Lauren Schorr Potter is a Partner in the firm's Litigation department and a member of its White Collar Defense and Investigations team. Ms. Potter’s practice focuses on white collar criminal defense and related regulatory proceedings, internal investigations, and complex financial litigation. She represents corporations and individuals in investigations and litigation involving allegations of accounting fraud, health care and medical device fraud, bribery, misappropriation of funds, money laundering, cryptocurrency-related fraud, employee misconduct, and violations of the False Claims Act. Ms. Potter conducts confidential and sensitive investigations on behalf of clients, including professional sports leagues, universities, boards of directors, and corporations.
Ms. Potter is ranked by Chambers USA in the category of White-Collar Crime & Government Investigations. Chambers writes, “Lauren is excellent in her judgment and in her command of the facts. She is a very sharp lawyer.” She has also been recognized in The Legal 500’s rankings in the area of Dispute Resolution: Corporate Investigations and White-Collar Criminal Defense, where clients say she is “a great team player, easy to work with, and thoughtful.” In addition, in 2024, Ms. Potter was named to The New York Law Journal's "Rising Stars" list. In 2022-2026, Benchmark Litigation named Ms. Potter to its annual “40 & Under” list. She was also recognized by the publication as a “Future Star” in 2023-2026.
Prior to joining the firm, Ms. Potter served for more than six years as an Assistant United States Attorney in the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York. As a co-chief of the Violent and Organized Crime Unit, Ms. Potter supervised more than 25 Assistant United States Attorneys in investigations, prosecutions, and trials involving racketeering (RICO), organized crime, sex trafficking, and gang-related and drug-related violence, among other offenses. Ms. Potter worked closely with federal and state agencies, including the FBI, HSI, ATF, and the NYPD, coordinating substantial cross-agency investigations. Notable cases Ms. Potter supervised include the prosecution of a fashion mogul on racketeering and trafficking charges, and the prosecution of an individual on extortion and money laundering charges in connection with his victimization of a group of college students.
As a federal prosecutor in the Public Corruption and Violent and Organized Crime Units, Ms. Potter investigated and prosecuted a range of cases including matters involving bribery, wire fraud, health care fraud, and racketeering. Among other cases, Ms. Potter handled the prosecutions of law enforcement officials, a former prosecutor, and others for their roles in bribery schemes; an individual involved in a multimillion-dollar Ponzi scheme; and dozens of gang members for violent crimes in New York City. Her extensive litigation experience includes leading six federal criminal trials and arguing several appeals before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit.
Before joining the U.S. Attorney's Office, Ms. Potter was an associate at an international law firm in New York, where she handled white collar and commercial litigation matters. Ms. Potter previously served as a law clerk to the Hon. Ronnie Abrams of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York and the Hon. Legrome D. Davis of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.
- Representing Fortune 50 healthcare company in sensitive internal investigations involving allegations involving bribery, FDA-related violations, and violations of the False Claims Act.
- Representing former CFO indicted in SDNY on charges of accounting fraud in connection with sale of company.
- Conducting salary cap audit for major professional sports league.
- Representing financial services company and law firm in federal and state investigations involving allegations of financial services fraud.
- Conducted internal investigations on behalf of major public university in connection with allegations of misuse of funds, procurement practices, and conflicts of interest.
- Representing individual in connection with SDNY investigation into allegations of fraud and money laundering at multi-billion dollar company.
- Represented individual in connection with DOJ investigation into allegations of healthcare fraud.
- Assisted in extensive investigation and reporting in federal bankruptcy case of FTX Trading Ltd.
- Represented Fortune 50 healthcare company in a multi-billion-dollar litigation concerning the company’s acquisition of a robotic-assisted surgical device manufacturer.
- Conducted investigation on behalf of major sports league into allegations of discrimination and retaliation.
- Represented Fortune 100 food and beverage company in public nuisance lawsuit in California state court.
- Represented major medtech company in False Claims Act litigation in EDNY concerning regulatory compliance protocols.
- Represented an individual during sentencing in SDNY in connection with major cryptocurrency platform.
- U.S. Court of Appeals, Second Circuit
- U.S. District Court, Southern and Eastern Districts of New York
- New York
- Federal Courts Committee of the New York City Bar Association
- New York Lawyers for the Public Interest, Board Member
- UJA-Federation White Collar Committee
- White Collar Crime Committee of the New York City Bar Association (2022-2025)
- Georgetown University Law Center (J.D., magna cum laude, 2009)
- Order of the Coif
- Articles & Notes Editor, American Criminal Law Review
- University of Pennsylvania (B.A., summa cum laude, 2006)
- Moderator, "Review of Trends and Developments in White Collar Enforcement," PLI's White Collar Crime 2024: Prosecutors and Regulators Speak (December 6, 2024)
