Georges Lederman

Practice Areas

Georges is special counsel in the white collar defense team and a former New York prosecutor who has over 35 years' experience working in the private and public sectors. He has represented well-known individuals and institutions in matters involving money laundering, fraud, tax evasion, conspiracy, smuggling, asset forfeiture and internal corporate investigations. He has successfully tried over 30 criminal jury trials to verdict. His handling of both criminal and related civil matters has received international media coverage.

Georges is well-known for having represented high profile clients who have been accused of or are victims of art crime. He is one of the few lawyers in New York with an expertise in state and federal criminal laws as well as complex international cultural heritage laws as applied to the art market. Georges has advised collectors on how to comply with government regulations involving the sale, transfer, repatriation or other disposition of art and cultural assets; defended art dealers who have been accused of participating in international conspiracies involving the theft of cultural heritage property from foreign countries and its importation into the United States; developed protocols for prominent art galleries to comply with evolving anti-money laundering regulations; represented individuals who have been targets, witnesses and victims in art fraud and forgery cases; and defended individuals accused of creating offshore accounts for the purpose of evading taxes on the purchase of high value artwork.

In representing clients who have been under investigation by the government, Georges has appeared before the U.S. Department of the Treasury Office of Foreign Assets Control; the U.S. Attorneys' Offices for the Southern and Eastern Districts of New York and the Eastern District of Pennsylvania; the New York County District Attorney’s Office; the New York State Attorney General’s Office; the Department of Homeland Security; the U.S. Customs and Border Protection; the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service; the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation; the IRS Criminal Investigation Division; the New York State Department of Taxation and Finance; and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation Office of Investigations.

Georges is recognized by Chambers as a leading lawyer in Art and Cultural Property Law and is highly regarded for his advice. "His expertise is first-rate," says a source, adding: "He was responsive and he has a true talent for simplifying very complex matters so that they are understandable to a wide audience." One interviewee says that Georges "has an exceptional reputation in the community as being a straight shooter," and another adds: "He is a thoroughly good investigator. He is honest, judges like him and juries like him, and that is a big deal."

Georges is frequently quoted in the international media on hot topics involving the intersection of white collar defense and the art market. He has written extensively and lectures widely on matters involving art crime and is a regular guest instructor at law enforcement agency training programs. Bilingual in French and English, Georges works directly with foreign counsel on matters that are international in scope.