Prosecutor Who Took on SBF, Bill Hwang Leaves a Feared NY Office

Andrea Griswold has helped the US government prosecute Sam Bankman-Fried and Bill Hwang just in the last year.

Now, after an 11-year stint at the Southern District of New York where she rose up the ranks to become deputy US attorney, she is leaving to join Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP as a partner.

“I like to solve problems, I like investigations, I like to get to the answer quickly and efficiently,” Griswold said. “So I’m excited for something new after a break.”

The move marks the departure of the highest-ranking woman in the most formidable US attorney’s office. It is also a step on a well-worn path, with a long list of SDNY alumni scattered around prestigious law practices and plum jobs from Wall Street to Washington. They’re at investment banks and hedge funds, and on the US District Court bench. They advise decision makers in the White House and have led the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

“This job is a feeder to other prominent positions in law,” Griswold, 43, said.

That’s why Griswold worries about a pattern she has noticed: The allure of the SDNY is fading for law graduates, she says, with the decline in interest especially pronounced among potential female applicants.

That could contribute to fewer women getting experience to help them ascend to the bench, and fewer female partners at law firms. “If that pool is diminished, the list of women who might be qualified for a position gets shorter,” she said. “And that’s bad for the profession, it’s bad for women.”

Storied Institution

SDNY has typically been a magnet for top graduates from Ivy League schools who end up there after clerking for Supreme Court judges, or joining prominent law firms as associates. They’re willing to work long hours on a relatively meager government salary to investigate cases that have a certain sizzle: SDNY has jurisdiction over Wall Street and has prosecuted terrorism suspects and billionaires.

It has a reputation for handling the largest and most complex white-collar crimes, and its work has put the likes of Bernie Madoff and Michael Milken behind bars.

Read More: Wall Street’s Top Cop Promises ‘Relentless’ White-Collar Push

After prosecutors get experience at the storied office, they often have their pick of jobs that offer tenfold pay raises.

It’s hard to attribute the drop in interest that Griswold has observed to any single cause. But interviews with current and former assistant US attorneys suggest that attitudes about the role of the prosecutor have shifted: The job no longer enjoys the presumption of being a higher calling when law school graduates are deciding whether to go into public service or join big law firms.

Andrea Griswold in New York, on May 29.

Photographer: Lila Barth/Bloomberg

“If you take the dialogue about social justice, post-George Floyd, and the evolution in learning that we’ve had in this country around drugs and mass incarceration, a lot of people are challenging whether this system is the best approach,” said Karen Seymour, an SDNY alumna who became the general counsel at Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and is now a partner at Sullivan & Cromwell.

“I have had some women over time express concerns about this,” said Seymour, who serves as a mentor for the firm’s associates.

Griswold tells potential recruits that being a prosecutor isn’t about throwing everyone in jail. “There are many cases the public doesn’t see where a decision to give grace and not charge is made,” she said.

When you decide not to charge someone or “decide at sentencing you are going to advocate for a below-guideline sentencing — at each of these points, prosecutors have tremendous authority and discretion to impact the defendants, and defendants’ families,” Griswold said.

Landing the Job

Griswold had spent five years as an associate at Simpson Thacher & Bartlett after graduating from NYU Law when she got a call in 2012 to interview for a job at SDNY.

Before that moment, she had daydreamed on her commutes about getting just such an overture. But she hadn’t imagined she’d be eight-and-a-half months pregnant with her third child when she was interviewing with then-US Attorney Preet Bharara.

“But you have to take the opportunities when they arise, and they rarely arise at the right time — particularly for career women who want the dream job and kids,” Griswold said.

Read More: ‘Money Failed!’: Bill Hwang Fights Jail After Losing $36 Billion

Since then, Griswold has helped prosecute Donald Trump’s former fixer, Michael Cohen, SAC Capital trader Mathew Martoma and carved out expertise in private markets, prosecuting executives at private equity firm Abraaj and overseeing the cases against Bankman-Fried and Archegos Capital Management founder Hwang. Hwang is currently on trial and has pleaded not guilty. Two of the lead prosecutors on the latter cases were women.

Announcing Griswold’s departure on Monday, US Attorney Damian Williams called her “a relentless investigator, a talented trial lawyer and a strategic counselor and leader with excellent judgment.”

The kinds of cases Griswold took on can spill into all hours. In December 2022, she was working around the clock and pulling together one of the largest financial fraud investigations in US history to make the case against Bankman-Fried. That work included a call with senior officials at the Justice and State Departments and in the Bahamas, navigating how they’d get the man accused of stealing $10 billion back on American soil – on a night Griswold had other plans.

Read More: Bankman-Fried Sentenced to 25 Years in Prison for FTX Fraud

“My husband, who is very supportive of my career, had 30 people in a room for my birthday party,” she said. “But not for a minute did I think about getting off that call.” She got there eventually — just an hour-and-a-half late.

--With assistance from Jeff Green.

To contact the reporters on this story:
Ava Benny-Morrison in New York at abennymorris@bloomberg.net;
Greg Farrell in New York at gregfarrell@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story:
Misyrlena Egkolfopoulou at megkolfopoul@bloomberg.net;
Pratish Narayanan at pnarayanan9@bloomberg.net

Sarah Halzack

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