Legal Daily News Feature

The Late Robert Morvillo, Namesake Partner of Morvillo, Abramowitz, Grand, Iason, Anello & Bohrer, Serves as Example to Legal Profession
By Rebecca E. Neely Robert G. Morvillo, who is widely credited for pioneering the practice of white-collar criminal defense, died at the age of 73.

12/28/11 A Brooklyn native, Morvillo was a prominent New York attorney and a principal at his law firm, Morvillo, Abramowitz, Grand, Iason, Anello & Bohrer. Morvillo represented celebrities such as Martha Stewart, when in 2004, she hired him to defend her against charges relating to illegal stock trading. In addition, he represented real estate developer John A. Zaccaro, the husband of the former vicepresidential candidate Geraldine R. Ferraro, in a bribery case, as well as Maurice R. Greenberg, the former chief executive of American International Group, in the legal battle with the New York attorney general. Morvillo was described by his colleagues, friends and family as sharp, brilliant, and tempestuous. Jed S. Rakoff, a federal judge in Manhattan and a friend of Morvillos for nearly forty years, was quoted as saying per the December 26th nytimes.com article, Robert Morvillo, Legal Pioneer, Dies at 73: Win or lose, he was always thinking three steps ahead of anyone else in the room. He just had a great ability to see how a particular tactic would play out, not just in the short run but in the long run. In 1973, Morvillo joined a boutique firm founded by John S. Martin and Otto Obermaier, two of his former government colleagues. The firm was one of the few at the time making a business from providing representation for big name businessmen and politicians in high profile trouble. At the time, New York white-shoe law firms said no to those types of cases; to represent them was seen as almost bringing shame upon the firm. Now, almost forty years later, every large corporate law firm in the country has a white-collar defense practice in competition

with Morvillo Abramowitz. The firm employs about 60 lawyers. According to information at his law firms website, Morvillo, Abramowitz, Grand, Iason, Anello & Bohrer, P.C., Morvillo has been the recipient of numerous awards and recognition, including the New York Council of Defense Lawyers Norman Ostrow Award for significant contribution to the defense function in March 2000, and being listed in Chambers USA Americas Leading Lawyers for Business, The Best Lawyers in America, and New York Magazine The New York Areas Best Lawyers. In addition, he was among those named as the Top 10 lawyers in New York Super Lawyers Manhattan Edition, and he was named Business Crime Lawyer of 2006 by The International Whos Who of Business Lawyers. Morvillo earned his J.D. from Columbia University School of Law. There, he was a Harlan Fiske Stone Scholar and an editor of the Law Review. He served in the Southern District of New York, first as law clerk for U.S. District Judge William B. Herlands, then as an Assistant U.S. Attorney, Chief Trial Assistant in charge of the Frauds Unit, and finally Chief of the Criminal Division. In 1973, he left that office to become a founding partner of a predecessor to Morvillo Abramowitz. He was a frequent speaker on various topics relating to whitecollar criminal cases. However, many of his big name clients were never known to the public because he was able to resolve their issues before public charges were brought. Morvillos most recent high profile client was his representation of Anil Kumar last year, who was a former senior executive at McKinsey & Company, and a key witness in the insider-trading trial of the former hedge fund manager Raj Rajaratnam. As well, in January of 2010, New York police commissioner Raymond W. Kelly named Morvillo to a threeperson panel reviewing the Police Departments internal crimereporting system.

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Although Morvillo dedicated a large portion of his legal career to providing representation to white-collar defendants, during a speech he delivered at a Colgate alumni event in 2007, he posed the following question, per the nytimes. com article: How can we arrest poor people for shoplifting, selling marijuana or overindulging in alcohol and then ignore corporate embezzlers or fat-cat fixers simply because they give a lot of money to charity or are well connected politically? Morvillo is survived by his wife of 48 years, Catherine, and his four sons, Christopher, Gregory, Scott and Robert, along with

ten grandchildren, as well as his brother, Richard. Morvillo died in his sleep following a recent surgery. Morvillos credentials speak for themselves. Undoubtedly, his life, and his lifes work will serve as an example to the entire legal profession lawyers and students of the law about the value of hard work, ingenuity, and entrepreneurship.

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