Sean Hecker is a litigation partner and experienced trial lawyer at Debevoise & Plimpton whose practice focuses on white collar criminal defense, internal investigations and complex civil litigation. He has tried numerous cases to juries in federal and state court and regularly defends individuals and companies in grand jury and regulatory investigations, and criminal proceedings involving allegations of securities fraud, money laundering and criminal antitrust violations. He has also been dedicated to public service throughout his career.
Mr. Hecker is a tireless advocate for those less fortunate. Most recently, he was named chairman of the Board of the Office of the Appellate Defender (“OAD”) in New York. OAD is one of New York City’s longest-standing institutional indigent defense offices, which, since 1988, has been providing high-quality, client-centered appellate and post-conviction legal representation to poor New Yorkers. Once their appeals are heard, 10 to 15 percent of OAD clients are found to have been wrongly convicted or sentenced to unduly harsh prison terms.,/p>
In this role, Mr. Hecker works to ensure that the organization continues to provide clients comprehensive representation in appeals, post-conviction collateral proceedings, resentencings, and reinvestigations into wrongful convictions, for which OAD’s Reinvestigation Project has a multi-year Department of Justice grant. OAD attorneys also assist many clients in their efforts to obtain work release or parole to deal with immigration problems, or to gain admission into rehabilitation programs. Mr. Hecker has served on the board of OAD since 2010.
Currently, Mr. Hecker leads a number of Debevoise associates in writing briefs and arguing appeals in New York’s First Judicial Department as part of the OAD’s “Volunteer Appellate Defender” (VAD) program.
Mr. Hecker is also a member of the Criminal Justice Act (“CJA”) Panels in both the Eastern and Southern Districts of New York and serves on the Board of Federal Defenders. The CJA panel consists of attorneys who are authorized to be appointed to represent indigent defendants in federal criminal cases in which the Federal Defenders office has a conflict.
The Federal Defenders are an independent, non-profit organization with lawyers practicing in the federal courts for the Southern and Eastern Districts of New York, with offices located in Manhattan, Brooklyn, White Plains, and Central Islip. The Feder