Julie defends accused individuals against institutions including local, state, and federal governments and agencies as well as colleges and universities.
Julie works tirelessly to achieve the desired outcomes for her clients and to educate them about the often misunderstood realities of defending a criminal case. Her passion for her clients is recognized and respected by judges and her adversaries in state and federal courts, and both know that she will not back down when faced with unanticipated obstacles. The same is true when defending students or professors accused of misconduct or Title IX violations at colleges and universities. Julie’s experience defending sexual assault claims in both criminal courts and university proceedings has served her clients well. She carefully considers when best to use certain litigation strategies and confidently presses her adversaries in order to exercise and protect her clients’ rights.
Julie’s trial results have earned the respect of the legal community, and she has attained significant victories in both state and federal court. Although she is a passionate trial attorney, some of her greatest victories are when trial or even criminal charges are avoided because of a dismissal of an indictment, a favorable plea bargain, or representation during a government investigation.
Julie always considers the entire impact a criminal case has on a client and often represents clients in collateral matters including the defense of a client’s professional license or litigation of parallel civil enforcement proceedings. Should an appeal be required in a client’s case, she is trained as a New York State Court of Appeals judicial clerk to draft and argue cases before state and federal appellate courts.
Julie understands the responsibility of providing high quality criminal defense to individuals who cannot afford an attorney by committing her services to several federal felony cases annually as a Criminal Justice Act (CJA) attorney with the United States District Court for the Northern District of New York. She has been selected by federal judges to serve as a committee member for the CJA panel for her local federal district court, which oversees all the district’s CJA attorneys.
Experience
- Federal & State Criminal Defense
- Won acquittal of state felony rape and sexual abuse charges in four-day jury trial
- Negotiated misdemeanor probation sentence in a case where client was indicted on felony rape and sex crimes charges
- Negotiated probation sentence for a client accused of felony possession in cyber crimes case
- Represented a client under federal investigation in the Southern District of New York resulting in no prosecution
- Secured a below guidelines 3-month sentence in a federal wire fraud prosecution brought by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of New York
- Obtained a 9-month local jail sentence in a state felony grand larceny prosecution against an attorney accused of embezzling over $1 million from deceased client
- Negotiated a misdemeanor disposition in a multi-year felony case involving a pedestrian death which included a trial, a successful appeal, the disqualification of the district attorney’s office for prosecutorial misconduct, the resignation of the line prosecutors, and the appointment of a special prosecutor
- Won complete exoneration for a client accused of workplace sexual assault in an eve-of-trial dismissal of a felony indictment because of misconduct during grand jury investigation
- Negotiated a Rule 11(c)(1)(c) 64-month below guidelines federal sentence and secured First Step eligibility for a career offender facing a life sentence
- Secured an acquittal of a felony assault charge following a four-day jury trial
- Negotiated an eve-of-trial plea bargain following a mistrial where the client entered an Alford plea for a felony sex crime with a capped sentence when the previous offer required a double-digit prison term
- Title IX & Accused Student Defense
- Secured dismissal of Title IX charges alleging rape following a hearing
- Negotiated pre-hearing informal resolution without finding of violation in a Title IX case alleging sexual assault
- Negotiated settlement of Title IX charges against accused professor
- Won complete dismissal at a Title IX hearing falsely alleging rape against a student on the eve-of-graduation
- Sued a university on behalf of an accused student and won a federal preliminary injunction halting the university’s Title IX proceeding against a student falsely accused of sexual assault in the first nationwide decision reviewing the U.S. Department of Education’s new Title IX regulations
- Won complete dismissal of alleged academic integrity violations at a university following two in-person hearings
- Sued a university and obtained a temporary restraining order (TRO) halting the university’s illegal imposition of an emergency suspension arising from violations of its COVID-19 protocols
- Defended accused students at colleges and universities including: Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Skidmore College, Siena College, Union College, The College of Saint Rose, SUNY Albany, Marist College, Syracuse University, Cornell University, SUNY Binghamton, Hartwick College, SUNY Upstate Medical University, Colgate University, Columbia University, New York University, The College of Mount Saint Vincent, St. Bonaventure University, SUNY Geneseo, St. Lawrence University, SUNY Plattsburgh, Vassar College, Brown University, Carnegie Mellon University, University of Chicago, Fashion Institute of Technology, Rochester Institute of Technology, Colby College, Cardoza School of Law, New York Law School, & University of Rochester.
- Appeals
- Obtained reversal, reinstatement, and judgment of plaintiff’s Court of Claims trial verdict in a prison assault case
- Secured a new trial for a criminal defense client after the trial court failed to grant a mistrial
- Argued in multiple Appellate Departments throughout New York State
- Professional Licensing Defense
- Defended professional licensees in investigations and matters by New York State agencies including:
- Office of Professional Medical Conduct (OMPC)
- Office of the Professions (OPD)
- Attorney Grievance Committee
- Office of School Personnel Review and Accountability (OSPRA)
- Defended professional licensing misconduct cases along with parallel criminal investigations or charges
Awards & Recognition
Professional Affiliations
Clerkships
The Honorable Gary L. Sharpe
United States District Court, Northern District of New York
The Honorable Leslie E. Stein
New York State Court of Appeals
Central Staff Attorney
New York State Court of Appeals
Bar Admissions
- New York
- New Jersey
- United States District Court, Northern District of New York
- United States District Court, Southern District of New York
- United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit
Education
- New York Law School, Juris Doctor, magna cum laude
- New York Law School Law Review
- New York Law School Moot Court Association, Executive Board
- State University of New York at Geneseo
- Bachelor of Arts in English Literature, cum laude
Speaking Engagements, Publications, & Conferences
- Virtual CLE Presenter, “Defending Title IX Cases Alleging Sexual Assault On Campus,” New York State Academy of Trial Lawyers (2021)
- Panelist, “Emergency Federal Litigation in Title IX & Accused Student Cases,” Annual Accused Student Symposium, DLA Piper, Washington D.C. (2021)
- Attendee, “White Collar Criminal Defense Conference,” National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, Washington D.C. (2019, 2021)
- Attendee, “Defending Sex Cases Conference,” National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (2020)
- Guest Lecturer, “Civil Rights Law: Recent Cases,” New York Law School (2019-20)
- Panelist, “State & Federal Judicial Clerkships,” New York Law School (2019)
- Presenter, “Rosenberg Trial Reenactment,” United States District Court for the Northern District of New York (2019)
Practice Areas
- Criminal Defense
- Accused Student Defense
- Professional Licensing Defense
- Appeals
- State & Federal Criminal Defense
- Accused Student Defense
- Professional Licensing Defense
