United States Attorney for the 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".<ref name="Weiser">Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="Beale">Template:Cite book</ref> Its resources, culture, and accompanying FBI field office have given the SDNY a reputation for being exceptionally aggressive in its pursuit of criminals.<ref name="McDermott">Template:Cite book</ref><ref name="Ragavan">Template:Cite magazine</ref> 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".<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

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.<ref>Organization and Operation, U.S. Attorney's Office</ref>

List of U.S. attorneys

In 1814, the District of New York was divided into the Northern and the Southern District.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Term		U.S. Attorney		Party		Appointed by
1	Template:Dts – Template:Dts		Jonathan Fisk	style="background-color:Template:Party color"|	Democratic-Republican	James Madison
2	Template:Dts – Template:Dts		Robert L. Tillotson	style="background-color:Template:Party color"|	Democratic-Republican	James Monroe
3	Template:Dts –		John Duer	style="background-color:Template:Party color"|	Democratic-Republican	John Quincy Adams
4	Template:Dts –		James A. Hamilton	style="background-color:Template:Party color"|	Democratic	Andrew Jackson
5	Template:Dts –		William M. Price	style="background-color:Template:Party color"|	Democratic
6	Template:Dts –		Benjamin F. Butler	style="background-color:Template:Party color"|	Democratic	Martin Van Buren
7	Template:Dts –		Ogden Hoffman	style="background-color:Template:Party color"|	Whig	William Henry Harrison
8	Template:Dts –		Benjamin F. Butler	style="background-color:Template:Party color"|	Democratic	James Polk
9	Template:Dts –		Charles McVean	style="background-color:Template:Party color"|	Democratic
10	Template:Dts – Template:Dts		Lorenzo B. Shepard	style="background-color:Template:Party color"|	Democratic
11	Template:Dts – Template:Dts		Jonathan Prescott Hall	style="background-color:Template:Party color"|	Whig	Zachary Taylor
12	Template:Dts – Template:Dts		Charles O'Conor	style="background-color:Template:Party color"|	Democratic	Franklin Pierce
13	Template:Dts – Template:Dts	File:John McKeon (New York).jpg	John McKeon	style="background-color:Template:Party color"|	Democratic
14	Template:Dts – Template:Dts	File:Theodore Sedgwick (1811-1859, American attorney and author).jpg	Theodore Sedgwick	style="background-color:Template:Party color"|	Democratic	James Buchanan
15	Template:Dts – Template:Dts	File:James I. Roosevelt.jpg	James I. Roosevelt	style="background-color:Template:Party color"|	Democratic
16	Template:Dts – Template:Dts	File:Edward Delafield Smith.png	Edward Delafield Smith	style="background-color:Template:Party color"|	Republican	Abraham Lincoln
17	Template:Dts – Template:Dts	File:DanielSDickinson.png	Daniel S. Dickinson	style="background-color:Template:Party color"|	Democratic
18	Template:Dts – Template:Dts		Samuel G. Courtney	style="background-color:Template:Party color"|	Democratic	Andrew Johnson
19	Template:Dts – Template:Dts	File:Edwards Pierrepont, Brady-Handy bw photo portrait, ca1865-1880.jpg	Edwards Pierrepont	style="background-color:Template:Party color"|	Republican	Ulysses S. Grant
20	Template:Dts – Template:Dts	File:Noah Davis.jpg	Noah Davis	style="background-color:Template:Party color"|	Republican
21	Template:Dts – Template:Dts	File:George Bliss Jr. (US Attorney for Southern New York).jpg	George Bliss Jr.	style="background-color:Template:Party color"|	Republican
22	Template:Dts – Template:Dts	File:Stewart L Woodford 1909.jpg	Stewart L. Woodford	style="background-color:Template:Party color"|	Republican
23	Template:Dts – Template:Dts	File:Elihu-Root.png	Elihu Root	style="background-color:Template:Party color"|	Republican	Chester A. Arthur
24	Template:Dts – Template:Dts	File:William Dorsheimer.jpg	William Dorsheimer	style="background-color:Template:Party color"|	Democratic	Grover Cleveland
