Preet Bharara will join the NYU School of Law as a distinguished scholar in residence beginning April 1, 2017.
Bharara, the hero United States attorney for the Southern District of New York known for taking on political corruption head-on, was fired by President Donald Trump after one of the longest terms of anyone holding that position.
As U.S. attorney, Bharara brought a number of public corruption prosecutions against politicians working in New York state and New York City government, notably the speaker of the New York State Assembly Sheldon Silver and State Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos.
He also oversaw many prosecutions of financial crimes, including numerous insider trading charges and the case against Bernie Madoff and his associates, as well as suits against Bank of America and Citibank growing out of the financial crisis.
Under his leadership, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York, secured a record-setting $1.2 billion financial penalty from Toyota in an agreement that installed an independent monitor to oversee the company’s public statements and safety reporting. In addition, the office during Bharara’s tenure extended its long history of successful national security prosecutions, addressing terrorism, international arms and drug trafficking, and evolving cybersecurity threats.
Prior to serving as U.S. attorney, Bharara was chief counsel to Senator Chuck Schumer, including during the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee’s investigation into the selective firings of US attorneys in 2007. He also spent a number of years in private practice before entering public service.
Bharara is a graduate of Harvard College and Columbia Law School. A frequent visitor to NYU Law, he was the JD convocation speaker in 2015.
“I am honored to join the NYU School of Law, one of the great educational institutions in America, and I welcome the chance to contribute in such a thoughtful setting,” Bharara said. “I am thrilled for this opportunity to continue addressing the issues I so deeply care about—criminal and social justice, honest government, national security, civil rights, and corporate accountability, to name a few.”
