Linda Imes has been a criminal and civil litigator for over three decades, with substantial trial and appellate experience. She focuses on white collar criminal defense, regulatory investigations and proceedings (including securities enforcement defense), and complex civil litigation.
In 2017, Linda received the Norman S. Ostrow Award from the New York Council of Defense Lawyers. The award, which is given annually, recognizes a lawyer for “outstanding contribution to the defense of liberty and the preservation of individual rights” and whose career has been “marked by numerous examples of a lawyer fighting for a client with vigor, dignity, and expertise.” In 2021, Chambers and Partners shortlisted Linda for its prestigious White-Collar Lawyer of the Year award.
Chambers and Partners recognizes Linda as a “Band 1” Leader in the Field of White-Collar Crime & Government Investigations. Sources quoted by Chambers praise Linda as “a trailblazer” and “one of the leaders of the Bar,” noting that she is “always outstanding in her representations” and “very focused and diligent,” with “excellent” judgment and “brain power and experience.”
Early in her career, Linda was a federal prosecutor in the Southern District of New York. There, she served in the Major Crimes Unit and the Securities and Commodities Fraud Unit prosecuting a wide variety of complex business and commercial crimes including tax evasion, money laundering, transportation of stolen property, bank fraud, mail and wire fraud, and securities fraud.
Linda has tried cases in federal court, before regulators, and to mediators. Linda has represented individuals and corporations in investigations by, and matters involving, numerous U.S. Attorney’s Offices, the U.S. Department of Justice (“DOJ”), the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”), the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (“FINRA”), the New York State Attorney General’s Office and numerous other state Attorneys General, the District Attorney’s Office, the Federal Reserve, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, and other governmental and regulatory bodies. Linda has experience representing individuals in connection with Congressional investigations and inquiries, including before the U.S. Senate’s Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, the House Committee on Oversight and Reform, and the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission. Linda’s work frequently involves defending clients faced with more than one investigation at a time, often combined with civil litigation.
Linda has been involved in appellate advocacy since the beginning of her legal career when she clerked on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit. While at the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Linda served as Deputy Chief of Appeals. In private practice, Linda has briefed and argued numerous cases in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, New York’s Appellate Division, and the New York Court of Appeals.
Linda served as a law clerk for the Honorable John J. Gibbons, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit.