Overview
Eric Lewis practices in the areas of international litigation and arbitration, serious fraud, banking, international insolvency and complex securities litigation. He has had a central role in disputes arising out of virtually all of the major international fraud and financial collapses of the last quarter century, including serving as counsel to the liquidators of Bank of Credit and Commerce International, Laker Airways, Carlyle Capital, Madoff International, China Medical, Akai Electronics, and Ahmad Hamad Algosaibi Brothers. He has served as lead counsel in numerous cases involving collateralized debt obligations and other complex asset backed securities. He has advised sovereign governments with respect to recovery of the proceeds of corruption as well as defense of ICSID proceedings and attachment of sovereign assets. He has also represented clients in major class action litigation, including Enron, WorldCom, TFT-LCD Flat Panel Litigation and Visa/MasterCard Payment Card Interchange Fee Litigation. He advises and litigates on behalf of international banks and their owners facing regulatory and sanctions challenges, banking resolution entities in Europe, as well as hedge funds and large family-owned conglomerates. He has advised major international clients in the automobile, energy, aviation, hospitality and beverage industries. He has served as an expert on international extradition and enforcement of judgments and arbitral awards. He has represented financial institutions and international charities in major public international law disputes.
Mr. Lewis has particular expertise assisting foreign clients dealing with the complexities of U.S. civil and criminal proceedings. He obtained a $1 billion racketeering judgment against a Saudi national and worked with a multinational team to obtain the first recognition in Saudi Arabia of a non-Arab League judgment. He has represented a leading hedge fund in a Foreign Corrupt Practices Act investigation, and the Executive Director of the United Nations Oil-for-Food Program in connection with U.N. and U.S. investigations. He acted for an important cooperating witness in the Mueller investigation into the 2016 Presidential election.
He has served as Adjunct Professor of Law at Georgetown University Law Center and has lectured on legal topics at Oxford University and Yale Law School. He is an elected member of the Council on Foreign Relations and is an associate tenant of Goldsmith Chambers in London.
Mr. Lewis was selected by Washington DC Super Lawyers and by Super Lawyers Corporate Counsel Edition (2009-2023) for Business Litigation. He is also featured in Who’s Who as an expert in international insolvency and was nominated by his peers to Who's Who Legal: Asset Recovery (2018-2023) and is included in The Best Lawyers in America© for Commercial Litigation. Mr. Lewis is a regular contributor to The New York Times, The New Yorker, The New York Law Journal, Law360, Esquire and other publications. He is a Director of Independent Digital News and Media Limited and a frequent opinion columnist for The Independent.
Pro Bono and Community Service
Mr. Lewis has been a leading figure in international human rights. He has represented Guantánamo detainees for more than a dozen years in civil litigation, administrative hearings and habeas corpus petitions. He has also acted on behalf of Afghan prisoners held by the U.S. military in Afghanistan. He was lead counsel in litigation involving the treatment of hunger striking prisoners at Guantanamo and on behalf of a released Guantanamo detainee imprisoned in Morocco in breach of intergovernmental assurances. He worked to obtain the release of a dual U.S. Egyptian national sentenced to life in prison for blogging against the coup. He has acted on behalf of capital defendants both at the trial and appellate level, including the individual accused in the death of the U.S. Ambassador to Libya and others in Benghazi. He serves as Chairman of Reprieve US, a charity that actively litigates death penalty, indefinite detention and other human rights cases around the world. He serves on the board of the International Senior Lawyers Project and Global Rights.
Professional Affiliations
- Elected Member, Council on Foreign Relations
- Adjunct Professor of Law at Georgetown University Law Center
- Associate Tenant, Goldsmith Chambers, London
- Honorary Overseas Member of the Commercial Bar Association of England and Wales
- Elected Member of the American Law Institute
- Chairman, Reprieve US
- Observer with Special Consultative Status, 61st Meeting of United Nations High Commission on Human Rights, Geneva
- Fellow, American Bar Foundation
Representative Matters
- Represented the Liquidators of BCCI in what was the largest bank collapse, largest multinational fraud and largest restitution in history.
