345 Park Avenue
New York,
New York
10154
 212.407.4873
 212.202.5408
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Martin
Pollner
Partner
and
Co-Chair, White Collar Criminal Defense Practice Group
Martin R. Pollner has held major positions with the United States government, including the Office of the Deputy Attorney General in the United States Department of Justice under Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy, Director of Law Enforcement of the United States Treasury Department under Secretary of the Treasury John Connally, Assistant United States Attorney, Eastern District of New York and appointed as the United States representative to the INCB of the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland.
Prior Work Experience
Over the last 30 years, Mr. Pollner has built a reputation for resolving highly sensitive cases involving complex litigation throughout the United States, acting as advisor to major corporations, and assisting chief executive officers with regard to diverse strategic corporate matters. From the time he served as an assistant to Deputy Attorney General Byron R. White, he has been retained by corporate executives, judges, and institutions to litigate major matters, investigate corporate misconduct, assist in the untangling of complex tax matters, structure workouts and bankruptcies, and decipher the regulatory maze that surrounds government institutions. He has also defended various celebrated individuals and institutions accused of wrongdoing by government agencies.
Mr. Pollner’s recent assignments include representing officers and directors of a NYSE Company targeted by several governmental investigations; representing a multinational corporation in an action for fraud; representing a well-known owner of a multibillion-dollar hedge fund in a matter involving a complex extortion scheme and worldwide litigation. Additionally, he represented Denise Rich in the highly publicized investigation of President Clinton’s pardon of her former husband, Marc Rich.
Upon the recommendation of two major Creditors’ Committees, Mr. Pollner was appointed by a Federal Bankruptcy Judge as the Litigation Trustee of the Texas-based Lomas Financial Corporation and Lomas Mortgage USA Joint Litigation Trust. As of the date of that appointment Lomas was the largest mortgage servicing company in the country. Previously he had been appointed by the Federal Bankruptcy Court as counsel to Wedtech Corporation to cleanse it of criminality and various other Trustee and Examiner positions.
Background
Upon graduation from law school, where he was a member of the Law Review and on the Moot Court Team, Mr. Pollner was selected by Attorney General William P. Rogers to serve in the United States Department of Justice under the Attorney General’s Program for Honor Law Graduates. He served under Deputy General Lawrence E. Walsh and then Byron R. White. He helped draft provisions of the Internal Revenue Code and authored various legislative programs of Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy, including Kennedy’s Legislative Program to Curb Organized Crime and Racketeering.
Mr. Pollner later served for several years as a federal prosecutor in the United States Attorney’s Office in New York. In this position, he successfully prosecuted many precedent-making cases and had the distinction of never losing a trial.
Thereafter, he was at the law firm of Nixon, Mudge, Rose, Guthrie and Alexander, and subsequently returned to Washington, D.C., to serve as the Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Treasury Department and Director of the Office of Law Enforcement under Secretaries of the Treasury David Kennedy, John Connally, and George Schultz. In that capacity, he provided the focal and contact points at the Office of the Treasury for the development and coordination of all law enforcement policies, initiatives, and interactions with the various bureaus of Treasury, including the Internal Revenue Service, Customs, the Secret Service, Interpol, and other departments and agencies of the federal government and foreign countries. At the conclusion of Mr. Pollner’s service, Secretary Schultz presented him with the Treasury Department’s Meritorious Service Award.
While at the Treasury Department, Mr. Pollner supervised Interpol activities, helped negotiate the Swiss Mutual Assistance Treaty, and served on various cabinet committees. He was also the head of the U.S. delegation to various Interpol general assemblies, including those held in Belgium, Germany, and Canada.
Upon returning to private practice, he was appointed by Secretary of State William P. Rogers as the United States representative to the International Narcotics Control Board of the United Nations, a position he held for several years.
Media Mentions
Affiliations
- Member, American Bar Association
- Member, Association of the Bar of the City of New York
- Member, National District Attorneys’ Association
- Member, New York State District Attorneys’ Association
Distinctions
- Recipient, Townsend Harris Medal (2007)
- Recipient, The Ellis Island Medal of Honor (2005)
- Named "New York Super Lawyer" in Criminal Defense: White Collar by Law & Politics (2006 and 2008-2009)
- Named in AVENUE Magazine's "Legal Elite" list of the top litigation attorneys in New York (2010)
- Recipient, Outstanding Achievement Medal from George Shultz, Secretary of the United States Treasury Department
- Highest "AV Preeminent (5 out of 5)" Professional Rating, Martindale-Hubbell Law Directory
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Brooklyn Law School, LL.B., 1960, Law Review
Moot Court Team
City College of the City University of New York, A.B., 1957, Senior Class President
District of Columbia
Florida
New York
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