25	Template:Dts – Template:Dts	File:Stephen Ambrose Walker (United States Attorney for Southern New York).jpg	Stephen A. Walker	style="background-color:Template:Party color"|	Democratic
26	Template:Dts – Template:Dts	File:Edward Mitchell (US Attorney for Southern New York).jpg	Edward Mitchell	style="background-color:Template:Party color"|	Republican	Benjamin Harrison
	Template:Dts – Template:Dts	File:Henry Clay Platt.png	Henry C. PlattTemplate:Efn	style="background-color:Template:Party color"|	Democratic	Grover Cleveland
27	Template:Dts – Template:Dts		Wallace Macfarlane	style="background-color:Template:Party color"|	Democratic
28	Template:Dts – Template:Dts	File:HenrLawrBurn-2.jpg	Henry Lawrence Burnett	style="background-color:Template:Party color"|	Republican	William McKinley
29	Template:Dts – Template:Dts	File:Henry Stimson, Harris & Ewing bw photo portrait, 1929.jpg	Henry L. Stimson	style="background-color:Template:Party color"|	Republican	Theodore Roosevelt
30	Template:Dts – Template:Dts	File:Henry A. Wise (United States Attorney for Southern New York).jpg	Henry A. Wise	style="background-color:Template:Party color"|	Republican	William Howard Taft
31	Template:Dts – Template:Dts	File:Hudson Snowden Marshall in 1915 (cropped).jpg	Hudson Snowden Marshall	style="background-color:Template:Party color"|	Democratic	Woodrow Wilson
32	Template:Dts – Template:Dts	File:Caffey, Francis Gordon .jpg	Francis Gordon Caffey	style="background-color:Template:Party color"|	Democratic
33	Template:Dts – Template:Dts	File:Wm. Hayward LCCN2014708563.jpg	William Hayward	style="background-color:Template:Party color"|	Republican	Warren Harding
34	Template:Dts – Template:Dts	File:Emory Buckner in 1917 (cropped).jpg	Emory Buckner	style="background-color:Template:Party color"|	Republican	Calvin Coolidge
35	Template:Dts – Template:Dts	File:Charles H. Tuttle.jpg	Charles H. Tuttle	style="background-color:Template:Party color"|	Republican
	Template:Dts – Template:Dts		Robert E. ManleyTemplate:Efn	style="background-color:Template:Party color"|	Republican	Herbert Hoover
36	Template:Dts – Template:Dts		George Z. Medalie	style="background-color:Template:Party color"|	Republican
	Template:Dts – Template:Dts	File:Thomas E. Dewey.jpg	Thomas E. DeweyTemplate:Efn	style="background-color:Template:Party color"|	Republican	Franklin D. Roosevelt
37	Template:Dts – Template:Dts	File:Martin Thomas Conboy, Jr. portrait circa 1920.jpg	Martin Thomas Conboy Jr.	style="background-color:Template:Party color"|	Democratic
	Template:Dts – Template:Dts		Francis W. H. AdamsTemplate:Efn	style="background-color:Template:Party color"|	Democratic
38	Template:Dts – Template:Dts		Lamar Hardy	style="background-color:Template:Party color"|	Democratic
	Template:Dts – Template:Dts		Gregory Francis NoonanTemplate:Efn	style="background-color:Template:Party color"|	Democratic
39	Template:Dts – Template:Dts		John T. Cahill	style="background-color:Template:Party color"|	Democratic
40	Template:DtsTemplate:Efn – Template:Dts		Mathias F. Correa	style="background-color:Template:Party color"|	Democratic
	Template:Dts – Template:Dts		Howard F. CorcoranTemplate:Efn	style="background-color:Template:Party color"|	Democratic
41	Template:Dts – Template:Dts		James B. M. McNally	style="background-color:Template:Party color"|	Democratic
42	Template:DtsTemplate:Efn – Template:Dts		John F. X. McGohey	style="background-color:Template:Party color"|	Democratic
43	Template:DtsTemplate:Efn –	File:Irving Howard Saypol circa 1950.jpg	Irving Saypol	style="background-color:Template:Party color"|	Democratic	Harry S. Truman
44	Template:Dts – Template:Dts		Myles J. Lane	style="background-color:Template:Party color"|	Democratic
45	Template:Dts – Template:Dts		J. Edward Lumbard	style="background-color:Template:Party color"|	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>	Dwight D. Eisenhower
	Template:Dts – Template:Dts		Lloyd F. MacMahonTemplate:Efn	style="background-color:Template:Party color"|	Republican
