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United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York

Chief federal law enforcement officer in eight New York counties

Field	Value
agency_name	U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York
type	Department
seal	Seal of the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York.png
seal_width	140px
formed	by the Judiciary Act of 1789
jurisdiction	Southern District of New York
headquarters	Manhattan, New York City, New York, U.S.
chief1_name	Jay Clayton
chief1_position	U.S. Attorney
parent_agency	United States Department of Justice
website
map	Jurisdiction of the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York.jpg
map_caption	Southern District of New York

The United States attorney for the Southern District of New York is the chief federal law enforcement officer in eight contiguous New York counties: the counties (coextensive boroughs of New York City) of New York (Manhattan) and Bronx, and the counties of Westchester, Putnam, Rockland, Orange, Dutchess, and Sullivan. Established by the Judiciary Act of 1789, the office represents the United States government in criminal and civil cases across the country. The SDNY handles a broad array of cases, including but not limited to those involving white collar crime, domestic terrorism, cybercrime, public corruption, organized crime, and civil rights disputes.

The Southern District has earned itself the moniker the "Sovereign District of New York". Its resources, culture, and accompanying FBI field office have given the SDNY a reputation for being exceptionally aggressive in its pursuit of criminals. Due to its jurisdiction over the New York City borough of Manhattan, the preeminent financial center of the United States of America, the office's incumbent is often nicknamed the "Sheriff of Wall Street".

Organization

The office is organized into two divisions handling civil and criminal matters. The Southern District of New York also has two offices: in Manhattan and White Plains. The office employs approximately 220 assistant U.S. attorneys.

List of U.S. attorneys

In 1814, the District of New York was divided into the Northern and the Southern District.

Term	U.S. Attorney	Party	Appointed by
1
–
[[File:Jonathan Fisk.jpg	frameless	180x180px]]	Jonathan Fisk
2
–
[[File:3x4.svg	frameless	4x4px]]	Robert L. Tillotson
3
–
[[File:John Duer (1782-1858).jpg	frameless	172x172px]]	John Duer
4
–
[[File:James Alexander Hamilton.webp	frameless	150x150px]]	James A. Hamilton
5
–
[[File:3x4.svg	frameless	4x4px]]	William M. Price
6
–
[[File:Benjamin Franklin Butler (U.S. Attorney General).jpg	frameless	112x112px]]	Benjamin F. Butler
7
–
[[File:OgdenHoffman.jpg	frameless	139x139px]]	Ogden Hoffman
8
–
[[File:Benjamin Franklin Butler (U.S. Attorney General).jpg	frameless	112x112px]]	Benjamin F. Butler
9
–
[[File:3x4.svg	frameless	4x4px]]	Charles McVean
10
–
[[File:Lorenzo Brigham Shepard.png	frameless	147x147px]]	Lorenzo B. Shepard
11
–
[[File:Jonathan Prescott Hall (2).jpg	147x147px]]	Jonathan Prescott Hall
12
–
[[File:Charles OConor - Brady-Handy.jpg	frameless	150x150px]]	Charles O'Conor
13
–
[[File:John McKeon (New York).jpg	frameless	149x149px]]	John McKeon
14
–
[[File:Theodore Sedgwick (1811-1859, American attorney and author).jpg	149x149px]]	Theodore Sedgwick
15
–
[[File:James I. Roosevelt.jpg	frameless	166x166px]]	James I. Roosevelt
16
–
[[File:Edward Delafield Smith.png	frameless	121x121px]]	Edward Delafield Smith
17
–
[[File:DanielSDickinson.png	frameless	136x136px]]	Daniel S. Dickinson
18
–
	Samuel G. Courtney
19
–
[[File:Edwards Pierrepont, Brady-Handy bw photo portrait, ca1865-1880.jpg	frameless	123x123px]]	Edwards Pierrepont
20
–
[[File:Noah Davis.jpg	frameless	142x142px]]	Noah Davis
21
–
[[File:George Bliss Jr. (US Attorney for Southern New York).jpg	147x147px]]	George Bliss Jr.
22
–
[[File:Stewart L Woodford 1909.jpg	frameless	180x180px]]	Stewart L. Woodford
23
–
[[File:Elihu-Root.png	frameless	148x148px]]	Elihu Root
24
–
[[File:William Dorsheimer.jpg	frameless	170x170px]]	William Dorsheimer
25
–
[[File:Stephen Ambrose Walker (United States Attorney for Southern New York).jpg	143x143px]]	Stephen A. Walker
26
–
[[File:Edward Mitchell (US Attorney for Southern New York).jpg	120x120px]]	Edward Mitchell

