations Review named the U.S. v. Robert Bogucki case as their “Most Important Court Case of the Year” and Law360 distinguished Hecker as a “White Collar MVP,” an annual recognition limited to five attorneys in the U.S. Combining a cutting-edge public interest practice with a white collar and civil litigation practice, Kaplan Hecker & Fink attorneys have extensive and wide-ranging litigation experience, having tried cases in numerous state and federal courts throughout the country.

About Marshall Miller

Miller comes to the firm from Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz LLP. There, he focused his practice on advising corporations, board members, and senior executives with respect to internal investigations, criminal defense, cybersecurity, data privacy, regulatory compliance, and related civil litigation. In 2019, Who’s Who Legal described Miller as “widely recognized for his vast experience handling white-collar crime and related regulatory matters.”

Miller previously served as Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General & Chief of Staff at the U.S. Department of Justice’s Criminal Division, where he supervised over 600 federal prosecutors nationwide.  In that position, Miller testified on Capitol Hill and provided briefings and counsel to Congressional staff and executive branch officials, with an emphasis on cybersecurity, asset forfeiture, and anti-corruption measures.  Miller began his career in public service at the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York, serving as an Assistant U.S. Attorney for over a dozen years. At the Eastern District, Miller served in a number of leadership roles, ultimately as Chief of the Office’s Criminal Division.  As Criminal Chief, Miller oversaw all of the Office’s criminal prosecutions, including many of the nation’s most significant corruption, cybercrime, corporate fraud, sanctions violations, and international terrorism cases.

Prior to joining Wachtell Lipton, Miller was a Senior Fellow at NYU’s Program on Corporate Compliance & Enforcement, where he continues to serve on the Program’s advisory board. He previously served as an Assistant Professor and Adjunct Clinical Professor at NYU Law School, where he co-founded the EDNY Federal Criminal Prosecution Clinic, and as an Adjunct Professor at Fordham Law School teaching National Security Law. He served as a law clerk for the Honorable Allyne R. Ross at the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York. Miller earned his J.D. from Yale Law School and his B.A., cum laude, with distinction, from Yale University.

About Mike Ferrara

At the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York, Ferrara served as an Assistant U.S. Attorney (AUSA) in the Criminal Division and supervised other AUSAs while serving as a member of the Securities & Commodities Fraud Task Force and as co-Chief of the Terrorism & International Narcotics Unit (2018-2019), co-Chief in the Complex Frauds & Cybercrime Unit (2017-2018), and Deputy Chief of the Appeals Unit (2016-2017). 

Ferrara has comprehensive experience in government investigations, including securities fraud, insider trading, international and domestic money laundering, economic sanctions and export offenses, the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, bank and wire fraud, tax and accounting fraud, health care fraud, consumer fraud, cybercrime, economic espionage, foreign influence, international drug trafficking, terrorism, and terrorist financing.

Prior to serving as an AUSA, Ferrara spent four years as a Trial Attorney in the Public Integrity Section of the U.S. Department of Justice’s Criminal Division. He has also served as a Special Assistant U.S. Attorney in the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia. He served as a clerk for the Honorable Michael Chertoff at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit and for the Honorable John Gleeson at the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York. Ferrara earned his law degree, with distinction, from Stanford Law School and his B.A. from Boston College.

About Kaplan Hecker & Fink LLP

Founded in July 2017 by renowned litigator Roberta Kaplan, Kaplan Hecker & Fink LLP has quickly emerged as one of the most formidable litigation boutiques in the country, fusing high stakes commercial litigation with a groundbreaking public interest practice. Clients trust Kaplan Hecker & Fink with some of their most pressing challenges, from white collar criminal defense, to complex appellate litigation, to business disputes, and Titles VII and IX matters. Kaplan Hecker & Fink’s team of New York-based litigators share a mission to provide the highest level of client service, advocacy, and advice while maintaining a deep commitment to the principles of integrity, fairness, and justice.