46	Template:Dts – Template:Dts		Paul W. Williams	style="background-color:Template:Party color"|	Republican
	Template:Dts – Template:Dts		Arthur H. ChristyTemplate:Efn	style="background-color:Template:Party color"|	Republican
47	Template:Dts – Template:Dts		Samuel Hazard Gillespie Jr.	style="background-color:Template:Party color"|	Republican
	Template:Dts – Template:Dts		Morton S. RobsonTemplate:Efn	style="background-color:Template:Party color"|	Republican	John F. Kennedy
48Template:Efn	Template:Dts – Template:Dts	File:Robert Morgenthau at the 2009 Tribeca Film Festival.jpg	Robert Morgenthau	style="background-color:Template:Party color"|	Democratic
49	Template:Dts – Template:Dts		Whitney North Seymour Jr.	style="background-color:Template:Party color"|	Republican	Richard Nixon
50	Template:Dts – Template:Dts		Paul J. Curran	style="background-color:Template:Party color"|	Republican
	Template:Dts – Template:Dts		Thomas J. CahillTemplate:Efn	style="background-color:Template:Party color"|	Republican	Gerald Ford
51	Template:Dts – Template:Dts		Robert B. Fiske	style="background-color:Template:Party color"|	Republican
	Template:Dts – Template:Dts		William M. TendyTemplate:Efn	style="background-color:Template:Party color"|	Republican	Jimmy Carter
52	Template:Dts – Template:Dts		John S. Martin Jr.	style="background-color:Template:Party color"|	Democratic
53	Template:Dts – Template:Dts	File:Rudy Giuliani 2000.jpg	Rudy Giuliani	style="background-color:Template:Party color"|	Republican	Ronald Reagan
	Template:Dts – Template:Dts		Benito RomanoTemplate:Efn	style="background-color:Template:Party color"|	Republican	George H. W. Bush
54	Template:Dts – Template:Dts		Otto G. Obermaier	style="background-color:Template:Party color"|	Republican
55	Template:Dts – Template:Dts	File:Mary Jo White official portrait.jpg	Mary Jo White	style="background-color:Template:Party color"|	Unaffiliated<ref>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</ref>	Bill Clinton
56	Template:Dts – Template:Dts	File:James Comey US Attorney.jpg	James Comey	style="background-color:Template:Party color"|	Republican<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>	George W. Bush
	Template:Dts – Template:Dts	File:David N. Kelley US Attorney.jpg	David N. KelleyTemplate:Efn	style="background-color:Template:Party color"|	Democratic
57	Template:Dts – Template:Dts	File:Michael J. Garcia US Attorney.jpg	Michael J. Garcia	style="background-color:Template:Party color"|	Republican
	Template:Dts – Template:Dts	File:Lev Dassin US Attorney.jpg	Lev DassinTemplate:Efn		Unaffiliated
58	Template:Dts – Template:Dts	File:Bharara, Preet Headshot.jpg	Preet Bharara	style="background-color:Template:Party color"|	Democratic	Barack Obama
	Template:Dts – Template:Dts	File:Acting USA Yoon Kim.jpg	Joon KimTemplate:Efn		Template:Data missing	Donald Trump
	Template:Dts – Template:Dts	File:Geoffrey S. Berman (cropped).jpg	Geoffrey BermanTemplate:Efn	style="background-color:Template:Party color"|	Republican
	June 20, 2020 – October 10, 2021	File:Audrey Strauss.jpg	Audrey StraussTemplate:Efn	style="background-color:Template:Party color"|	Democratic
59	October 10, 2021 – December 13, 2024	File:Damian Williams, United States Attorney 2.jpg	Damian Williams	style="background-color:Template:Party color"|	Democratic	Joe Biden
	December 13, 2024 – January 20, 2025		Edward Kim (acting)
	January 21, 2025 – February 13, 2025	File:Danielle sassoon (cropped).jpg	Danielle Sassoon (acting)	style="background-color:Template:Party color"|	Republican	Donald Trump
	February 13, 2025 - April 16, 2025		Matthew Podolsky (acting)<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
	April 16, 2025 - Present	File:Jay Clayton.jpg	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.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

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.

External links

• United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York Official Website