The case of Sergey Aleynikov is emblematic of the firm’s total commitment to its clients. Mr. Aleynikov, a former Goldman Sachs Vice President, retained the firm in 2010, almost a year after he was arrested in the Southern District of New York for stealing trade secrets related to Goldman Sachs’s proprietary high-frequency trading platform. Immediately upon being retained, MTB determined that the factual allegations against Mr. Aleynikov did not state a crime under any of the three federal statutes charged in the indictment, the Economic Espionage Act (EEA), the National Stolen Property Act (NSPA) and the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA), and moved to dismiss the indictment on that basis. The trial court granted that motion as to the CFAA but denied it as to the EEA and the NSPA charges, on which Mr. Aleynikov was convicted at trial and sentenced to more than eight years in prison. The firm appealed and the Second Circuit took the extraordinary step of reversing Mr. Aleynikov’s EEA and NSPA convictions and ordering him released on the very day his appeal was argued. When the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office re-arrested Mr. Aleynikov on state charges based on the same conduct in 2012, six months after his federal acquittal, the firm again represented Mr. Aleynikov through trial and appeal in New York state. The firm secured his acquittal after trial and successfully argued for a sentence of time served after an appellate court reinstated one count of conviction on appeal. Although Mr. Aleynikov’s liberty is no longer in jeopardy, MTB continues to vigorously press his appeal to this day. Noted author Michael Lewis featured the first five years of the firm’s continuing defense of Sergey Aleynikov in the 2014 New York Times bestseller Flash Boys: A Wall Street Revolt.

United States v. Aleynikov, 676 F.3d 71 (2d Cir. 2012)
People v. Aleynikov, 15 N.Y.S.3d 587 (Sup. Ct. 2015)