Benjamin R. Allee

Benjamin Allee represents clients in criminal investigations and prosecutions and in civil litigation. He joined Yankwitt LLP after serving more than a decade as an Assistant United States Attorney (AUSA) in the Criminal Division of the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York. At SDNY, he served as Deputy Chief of the White Plains Division, where he supervised more than 20 AUSAs, handling all federal criminal prosecutions in Westchester, Rockland, Orange, Putnam, Dutchess, and Sullivan counties.

As an AUSA, Ben handled some of the office’s toughest and most important cases, including prosecutions of defendants for public corruption, fraud, cybercrime, money laundering, murder, racketeering, obstruction of justice, and other offenses. He tried 10 cases to verdict, supervised numerous additional trials and argued 12 appeals in the Second Circuit.

At Yankwitt LLP, Ben heads the Criminal Defense & Investigations Practice, defending individuals and companies in high-profile criminal and regulatory matters, including investigations and prosecutions of claims of securities fraud, bank, mail, and wire fraud, corruption, civil rights offenses, homicide, and other charges. He advises and advocates for witnesses, subjects, and targets in investigations and zealously advocates for defendants in charged cases.

Ben draws on his extensive trial experience, assisting clients at all phases of the criminal process before federal, state, and local authorities. He also conducts internal investigations on behalf of his client companies to determine possible intentional or unintentional wrongdoing. Ben strives to end government investigations involving his clients efficiently and without charges, penalties, or publicity.

In addition to criminal and regulatory matters, Ben brings his trial acumen to complex civil litigation, representing clients in breach of contract cases, municipal disputes, employment matters, RICO actions and shareholder disputes, among others. He also co-heads the firm’s Appellate Practice and has successfully argued numerous civil appeals in New York’s state and federal appellate courts. He has appeared regularly before every federal judge in Westchester and maintains a reputation as a go-to attorney for all complex criminal and civil cases in the White Plains and other New York courthouses.

After law school, Ben clerked for District Judge Peter K. Leisure of the Southern District of New York and Circuit Judge Pierre N. Leval of the Second Circuit Court of Appeals. Prior to joining the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Ben worked as an associate at the premier AmLaw 100 firm of Davis Polk & Wardwell, focusing on complex civil litigation.