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Phara A. Guberman is a partner in the Global Litigation Group and member of the White Collar Defense and Investigations Practice. She is based in the firm's New York office. Phara is a seasoned trial attorney who is regularly recognized as one of the leading white collar criminal defense practitioners in the country.
In January 2022, as co-lead counsel at trial and appeal, Phara secured a precedent-setting appellate victory in the Second Circuit in U.S. v. Connolly, et al., where all counts of conviction were overturned against our client, Matthew Connolly, and judgments of acquittal directed. Mr. Connolly's win represents the only LIBOR-related criminal case in the U.S. or U.K. to be overturned on sufficiency of the evidence and has received world-wide attention.
Last year, as co-lead counsel at trial and appeal, Phara obtained a landmark appellate victory in the Third Circuit in U.S. v. Gibson, et al., where all counts of conviction against David Gibson, the former Chief Financial Officer of Wilmington Trust Corporation, were overturned in a matter of first impression, and the two remanded counts were subsequently dismissed. The American Lawyer deemed it “a stunning reversal of criminal convictions for four executives of Wilmington Trust Corp. in a case dating back to the Great Recession.”
In 2023, Phara was recognized by Crain’s New York Business as part of its “Notable Women in Law” list and was included among Bloomberg Law’s “40 Under 40” honorees. Phara was recently added to Lawdragon’s “500 Leading Lawyers in America” and “500 Leading Global Litigators” guides. In 2022, she was honored by Benchmark Litigation as one of the Top 250 Women in Litigation and, the year prior, she was honored by Global Investigations Review as one of 100 notable Women in Investigations around the world in the white collar area of law. In 2019 and 2022, Phara’s work in U.S. v. Connolly, et al., the first LIBOR manipulation case against a U.S.-based trader, was shortlisted by Global Investigations Review (GIR) as the Most Important Case of the Year for its impact on future government investigations and wire fraud prosecutions and led to her recognition by Law360 as a “Legal Lion.” The complete appellate victory in U.S. v. Connolly, et al. led to Phara's recognition by The American Lawyer as its "Litigator of the Week," which also credited the decision as the "second white-collar appellate reversal Kenneth Breen and Phara Guberman. . . have won in as many years." Phara was nominated twice before as The American Lawyer's “Litigator of the Week” for her more than 10 years of work in U.S. v. Gibson, et al., which led to a landmark appellate victory and the subsequent decision by federal prosecutors not to retry the case. Phara was previously recognized by Law360 in 2018 as one of five national “Rising Stars” in White Collar.
Phara has successfully handled a wide array of regulatory enforcement and white collar criminal matters, including those involving allegations of corporate and accounting fraud, securities fraud, insider trading, misappropriation of trade secrets, consumer protection issues, cybersecurity issues, and money laundering. She regularly represents clients in court and before the United States Department of Justice ("DOJ"), the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC"), the Federal Reserve, state attorney generals, FINRA and other self-regulatory organizations, other federal agencies, and international regulators. Phara also has substantial experience as a business litigator, representing clients in high stakes civil litigation matters in federal and state courts and arbitration proceedings.
Accolades and Recognitions
- Bloomberg Law (2023), Recognized as a “40 Under 40” honoree.
- Crain’s New York Business (2023), “Notable Women in Law” list.
- Benchmark Litigation (2023, 2024), Litigation Star, White Collar Crime.
- Benchmark Litigation (2022, 2023, 2024), Top 250 Women in Litigation.
- Lawdragon (2022, 2023, 2024), Recognized as one of the 500 Leading Global Litigators.
- Lawdragon (2023), Recognized as one of the 500 Leading Lawyers in America.
- The American Lawyer (2022), Litigator of the Week for securing a "remarkable turnaround" and complete appellate victory in U.S. v. Connolly, et al. (Second Circuit) with a precedent-setting opinion.
- Global Investigations Review (GIR) (2022), Recognized as co-lead appellate counsel in U.S. v. Connolly, et al. (Second Circuit), shortlisted by GIR as “Most Important Court Case of the Year” for its impact on future wire fraud prosecutions.
- Global Investigations Review (GIR) (2021), Honored as one of 100 Women in Investigations in the triennial survey that highlights exceptional female practitioners around the globe in the white collar area of law.
- The Legal 500 (2021-2023), Dispute Resolution - Corporate Investigations and White-Collar Criminal Defense: Advice to Corporates, Advice to Individuals.
- The Legal 500 (2023),Dispute Resolution – Securities Litigation: Defense.
- The American Lawyer (2021), Litigator of the Week Nominee for work as co-lead trial and appellate counsel securing a landmark victory inS. v. Gibson, et al.(Third Circuit) and following the dismissal of the remaining remanded counts.
- Global Investigations Review (GIR) (2019), Recognized as co-lead trial counsel inS. v. Connolly, et al.(S.D.N.Y.), shortlisted by GIR as "Most Important Case of the Year" for its impact on future government investigations (2019).
- Law360 (2019), Recognized as a "Legal Lion" for securing a sentencing ruling without any period of incarceration in U.S. v. Connolly, et al. (S.D.N.Y.).
- Law360 (2018), Honored as one of five national "Rising Stars" for White Collar.
- Scholarship Plus-Teacher Who Made a Difference Award (2017), Honored for her impact as a mentor by Scholarship Plus, a not-for-profit college student support program for outstanding low-income New York City high school graduates.
- Super Lawyers, The Top Women Attorneys in New York (2014-2023).
- Super Lawyers, Criminal Defense: White Collar (2018-2023).
- Super Lawyers, "Rising Star" in the area of Criminal Defense: White Collar (2014-2017).
Recent publications:
- “U.S. Attorneys’ Offices Issue New Voluntary Self-Disclosure Policy As Efforts to Incentivize More Self-Reporting Continue,”The National Law Review, February 2023
- “DOJ Announces Formal Expansion of Corporate Enforcement Policy to Incentivize More Self-Reporting,”Lexology, January 2023
- “SEC Risk Alert Focuses on Potential Deficiencies Regarding Use and Monitoring of Material Non-Public Information,”Lexology, April 2022
- "Recent SEC Actions Up the Ante on Cybersecurity Disclosures,"Bloomberg Law, September 2021
- "Prosecutions of Bitcoin Mixers Raise Crypto Privacy Questions,"New York Law Journal, May 2021
- "Current Attempts to Define Regulator Roles in Cryptocurrency Enforcement Actions,"New York Law Journal, March 2021
- "Musk's Crypto Tweets Likely Didn't Violate SEC, CFTC Rules,"Law360, March 2021
- "GameStop Stock Trading Poses 'Manipulation' Challenges for Regulators,"Bloomberg Law, January 2021
- "2020 SEC Risk Alert Provides Guidance for Private Fund Advisers,"Journal of Investment Compliance, Vol. 21 Issue 1, December 2020
Recent speaking engagements:
- Presenter, "Managing Private Funds in a Volatile Market," Stafford CLE Webinar, May 2022
- Presenter, "Recent Trends in Civil SPAC Litigation," Virtual GC Roundtable, November 2021
- Presenter, "Current Attempts to Define Regulator Roles in Cryptocurrency Enforcement Actions," Celesq/West LegalEd Center, July 2021
- Presenter, "Who's Liable After GameStop: Litigators' Take," Talks on Law, March 2021
- Presenter, "Regulating the Digital Economy," The George Washington University Law School Second Annual Business and Finance Law Conference, February 2021