–
[[File:Henry Clay Platt.png	frameless	143x143px]]	Henry C. Platt
27
–
	Wallace Macfarlane
28
–
[[File:HenrLawrBurn-2.jpg	frameless	143x143px]]	Henry Lawrence Burnett
29
–
[[File:Henry Stimson, Harris & Ewing bw photo portrait, 1929.jpg	frameless	161x161px]]	Henry L. Stimson
30
–
[[File:Henry A. Wise (United States Attorney for Southern New York).jpg	125x125px]]	Henry A. Wise
31
–
[[File:Hudson Snowden Marshall in 1915 (cropped).jpg	frameless	155x155px]]	Hudson Snowden Marshall
32
–
[[File:Caffey, Francis Gordon .jpg	frameless	155x155px]]	Francis Gordon Caffey
33
–
[[File:Wm. Hayward LCCN2014708563.jpg	155x155px]]	William Hayward
34
–
[[File:Emory Buckner in 1917 (cropped).jpg	frameless	155x155px]]	Emory Buckner
35
–
[[File:Charles H. Tuttle.jpg	frameless	176x176px]]	Charles H. Tuttle

–
	Robert E. Manley
36
–
	George Z. Medalie

–
[[File:Thomas E. Dewey.jpg	frameless	135x135px]]	Thomas E. Dewey
37
–
[[File:Martin Thomas Conboy, Jr. portrait circa 1920.jpg	frameless	161x161px]]	Martin Thomas Conboy Jr.

–
	Francis W. H. Adams
38
–
	Lamar Hardy

–
	Gregory Francis Noonan
39
–
	John T. Cahill
40
–
	Mathias F. Correa

–
	Howard F. Corcoran
41
–
	James B. M. McNally
42
–
	John F. X. McGohey
43
–
[[File:Irving Howard Saypol circa 1950.jpg	frameless	150x150px]]	Irving Saypol
44
–
	Myles J. Lane
45
–
	J. Edward Lumbard

–
	Lloyd F. MacMahon
46
–
	Paul W. Williams

–
	Arthur H. Christy
47
–
	Samuel Hazard Gillespie Jr.

–
	Morton S. Robson
48
–
[[File:Robert Morgenthau at the 2009 Tribeca Film Festival.jpg	frameless	145x145px]]	Robert Morgenthau
49
–
	Whitney North Seymour Jr.
50
–
	Paul J. Curran

–
	Thomas J. Cahill
51
–
	Robert B. Fiske

–
	William M. Tendy
52
–
	John S. Martin Jr.
53
–
[[File:Rudy Giuliani 2000.jpg	frameless	135x135px]]	Rudy Giuliani

–
	Benito Romano
54
–
	Otto G. Obermaier
55
–
[[File:Mary Jo White official portrait.jpg	frameless	168x168px]]	Mary Jo White
56
–
[[File:James Comey US Attorney.jpg	frameless	159x159px]]	James Comey

–
[[File:David N. Kelley US Attorney.jpg	frameless	135x135px]]	David N. Kelley
57
–
[[File:Michael J. Garcia US Attorney.jpg	frameless	149x149px]]	Michael J. Garcia

–
[[File:Lev Dassin US Attorney.jpg	frameless	156x156px]]	Lev Dassin
58
–
[[File:Bharara, Preet Headshot.jpg	frameless	156x156px]]	Preet Bharara

–
[[File:Acting USA Yoon Kim.jpg	frameless	135x135px]]	Joon Kim

–
[[File:Geoffrey S. Berman (cropped).jpg	frameless	135x135px]]	Geoffrey Berman
	June 20, 2020
–
October 10, 2021	[[File:Audrey Strauss.jpg	frameless	135x135px]]	Audrey Strauss
59	October 10, 2021
–
December 13, 2024	[[File:Damian Williams, United States Attorney 2.jpg	frameless	135x135px]]	Damian Williams
	December 13, 2024
–
January 20, 2025		Edward Kim (acting)
	January 21, 2025
–
February 13, 2025	[[File:Danielle sassoon (cropped).jpg	frameless	135x135px]]	Danielle Sassoon (acting)
	February 13, 2025
April 16, 2025		Matthew Podolsky (acting)
	April 16, 2025
Present	[[File:Jay Clayton.jpg	frameless	135x135px]]	Jay Clayton

