Jennifer Blecher has focused her nearly 15 years of legal practice on complex civil litigation and white collar criminal prosecution and defense. She spent a decade at Sullivan & Cromwell LLP handling OFAC sanctions and Foreign Corrupt Practice Act investigations; SEC and CFTC enforcement matters and high-stakes securities, tax and antitrust litigation on behalf of financial institutions and credit rating agencies including Standard Chartered Bank. Moody’s Investors Service, Virtu Financial, Barclays Bank and Goldman Sachs, where she spent time in-house. Ms. Blecher then served as an Assistant United States Attorney in the District of the Virgin Islands, investigating and prosecuting white-collar and public corruption cases. She has argued appeals in both New York State and federal appellate courts and litigated matters to trial. Ms. Blecher is a U.S. Army veteran and former journalist. She earned her Juris Doctor from the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law and her bachelor’s degree from Bernard M. Baruch College.
- Represented Standard Chartered Bank in connection with its MT202 “stripping”-related deferred prosecution agreement and regulatory settlements as well as a follow-on investigation into business conducted with UAE companies serving as fronts for Iran-based companies.
- Defended Goldman Sachs in antitrust class actions relating to aluminum warehousing, as well as related regulatory and government investigations that resulted in DOJ Antitrust and CFTC declinations.
- Represented the National Rifle Association in connection with the New York Attorney General’s lawsuit to dissolve the organization and seek restitution of allegedly diverted funds, obtaining dismissal of the dissolution claim on substantive and First Amendment grounds.
- Second chaired FINRA arbitration hearing in fraud action against investment bank alleging fraudulent inducement in the purchase of and the manipulation of the market for auction-rate securities.
- Defense and cooperation of Barclays plc in anti-competition investigations into the company’s foreign currency trading in Singapore and Brazil.
- Defended credit rating agency, high-frequency trading firm and individual traders in various regulatory inquiries opposite the SEC, CME and FINRA.
- Defended Moody’s Investors Service in False Claims Act case concerning alleged tax fraud perpetrated through the use of its captive insurance company and related retaliation claim.
- Defended Goldman Sachs in federal and state cases alleging market manipulation, racketeering and securities fraud in connection with naked short selling, obtaining dismissals and summary judgment.
Education & Admissions
- New York State Courts, 2010
- Second Circuit, S.D.N.Y. and E.D.N.Y., 2011
- J.D., Yeshiva University Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law, 2009
- B.A., Bernard M. Baruch College, 2006
Prior Experience
- Litigation Associate, Sullivan & Cromwell LLP
- Assistant United States Attorney, USAO District of the Virgin Islands
- Legal Secondee, Goldman Sachs