Darren LaVerne counsels and advocates for individuals and companies in sensitive, complicated and high-stakes matters involving criminal and regulatory trials, hearings, investigations, and related civil proceedings. He has defended clients charged with insider trading and other violations of the securities laws, bribery, wire fraud, money laundering, and related crimes, as well as counseled clients under investigation and seeking to fend off charges. Darren has extensive experience representing clients before the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and has successfully handled complex investigations into alleged regulatory violations, responding to subpoenas, conducting internal investigations, presenting to the SEC and zealously advocating for his clients. He regularly represents clients under investigation by the U.S. Attorney’s Offices for the Southern and Eastern Districts of New York, the SEC, the New York County District Attorney’s Office, and the New York State Attorney General’s Office, among other regulatory and law-enforcement authorities. Darren has represented clients appearing as witnesses before grand juries and at trial, ensuring that they are well prepared and their rights are protected.
As a litigator with extensive trial and advocacy experience, Darren has also represented clients in complex civil proceedings between private litigants, including those involving defamation, breach of contract, commercial bribery and securities laws issues. He has litigated cases in courts around the country, as well as in arbitral forums in the United States and abroad.
Darren draws on his prior experience as a federal prosecutor in the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York, where, from 2010 to 2016, he led many successful criminal prosecutions involving wire fraud, bank fraud, tax fraud, bribery, money laundering, racketeering, crimes of violence, environmental crimes and other offenses. He was part of the core team of prosecutors who built and charged the case against more than 40 FIFA soccer officials and sports marketing executives, one of the most significant and complex prosecutions in the history of the office.
Darren has been actively involved in pro bono matters. From 2006 to 2010, he was part of the Kramer Levin team representing several members of a Muslim minority group from western China who were wrongfully imprisoned at Guantanamo Bay, which ultimately resulted in the release of all of the clients. More recently, Darren represented Everytown for Gun Safety, a leading organization dedicated to advocating for responsible gun laws and reducing gun violence. He led a Kramer Levin team that filed amicus curiae briefs on Everytown’s behalf in courts around the country, and represented the family of a murder victim seeking information about the firearm used in the crime. Darren has also represented the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America on issues relating to the construction of the St. Nicholas National Shrine at the World Trade Center. From 2017 to 2019, Darren led a team working with Brooklyn Defender Services to advocate for noncash bail for indigent clients in the Kings County courts. Darren has served as a member of the Criminal Justice Act Panel of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, and as pro bono co-counsel to the Legal Aid Society, representing indigent clients in criminal matters.
Updated Aug 2024
