Gerald L Shargel

Partner Gerald L. Shargel is one of the most accomplished and well-known defenders in serious criminal cases both in New York and nationally. The New Yorker said he is considered “one of the most brilliant criminal defense attorneys in America… quite possibly the finest of his generation.” Over more than 40 years, Mr. Shargel has defended numerous high-profile cases at the investigative, trial, and appellate levels. His cases cover a broad array of white-collar and non-white-collar crimes, and he has litigated matters before the most prominent judges in the key courts in New York. Mr. Shargel was primarily a solo practitioner prior to joining Winston & Strawn and adding his unique experience in high-stakes trials to Winston’s existing litigation and white collar defense practices. Mr. Shargel received B.A. from Rutgers University in 1966 and a J.D. in 1969 from Brooklyn Law School. He was later honored as a Brooklyn Law School “Alumnus of the Year.” HONORS & AWARDS Mr. Shargel has routinely been ranked as one of the top criminal defense lawyers in New York and nationwide. He was selected for the cover of the 2011 metro edition of New York Super Lawyers Magazine and has been selected as a “Top 100 New York Super Lawyer” four times since 2006. He was named one of the 500 leading lawyers in America in three consecutive years, and included in the U.S. News – Best Lawyers “Best Law Firms” rankings for 15 consecutive years. Also, Mr. Shargel was recently named a National and New York Litigation Star in the 2015 edition of Benchmark Litigation for his white-collar crime practices. Mr. Shargel was honored by the New York State Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, which presented him with the Thurgood Marshall Award for outstanding criminal law practitioner. He also received the New York State Criminal Bar Association’s Robert L. Cohen “Distinguished Defense Lawyer of the Year” award. ACTIVITIES In addition to his caseload, Mr. Shargel devotes considerable time to teaching and lecturing. He was named as the practitioner-in-residence at his alma mater Brooklyn Law School, teaching a variety of criminal law subjects. He previously taught at New York University from 1977 to 1982. PUBLICATIONS Mr. Shargel has been profiled in numerous local and national publications, including The New Yorker, The New York Times and New York Magazine. Mr. Shargel has also contributed articles and opinion pieces to The New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, the New York Law Journal, The Huffington Post, The Daily Beast, and the online magazine, Slate. He wrote a chapter in the book Take the Witness: The Experts Speak Out on Cross-Examination (Juris Publishing 2006) and a law review article published in the Fordham Law Review, “Federal Evidence Rule 608(b): Gateway to the Minefield of Witness Preparation,” 76 Fordham L. Rev. 1263 (December 2007).