Notable assistants

Michael F. Armstrong, lawyer
Bob Arum, boxing promoter
Debra A. Livingston, lawyer and judge
Neil Barofsky, special inspector general overseeing the Troubled Asset Relief Program
Bernard Bell, professor at Rutgers School of Law–Newark
Maurene Comey, daughter of former FBI Director James Comey
Thomas E. Dewey, Governor of New York and the unsuccessful Republican candidate for President in 1944 and 1948
Eddie Eagan, former Olympic athlete
Louis Freeh, former director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation
Patrick Fitzgerald, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois
Felix Frankfurter, Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States
John Marshall Harlan II, associate justice, Supreme Court of the United States
Elie Honig, lawyer and CNN Senior Legal Analyst
Arthur L. Liman, criminal defense attorney
Robert J. McGuire, former New York City Police Commissioner
Michael Mukasey, former United States Attorney General
Thomas Francis Murphy, federal prosecutor and judge in New York City; prosecutor in the two perjury trials of Alger Hiss
Mary Grace Quackenbos, first woman to hold this post in the United States
Charles Rangel, U.S. Representative from Harlem
Henry Dwight Sedgwick, lawyer and author
Franklin A. Thomas, former director of the Ford Foundation
Maya Wiley (born 1964), civil rights activist and lawyer, 2021 mayoral candidate for New York City

In popular culture

Television

The Showtime drama series Billions is loosely based on Preet Bharara's prosecution of SAC Capital and other hedge funds.

The ABC legal drama For the People depicts new defense attorneys and prosecutors working in the Southern District of New York.

The 2020 Netflix series Fear City: New York vs The Mafia documents the work of the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Southern District of New York against the Five Families of the Italian American Mafia in the 1980s.

References

(March 10, 2017). "With Preet Bharara's Dismissal, Storied Office Loses Its Top Fighter". [[New York Times]].
(2011). "Prosecutors in the Boardroom: Using Criminal Law to Regulate Corporate conduct". [[NYU Press]].
(2012). "The Hunt for KSM: Inside the Pursuit and Takedown of the Real 9/11 Mastermind, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed". [[Little, Brown]].
(March 26, 2001). "The pardon buck stops in New York: U.S. Attorney Mary Jo White takes the lead".
Relman, Eliza. (May 15, 2017). "'History will judge this moment': The 'Sheriff of Wall Street' urges Republican lawmakers to hold Trump accountable".
[http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/nys/divisions.html Organization and Operation, U.S. Attorney's Office]
(March 10, 2020). "Southern District of New York".
"History". [[New York Young Republican Club]].
[https://www.sec.gov/News/Speech/Detail/Speech/1370539864016#.VI3OkqTF_Tw 2013 Speech to the 14th Annual A.A. Sommer, Jr. Corporate Securities and Financial Law Lecture, Fordham Law School] SEC. (October 3, 2013). Retrieved December 14, 2014
(May 9, 2017). "Who is James Comey: 7 things to know about the fired FBI director". CNN.
(2018-04-25). "Statement Of U.S. Attorney Geoffrey S. Berman On Appointment By Chief Judge".
Weiser, Benjamin. (August 9, 2009). "For Manhattan's Next U.S. Attorney, Politics and Prosecution Don't Mix". [[The New York Times]].
Orden, Erica. (October 12, 2019). "Manhattan US attorney in the spotlight with another high profile investigation of Trump's inner circle".
Scannell, Kara. (March 9, 2020). "US Attorney Geoffrey Berman asserts independence from Justice Department".
(February 15, 2020). "Attorney general's actions spark outrage and unease among US prosecutors".
Spinelli, Dan. (15 February 2020). "Report: Barr Protected Turkish Bank From Prosecution to Appease Erdogan".
(2015-05-13). "Southern District of New York {{!}} Meet the Acting U.S. Attorney".
Tallerico, Brian. (April 2, 2017). "Billions Recap: Agents of Chaos". Vulture.

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