Lecturer Bios
Benjamin Brafman, Esq.
Benjamin Brafman is the principal of Brafman & Associates, P.C. law firm located in Manhattan. Mr. Brafman’s firm specializes in criminal law with an emphasis on White Collar criminal defense.
Mr. Brafman, a former Assistant District Attorney in the New York County District Attorney’s Office, has been in private practice since 1980. Mr. Brafman is a Fellow in the American College of Trial Lawyers and was selected by New York Magazine as the “Best Criminal Defense Lawyer in New York.” He is also the recipient of the “first” ever Clarence Darrow Award for Distinguished Practitioner by the New York State Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers.
Mr. Brafman has represented a wide range of high-profile celebrities, business leaders, lawyers and professionals in major criminal cases throughout the country including most recently the NY Giants superstar Plaxico Burress and former IMF Chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn.
Jeffrey Todd Schwartz, Esq.
For 34 years Jeffrey T. Schwartz has been investigating, prosecuting and defending whitecollar and violent criminal cases in both the state and federal courts of New York and New Jersey. He is a former homicide, investigations and major case prosecutor for the Queens County District Attorney’s Office and was a founding member of both its vertical Narcotics Trial, and Career Criminal Major Crime Bureaus.
He has been honored, recognized and awarded certificates of outstanding dedication and service by the Queens District Attorneys Office, the New York State Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, the City Council of New York, as well as the Detective Endowment Association of the New York City Police Department.
He serves on the faculty of the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law’s Intensive Trial Advocacy Program for over
25 years and lectures on many aspects of trial advocacy, forensic evidence and criminal law. Mr. Schwartz appears in the media as a legal analyst and has been profiled in local and national publications, including the New York Times.
John F. Lauro, Esq.
Mr. Lauro grew up in New York and later graduated from Georgetown University in 1979, magna cum laude. He then attended Georgetown University Law Center and graduated in 1982, magna cum laude. While a law student, Mr. Lauro was an editor of the Georgetown Law Journal. Following graduation from law school, Mr. Lauro returned to New York and began practicing with the international law firm of Morgan, Lewis and Bockius. He later joined the criminal division of the United States Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of New York, where he prosecuted international narcotics and white collar criminal matters. After government service, Mr. Lauro established a practice in Florida and New York, and became a partner with a national law firm. In 1994, he founded the Lauro Law Firm, which now has offices in New York City and Florida. Mr. Lauro specializes in complex criminal and commercial litigation, including the representation of individuals in connection with a wide variety of white collar matters, including those involving health care, securities law, money-laundering, anti-trust, tax, and the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. He has been selected by his peers to be included in the Best Lawyers in America, Florida Super Lawyers and Florida Trend’s Legal Elite. Mr. Lauro also participates extensively in the Gerry Spence Trial Lawyers College.
Over the past years, Mr. Lauro has tried several significant cases. He represented a businessman/entrepreneur who was acquitted in the first “dot-com” securities fraud trial brought by the Department of Justice in Manhattan. In addition, Mr. Lauro represented a trust fund advisor who was acquitted of all felony charges in connection with a prosecution brought by the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office as part of the Evergreen Trust criminal litigation. In 2011, Mr. Lauro obtained a Rule 29 acquittal on behalf of the former president of Medical Manager, Inc. (later WebMD). Most recently, Mr. Lauro was lead counsel for the former Chief Financial Officer of WellCare Health Plans, Inc. in connection with a health care fraud prosecution in the United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida. Further information is available at http://www.laurolawfirm.com/john-f-lauro.html.
