Tawfiq Rangwala

Career

Tawfiq S. Rangwala is a partner in the New York office of Milbank LLP and a member of the firm’s Litigation & Arbitration Group. Mr. Rangwala also spent two years resident in Milbank’s London office.

Mr. Rangwala specializes in defending global financial institutions, multinational companies, asset managers, accounting firms and senior executives facing high-stakes government investigations and proceedings, and is called on by companies, boards and special committees to lead internal investigations relating to complex business activities and sensitive workplace and cultural topics. He also handles a wide range of contested litigation in federal and state courts and advises clients on corporate governance and compliance matters.

For over two decades, institutions and individuals have turned to Mr. Rangwala to handle their most pressing investigations and litigation involving alleged securities/accounting fraud, bank fraud, market manipulation, money laundering, bribery, cyber incidents, whistleblower complaints, and workplace misconduct. He advocates for clients before federal and state regulators including the Securities and Exchange Commission, Department of Justice, Public Company Accounting Oversight Board, Federal Reserve, New York Department of Financial Services, FINRA and State Attorneys General, and advises international clients on cross-border matters involving regulators in the UK, Europe and Asia.

Mr. Rangwala has significant expertise representing “Big 4” accounting firms in the US and globally in investigations by the SEC and PCAOB and civil litigation relating to audit deficiencies, auditor independence and alleged failures to comply with professional and quality control standards.

Beyond his white-collar investigations and litigation practice, Mr. Rangwala has received significant praise for leading the fight against injustices in criminal cases (including death penalty cases) and challenging unconstitutional systemic discrimination in state and federal courts. He was awarded the Federal Bar Council’s Thurgood Marshall Award for his pro bono litigation work and Chambers named Mr. Rangwala Pro Bono Lawyer of the Year for North America in 2021.

Mr. Rangwala is the author of a #1 best-selling non-fiction book regarding a major political scandal in Canada. Released in May 2022, the book is called What We Lost: Inside the Attack on Canada's Largest Children's Charity. The foreword to the book is written by former Canadian Prime Minister Kim Campbell and the audio book is narrated by civil rights icon Martin Luther King III.

Mr. Rangwala serves as Chair of the firm’s Inclusion Committee and is a member of the Board of Directors of Legal Services NYC.

Mr. Rangwala frequently speaks and writes about white collar defense and government investigations, securities litigation, international arbitration and emerging issues relating to cyber security and technology disputes. In law school, he served as the managing editor of the Osgoode Hall Law Journal.

As noted above, on account of Mr. Rangwala’s significant work on pro bono matters addressing systemic discrimination and injustices in criminal cases, he received the Federal Bar Council’s Thurgood Marshall Award and Chambers named Mr. Rangwala Pro Bono Lawyer of the Year for North America in 2021. He is also the recipient of the South Asian Bar Association of New York’s Litigation Achievement Award and the South Asian Bar Association of North America’s Cornerstone Award.