Meet Barry Pollack, WikiLeaks Founder's Lawyer Defending Nicolas Maduro

Captured Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro appeared in a New York federal court on Monday, pleading not guilty to a range of criminal charges. Maduro, escorted alongside his wife, Cilia Flores, from a helicopter to an armored vehicle, was seen moving slowly towards the courthouse.

Barry J Pollack, the veteran US attorney famed for securing the release of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, is now tasked with defending the Venezuelan leader.

Maduro is charged with narco-terrorism conspiracy, conspiring to traffic large quantities of cocaine into the US and weapons-related offences linked to drug trafficking

Who Is Barry J Pollack?

Barry J Pollack is a partner at Harris St Laurent & Wechsler LLP, a law firm with offices in New York and Washington, DC. He has more than 30 years of experience representing individuals, executives, corporations, and organisations in high-profile trials and investigations. He is a Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers, a Fellow of the American Board of Criminal Lawyers, and a past president of the National Association of Criminal Defence Lawyers.

Pollack handles criminal cases involving financial and business crimes, public corruption, national security, fraud, and antitrust matters.

Pollack studied at Indiana University, graduating in 1986. He later earned his law degree from Georgetown University Law Center in 1991.

After law school, he worked as a clerk for Judge Thomas A. Flannery in a US federal court. Early in his career, Pollack worked as a public defender, helping people who could not afford a lawyer. He later became a partner at a major Washington law firm.

He is allowed to practise law in New York, Maryland, and Washington, DC.

Pollack teaches law students at Georgetown University, where he runs a course called “Anatomy of a Federal Criminal Trial.”

He also serves on the boards of groups that work for civil rights and justice, including the Washington Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights and Urban Affairs. He was once president of the Mid-Atlantic Innocence Project, which helps free people who were wrongly convicted.

Pollack has received the Defender of Innocence Award from the Mid-Atlantic Innocence Project and the Gideon Champion of Justice Award from the New York State Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers.

Cases Of Barry Pollack

• Julian Assange: Represented WikiLeaks founder, negotiating a 2024 plea deal that led to Assange's release.
• Enron: Secured a full acquittal for Michael Krautz, a former Enron accounting director, and obtained dismissal of related SEC charges.
• Martin Tankleff: Reversed wrongful convictions of Tankleff, who served 17 years in prison, and later secured $13.4 million in civil compensation. Pollack also helped another client in Baltimore achieve a writ of actual innocence and $2.4 million after 25 years in prison.
• Other Cases: Obtained not guilty verdicts and reversals on appeal in cases involving bribery, fraud, antitrust violations, and embezzlement. Handled criminal and civil matters related to government contracting, securities, healthcare, and financial crimes.