| Ivan S. Fisher | |
|---|---|
| Born | August 26, 1943 New York, NY |
| Nationality | United States |
| Occupation | Attorney |
| Employer | Ivan S. Fisher, Attorney at Law |
Ivan S. Fisher (born 1943) is a prominent New York criminal defense attorney. He represents white-collar clients and others targeted or charged in complex federal matters.
As a young lawyer, Fisher represented the writer Jack Abbott in a murder trial.[1] Another of his clients was Marie Luisi, a Senior Vice President at J.Walter Thompson, amid allegations relating to the alleged theft of $30 million.[2] Fisher also represented Italian financier Michele Sindona, and served as lead counsel in the Pizza Connection Trial and the French Connection Trial.
On May 15, 1974, Fisher won a landmark decision in the Court of Appeals in the 2nd Circuit, United States vs. Toscanino, which in effect overruled Supreme Court rulings precluding American judicial review of foreign U.S. law enforcement conduct.[3] An immediate result of the decision was an order from then Secretary of State Henry Kissinger to every United States embassy in the world directing all American personnel to abstain from participation in torture.
In recent years, Fisher secured the dismissal of the indictment alleging corruption and related offenses filed against Roy L. Schneider, M.D., the former governor of the United States Virgin Islands. He also won an acquittal at the trial of Demetrios Demetrios, who was alleged to have traded illegally with "black nations."[4] Fisher represented Pashtun tribal chieftain Haji Ayub Afridi, whose jurisdiction covers the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan; Ayub Afridi has endured a long and complicated relationship with the United States, including a prosecution brought in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York.[5]
Most recently, Fisher defended Alberto Vilar, an investor and billionaire philanthropist who was head of the asset management firm Amerindo Investment Advisors, against securities fraud charges brought by the U.S. Attorney's Office in the Southern District of New York.[6] Fisher is also counsel to Haji Bashir Noorzai,[7] whose prosecution and subsequent conviction by the U.S. government has raised significant issues involving United States foreign policy.[8]
Fisher has been frequently profiled in major publications such as Time Magazine, The New York Times, The National Law Journal, and The New York Law Journal. He lectures frequently at leading universities including Yale Law School and Columbia Law School on criminal defense and is widely known as an expert on cross examination.
Fisher attended the Horace Mann School, Syracuse University and Boston University School of Law. Early in his career he was a partner of Albert Kreiger; Fisher formed his own practice in 1974.