Lindsay A. Lewis has practiced alongside Joshua L. Dratel since August 2008, and is a founding partner of Dratel & Lewis.   She litigates in federal and state court on both the trial and appellate level, and has acted as both an expert witness and as counsel in extradition matters. She has successfully defended a wide range of matters, from extradition cases to high-profile cyber, terrorism, drug trafficking and fraud cases, to sex crimes and assault cases, to minor cases with potentially serious collateral consequences, such as limiting a client’s capacity to pursue advanced educational and career goals, or threatening their ability to maintain a professional license, work for the government, or serve in the military. Ms. Lewis has also successfully represented clients in the SORA hearing process, and in school administrative proceedings ancillary to criminal charges. She has a longstanding passion for criminal defense work and believes that every defendant deserves a vigorous and informed defense.

Ms. Lewis has been selected multiple times by Super Lawyers as a Rising Star in the New York metropolitan area in the field of criminal defense, an honor which includes recognition in the New York Metro Super Lawyers supplement in the New York Times, as well as the New York Metro Top Women- Super Lawyers supplement in the New York Times. In 2014, she was selected Top 100 Trial Lawyers by The National Trial Lawyers.

In 2015 and 2016, Ms. Lewis also served as expert legal consultant and reviewer on a series of books, Know Your Rights, published by Rosen Publishing. All 13 volumes, which Ms. Lewis helped to conceptualize and write, are aimed at teens on the cusp of adulthood and serve to inform this sensitive population of their legal rights with respect to a variety of subjects, as well as assist them in navigating the U.S. legal system effectively and protect their interests in the event that a criminal case or other more minor charges are brought against them. Topics in the series include: “Alcohol and Drug Offenses;” “Felony Prosecution;” “Misdemeanor Prosecution;” “Your Legal Rights as a Juvenile Charged as an Adult;” “The Law and Your Family;” “Your Legal Rights Online;” “Your Legal Rights in School;” “Your Legal Rights as an Immigrant;” “The Law and Your Personal Health;” “Your Legal Rights in the Workplace;” “Racial Profiling and Discrimination;” “The Juvenile Court System;” and “Juvenile Detention Centers.” She also delivered a keynote speech to the American Library Association in June 2016 regarding criminal justice issues that are most urgent for minority populations and minority youth.

Ms. Lewis served on the Board of Directors of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (“NACDL”) for two terms and remains extremely active within that organization.  She has for many years served as Co-Chair of NACDL’s Women in Criminal Defense Committee and as Second Circuit Vice Chair of NACDL’s Amicus Curiae Committee. She is also a member of NACDL’s Nominating Committee and Co-Chair of NACDL’s Taskforce on the Criminalization of Pregnancy and Reproductive Health, following her work on a report predicting the fall of Roe v. Wade and the consequences therefrom.

In addition to her work with NACDL, Lindsay serves on the Board of Directors of the New York State Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, and on the Federal Bar Council’s Sentencing and Alternatives to Incarceration Committee, comprised of federal judges and practitioners in New York.

Ms. Lewis received a B.A. from Vassar College in 2003 and a J.D. from the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law in June 2007. She is admitted to the New York State Bar, the United States District Court for the Eastern District, the United States District Court for the Southern District, the Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, and the United States District Court for the District of Columbia.

Notable cases over Ms. Lewis’s more than 15 year career include:

• representing numerous clients in New York State cases in which they face serious felony and/or misdemeanor charges, including attempted murder, assault, sex offenses, and a wide range of other crimes, and negotiating dispositions by which the charges are ultimately fully dismissed, and arrest records destroyed;
• representing a client in federal court facing felony charges of unlicensed money transmitting and obtaining a deferred prosecution agreement by which the charges were ultimately dismissed;
• representing numerous individuals possessing or seeking medical, legal or other professional licenses or degrees, and successfully disposing of their cases in a manner that would not negatively impact their career or educational goals;
• representing clients at Sex Offender Registration Act risk assessment and classification hearings and successfully achieving Level One designation (the lowest classification), including in a matter in which the prosecution requested a Level Three designation, and despite changes in the law which reflexively place offenders at a presumptive Level Two;
• representing an individual, at trial and on appeal, charged with narcotics trafficking (including by means of the Internet), engaging in a continuing criminal enterprise, conspiring to commit or aid and abet computer hacking, and other charges, all stemming from his alleged design, creation and operation of a website alleged to be the largest online drug marketplace in history;
• representing an individual who allegedly solicited investors for international real estate transactions as part of a “ponzi scheme;”
• representing multiple clients charged with conducting fraudulent financial transactions;
• representing a doctor charged with conspiracy to commit mail fraud and healthcare fraud in a federal criminal case involving voluminous electronic discovery;
• representing a businessman charged with crimes relating to international financial transactions;
• representing a client seeking to vacate his New York State conviction because his prior attorney did not advise him of the immigration consequences of his guilty plea;
• representing multiple clients facing federal drug trafficking charges;
• representing a businessman charged in federal court with defrauding insurance companies of money;
• representing numerous clients facing terrorism or national security-related charges;
• providing expert legal advice in extradition matters in Canada and the United Kingdom which have led to landmark decisions refusing to extradite certain individuals to the United States for prosecution;
• litigating prison legal and medical issues and advising incarcerated clients as to how to most effectively navigate the prison legal system;
• representing clients on appeal to federal district court who were seeking to overturn convictions tainted by jury tampering at their trial; and
• representing many clients throughout the sentencing phase of their cases to obtain a more favorable sentence and designation for each.

While in law school, Ms. Lewis worked with the Brennan Center for Social Justice and participated in the Innocence Project clinic. At the Innocence Project, she aided in the defense of multiple clients who had been convicted of murder and violent felonies, including First Degree Assault, Rape, and Robbery, and authored post-conviction motions and briefs to further their innocence claims. Ms. Lewis continued to work with the Innocence Project following graduation. Her work on at least one case contributed to the exoneration of an innocent man.

Before law school, Ms. Lewis worked with the New York-based criminal appellate firm Dershowitz, Eiger, and Adelson, P.C., where she assisted on a broad range of high-profile criminal appeals. She also interned at the Dutchess County Public Defender’s Office. In 2003, Ms. Lewis worked alongside then sitting New York State Court of Appeals Justice Albert M. Rosenblatt on a project for the Historical Society of the Courts of New York.