About
Lisa Cahill is a graduate of Georgetown University and the William & Mary Law School, where she was an Executive Editor of the William & Mary Law Review. She began her legal career in a two-year federal District Court clerkship with the late T.F. Gilroy Daly in Connecticut and then entered private practice in New York City. Over the next 20 plus years, she worked at two litigation firms — Zuckerman Spaeder and Hughes Hubbard & Reed — and was elected to the partnerships of both firms. Her mentor at both firms was Edward J.M. Little, one of only 10 New York City lawyers classified by Chambers as a “senior statesperson” in White Collar Crime and Government Investigations.
Ms. Cahill’s work over those years was divided between civil litigation and criminal defense work in both the federal and state courts. The mix was considerable, and is detailed in her curriculum vitae and in the practice area section of this site. Highlights included creatively laying a record in a high profile federal criminal case which would later yield a reversal of every single count of conviction; obtaining a Second Circuit reversal which announced new law in the complex Erie choice-of-law arena; and leading the successful fight for the vacatur of a pro bono client’s manslaughter conviction.
In May 2016, after obtaining her client’s exoneration in the manslaughter case, Ms. Cahill took a leave of absence from Hughes Hubbard to continue representing the client in her effort to obtain compensation from the City and State of New York for her ten years’ wrongful imprisonment. Ms. Cahill succeeded in negotiating a rare pre-litigation settlement with the City and litigated with the State until the eve of trial, when she obtained a meaningful settlement of the client’s claim under the Unjust Conviction and Imprisonment Act.
After settling both wrongful conviction cases, Ms. Cahill decided to open her own firm. The practice consists of a sophisticated mix of criminal defense work and commercial litigation. Certain matters Ms. Cahill has handled or is handling are sensitive, confidential and/or ongoing and so are not detailed on this website. Ms. Cahill is also of counsel to Krantz & Berman LLP and so can draw on the members of that Firm for trial and other litigation support.
Ms. Cahill lives in New York City with her husband and daughter.
Education
Georgetown University, College of Arts & Sciences, B.A. 1985
College of William & Mary, Marshall-Wythe School of Law, J.D. 1990
Distinctions
Executive Editor, William & Mary Law Review
Elected in January 2023 to the Board of the New York Council of Defense Lawyers
AV Preeminent peer review rated from Martindale-Hubbell, the highest peer rating
2022-2023 New York Metro Super Lawyers — White Collar Crime
Admissions and Memberships
Admitted to the State Bars of New York and Connecticut, the Second Circuit Court of Appeals and the Federal District Courts of the Eastern and Southern Districts of New York and the District of Connecticut
Member, Federal Bar Council
Member, New York Council of Criminal Defense Lawyers
Member, the Bar Association of the City of New York
Member, Women’s White Collar Defense Association