Rahul Agarwal

Practice Areas

Rahul Agarwal is an accomplished trial lawyer and a seasoned litigator. He has a multi-faceted practice focused on representing corporate and individual clients in a variety of white collar defense and investigations matters as well as in connection with complex commercial litigation and crisis management.

Career

Rahul practiced at Friedman Kaplan earlier in his career before leaving the firm to become a federal prosecutor in the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of New Jersey where he served for nearly a decade, including as Deputy Chief of the Criminal Division, Executive Assistant U.S. Attorney, and as Acting Principal Assistant United States Attorney (where he was second in command in the Office). During his tenure, Rahul handled and supervised a broad range of investigations and prosecutions, including those involving public corruption, civil rights, healthcare fraud, mortgage and bank fraud, tax evasion, money laundering, identity theft, national security, and cybercrime, as well as firearms, violent crime, and narcotics matters. Notably, Rahul led the successful prosecutions of a $30 million mortgage fraud scheme and a $7 million ATM-skimming bank fraud conspiracy. He also prosecuted a former Hoboken mayoral candidate for vote-buying and a former Manalapan mayor for fraud and identify theft. Rahul received the DOJ’s Director’s Award for Superior Performance for his investigation and prosecution of several Paterson police officers for civil rights violations.

Immediately prior to rejoining Friedman Kaplan in early 2024, Rahul served as Deputy Chief Counsel in the office of New York City Mayor Eric Adams, where he advised the Mayor and City Hall on a wide range of legal, ethical, and strategic matters involving criminal justice, health, education, economic development, human rights, and housing. He worked closely with the federal and New York State governments on behalf of the City and provided operational, budgetary, and policy oversight to ten City agencies, including the Office of Labor Relations, the Office of Administrative Trials and Hearings, and the New York City Commission on Human Rights.

Rahul’s recent notable work includes obtaining the speedy dismissal of a federal criminal complaint against Newark, New Jersey Mayor Ras Baraka following his highly public May 2025 arrest by federal agents while visiting a migrant detention facility in his city.

In addition to his active litigation and white collar defense practice, Rahul is a dedicated leader in New York and in the legal community. Rahul was recently appointed to New York City’s Civilian Complaint Review Board, the largest police oversight entity in the United States, and appointed as a Trustee of the New York State Interest on Lawyer Account Fund, which helps low-income New Yorkers obtain civil legal services to protect their most basic needs, such as access to food, shelter, jobs, and health care. He also serves on the Board of Directors of the Sonia & Celina Sotomayor Judicial Internship Program, which helps cultivate and develop future leaders from underserved communities, and on the Lawyers Advisory Committee of the New York City Debate League.

Awards