Sean Hecker

Practice Areas

Appellate Litigation; Commercial Litigation; Congressional Investigations; Cryptocurrency; FCPA and Anti-Corruption; Investigations and Crisis Management; Public Interest Litigation; Regulatory Enforcement and Litigation; Securities Enforcement and Litigation; Trials; White Collar Criminal Defense

Career

Sean Hecker is a partner at Kaplan Hecker & Fink LLP. He is an experienced trial lawyer whose practice focuses on white-collar criminal defense, government and internal investigations, complex civil litigation, and regulatory compliance.

Sean’s practice includes representing officers, directors and corporations, across various industries, in grand jury and regulatory investigations, including those conducted by the DOJ, SEC, CFTC, FTC, IRS and federal and state banking regulators and state law enforcement agencies. He represents companies and individuals on matters concerning alleged securities and commodities fraud, corruption (including the FCPA), accounting fraud, money laundering, tax fraud, and antitrust violations. He has tried numerous cases to juries in federal and state court. He also regularly advises clients on various legal and compliance issues. Sean has authored numerous amicus briefs and publications concerning criminal justice issues and anti-corruption compliance.

In one particularly notable matter, Global Investigations Review honored Sean’s work in US v. Bogucki by naming the case its 2019 “Most Important Court Case of the Year.” Serving as lead counsel to Robert Bogucki, who was accused of orchestrating an alleged $6 billion fraudulent scheme, Sean secured a rare acquittal at the conclusion of the Government’s case. Finding that no jury could reasonably convict Bogucki on the evidence presented, the presiding judge noted that he had never granted such an acquittal in his twenty years on the bench.

Sean maintains an active pro bono practice, including successfully securing a temporary restraining order in early 2019 that restored legal visitation rights at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn, NY after visits had been suspended in violation of the constitutional right to counsel. He is the President of the New York Council of Defense Lawyers, is a member of the board and past Chair of the Office of the Appellate Defender and the Federal Defenders of New York, Inc., and previously served as Chair of the New York City Bar Association’s Mass Incarceration Task Force.

Sean is nationally recognized as a go-to lawyer for corruption and other white-collar criminal defense matters. He was named the 2020 White-Collar Crime/Investigations/ Enforcement Attorney of the Year by Benchmark Litigation, which has also recognized him as among the Top 100 Trial Lawyers in the country. Sean was also inducted as a fellow into the American College of Trial Lawyers, one of North America’s premier legal associations. Sean has received widespread praise and acclaim from publications including Chambers, The Legal 500, The National Law Journal, Law360, Lawdragon 500, and Who’s Who Legal & Global Investigations Review, among others.

Education