Lawrence H. Schoenbach, the principal attorney in the firm, began his career in 1980 as a public defender in New York City; he opened his own private law practice three years later, focusing on criminal defense in the U.S. federal courts and internationally.

Early familiarity with the requirements of international extradition led him to build relationships with legal experts throughout the Americas, Europe, Middle East and Asia. Today, The Law Offices of Lawrence H. Schoenbach collaborates with an international network of 40 senior attorneys noted for their astute handling of complex, high-profile cases. As the New York partner in the Institute of Tax and Commercial Law, a Zurich-based international consulting group, the firm regularly advises businesses throughout Europe and the Middle East.

Our practices in criminal defense, extradition, and corporate compliance are highly synergistic, each informed by the almost-daily courtroom experience that leads to pragmatic legal advice. We are known for our skillful defense of difficult cases and for our painstaking attention to detail.

Many of the trials in which the firm has participated as defense counsel have involved highly publicized national and international criminal investigations, including:

Courtroom Sketch

  • the “Pizza Connection,” a 22-defendant indictment charging a billion and a half dollar narcotics conspiracy between the Sicilian and American mafia;

  • the Racketeering trial of Paul Castellano/Gambino Crime family;

  • the trial of the “Westies” (alleged to be New York’s Irish mafia);

  • the “Air America” civil forfeiture prosecution of a reputed former agent of the Central Intelligence Agency;

  • the prosecution of “Phyber Optic,” the largest and most comprehensive federal case ever charged against a computer “hacker”;

  • the Securities & Exchange Commission civil and criminal investigation of the “Crazy Eddie” corporation;

  • the attempted assassination conspiracy (in New York) of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak (a part of the case involving the 1993 bombing of the World Trade Center in New York);

  • the “Golden Venture” trial of Chinese alien smugglers;

  • the political corruption/bribery prosecution in St. Thomas of the former Commissioner of Public Works for the U. S. Virgin Islands;

  • the combined Swiss/American prosecution of the largest securities fraud and money laundering case tried in either Switzerland or the United States; and

  • the criminal indictment in Italy against former Prime Minister Giulio Andreotti (as the American attorney for Gaetano Badalamenti, the lead co-defendant who was then residing in the United States)

  • the civil charges brought by “Kennedy cousin” Michael Skakel against the person he claimed to have murdered Martha Moxley;

  • the representation of Veronica Atkins, widow of Robert Atkins (the “Atkins Diet”), in multi-jurisdiction civil litigation;

  • the representation of Osama Bin Laden’s brother in the Mass Tort civil litigation brought by the victims of 9/11; and

  • the representation of Jeffrey Prosser as lead trial attorney in the nearly billion dollar bankruptcy litigation involving Innovative Communications Company.