Rebekah Donaleski

Rebekah is head of business litigation for New York. She is a former federal prosecutor who spent nearly a decade at the US Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York (SDNY), most recently as chief of the Public Corruption Unit, where she oversaw some of the most high-profile, complex matters for the Department of Justice (DOJ). Bekah leverages her significant trial experience and deep knowledge of government investigations to defend companies and individuals before government agencies and in litigation, as well as lead complex and sensitive internal investigations.

Bekah is recognized by Chambers USA as a top white-collar and government investigations lawyer. She regularly represents companies and individuals in high-stakes investigations into financial and accounting fraud, corruption, export control and bid rigging by the DOJ and Securities and Exchange Commission. She has deep experience advising and leading investigations for companies, boards and universities, particularly regarding highly sensitive topics and scrutinized environments.

As chief of the SDNY’s Public Corruption Unit, Bekah supervised 20 senior prosecutors in hundreds of investigations and prosecutions concerning a range of white-collar matters. Most notably, Bekah oversaw the investigations and prosecutions of US Sen. Robert Menendez, Sam Bankman-Fried for campaign finance offenses, Ghislaine Maxwell, Michael Avenatti and Lev Parnas, as well as other high-ranking officials in local, state and federal government. Before her time in the Public Corruption Unit, she served in the Terrorism and International Narcotics Unit, where she handled high-profile terrorism and national security matters and twice won the Drug Enforcement Administration’s Director’s Award. Her notable matters included the convictions after trial of Akayed Ullah, who attempted to bomb the New York Port Authority Bus Terminal in New York City, and Joseph Hunter, a former US Army sergeant turned international mercenary killer.

Bekah is an experienced trial lawyer who has tried nine jury trials to guilty verdicts, directly supervised 10 other trials, and argued and briefed 16 cases before the US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. Bekah has significant experience working closely with key components and leadership of federal, state and foreign law enforcement and regulatory agencies.

Before her work as a prosecutor, Bekah clerked for Judge Katherine Polk Failla of the US District Court for the SDNY.