New York City BarNew York State Bar Association
Emily Stern is a Senior Counsel in the Litigation & Dispute Resolution Department and a member of the Corporate Defense & Investigations Group, International Practice Group and Financial Services Group. Emily has a broad-based and diverse litigation practice that covers both civil and criminal matters.
In the civil arena, Emily represents clients in complex commercial matters in a range of industries, including pharmaceutical, entertainment, sports, financial services, consumer products and automotive. Her legal expertise is similarly broad, covering an array of substantive areas of the law, such as federal securities, insurance coverage, false advertising, trade secrets and unfair competition, legal ethics, and employment law. Emily has considerable civil trial experience in state and federal courts, as well as with private arbitral panels. She is also an experienced appellate practitioner.
Emily’s practice in the area of white collar criminal defense is also broad-based. She handles investigations, both internal and external, as well as the defense of criminal matters under indictment. Emily has a particular concentration in international criminal matters. She regularly handles matters involving the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA), where she counsels clients, including designing and auditing FCPA compliance and training programs and advising on FCPA issues in the context of transactions and business ventures. She handles investigations of possible FCPA violations, and has defended clients charged with FCPA violations, including working on the defense of one of the largest FCPA matters brought by the DOJ against an individual. Other recent matters involving international issues have included criminal tax matters and securities cases involving the exercise of extraterritorial jurisdiction by the DOJ and SEC.
Emily has a strong commitment to pro bono legal service. Voting rights have been a focal point, where she has represented a consortium of voting rights organizations and voters seeking compliance by the State of New York with the Help America Vote Act of 2002, in particular as it relates to voters with disabilities and limited English proficiency. She also authored an amicus brief to the United States Supreme Court in Crawford v. Marion County Bd. of Election regarding the constitutionality of voter ID laws, and oversaw an extensive investigation of a state’s administration of elections on behalf of prominent civil rights organizations. Her pro bono work has also included submitting petitions to the Supreme Court on criminal sentencing law issues, and matters involving children and families, including securing necessary special educational services for students and handling Proskauer’s first adoption cases as part of the Pro Bono Adoption Project initiated by Chief Judge Judith Kaye of the New York Court of Appeals.
Emily came to the practice of law following a 10-year career in the performing arts, where she toured nationally and internationally with a number of modern dance companies.