Barry J. Pollack is a Fellow in the American College of Trial Lawyers and is widely recognized as one of the leading trial lawyers in the country. He has more than 30 years’ experience representing individuals and corporations in sensitive and often high-profile investigations and trials. His clients include senior executives and high-ranking government officials. As a former certified public accountant (CPA), a substantial amount of Mr. Pollack’s work involves criminal and civil litigation involving complex financial matters.
Mr. Pollack is a past president of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers. In his criminal practice, he regularly handles matters involving allegations of fraudulent conduct, false statements and other wrongdoing related to financial and business crimes, public corruption, national security, antitrust violations, government contracting, securities, taxes, and health care. His civil practice includes complex commercial disputes, False Claims Act allegations, fraud, First Amendment issues, and professional negligence.
Mr. Pollack is known for his skills in the courtroom. He has been described as a “thorough and deep-thinking lawyer” who “lives, breathes and sleeps trials, and has such a natural way in front of juries.”
Notable Matters
Mr. Pollack has had many notable successes, including:
i) negotiating a plea agreement that resulted in the immediate release from prison of long-time client Julian Assange, publisher of WikiLeaks, who had been charged with violating the Espionage Act for publishing classified information leaked by Chelsea Manning.
ii) obtaining not guilty verdicts in a criminal jury trial in which the client, a prominent D.C. lawyer, had been charged with sexual assault
iii) securing the dismissal of an indictment alleging price fixing in the poultry industry following two jury trials in Colorado in a federal criminal antitrust case;
iv) winning an order overturning the convictions in a federal public corruption case in Texas, obtaining a new trial, and successfully defending that result on appeal to the Fifth Circuit;
v) obtaining not guilty verdicts on behalf of a government contractor following a federal criminal jury trial in Virginia;
vi) obtaining a non-prosecution agreement from the DOJ and no action by the SEC for a former AIG executive who had been a target of the investigations; and
vii) obtaining a complete acquittal for a former Enron Corp. executive on fraud charges following a federal jury trial in Houston and the dismissal of a related SEC enforcement action.
Mr. Pollack is also known for his pro bono work. He has obtained the exoneration of three different clients who had been wrongfully convicted of murder and had served decades in prison. The Mid-Atlantic Innocence Project has honored Mr. Pollack with its Defender of Innocence Award and the New York State Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers honored him with its Gideon Champion of Justice Award.
Education
Mr. Pollack graduated from Indiana University in 1986 with high honors and received his law degree from Georgetown University in 1991, magna cum laude, Order of Coif.
Admissions
Mr. Pollack is admitted to the bars of the District of Columbia, Maryland and New York.
Updated Sep 2024