- Represented Australian hedge fund in a series of cases against major NY investment banks in fraud claims relating to Collateralized Debt Obligations.
- Represented owner of Argentine airports in ICC arbitration regarding purchase of duty free stores.
- Expert on behalf of senior FIFA official, head of international transparency group charged with releasing government documents, CEO of major private equity fund, accused member of international narcotics trafficking ring, accused importer of misbranded pharmaceuticals and alleged sanctions violators in international extradition proceedings.
- Represented large Saudi merchant family in litigation against banks and others in $10 billion fraud.
- Represents two global charities in 9/11 litigation.
- Represents Middle Eastern regulator in enforcement of judgment against regulated financial institution suspected of currency manipulation.
- Advise financial institutions, industrial companies and professionals regarding sanctions exposures.
- Represented majority shareholders of European Bank in litigation against U.S. Government for wrongful closure under USA Patriot Act.
- Represents largest financial institution in Yemen in U.S. sanctions proceedings.
- Represented dissident shareholder in dispute over management of international bank.
- Represented two Kuwaiti detainees in Periodic Review Board hearings at Guantánamo and obtained their clearance for release and repatriation.
- Represented Chinese company in liquidation in dispute regarding internal investigation undertaken prior to collapse.
- Represented former British detainees in civil claims for torture and religious abuse at Guantanamo.
- Represented Egyptian conglomerate in construction arbitration against U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
- Advised various governments with respect to ICSID liability.
Publications & Events
- Asadullah Haroon Gul: Detained in Guantánamo for 14 years without charge or trial
On October 19, 2021, the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia granted Guantánamo detainee Asadullah Haroon Gul’s petition for a writ of habeas corpus, ruling that his detention is unlawful. The decision marks the first time a Guantánamo Bay detainee has won a habeas corpus petition in the last ten years.
October 20, 2021 One source commented, “I can’t think of an improvement to its practice. We’ve worked with several leading international law firms and in our experience when it comes to complex, high-stakes issues Lewis Baach provides unmatched value.”
June 2021The United States needs to consider carefully whether its treaty advantages and broad jurisdictional statutes should be aggressively used to bring foreign defendants to the United States when the American interest is limited and when other countries may have a greater interest in applying their own statutes, and their own penalty structures.
New York Law Journal, March 26, 2021As the suicide of U.S. Olympics gymnastics coach John Geddert, and the sexual abuse suit against previous coach Don Peters, reverberate across the globe, it will be all too easy for governing bodies to again dismiss the abuse allegations as isolated incidents.
ESPN, March 16, 2021In a decision issued on Feb. 5, the U.K. Supreme Court quashed a notice pursuant to Section 2(3) of the 1987 Criminal Justice Act, that sought to require a U.S. corporation, KBR Inc., to produce documents located in the U.S. The decision has important consequences for cross-border discovery and investigations, as the U.S. and the U.K. appear to be taking divergent approaches.
Law360, February 17, 2021Over my years as a law professor and practitioner, I have read thousands of draft pleadings written by law students and junior lawyers. Their quality varies, but I would be hard-pressed to think of a more incompetent piece of advocacy than that produced by Donald Trump’s defense team.
The Independent, February 4, 2021The Five Horsepersons of the New Apocalypse — Justices Barrett, Alito, Thomas, Gorsuch and Kavanaugh — will usher in years if not decades of reactionary decision-making that could transform the United States beyond recognition
The Independent, October 28, 2020The combination of the President’s ego and Barr’s hardline Christian beliefs is uniquely dangerous
The Independent, September 25, 2020Eric Lewis is interviewed extensively in The Andorra Hustle, a documentary by Eric Merola about FinCEN's use of the USA PATRIOT Act to shut down Banca Privada d'Andorra.
September 4, 2020- The Independent, August 31, 2020
- A discussion of 'Liu v. SEC,' where the Supreme Court clarified the scope of the disgorgement remedy, and limited the SEC's discretion in making restitution to victims of securities fraud.New York Law Journal, August 13, 2020
- The Independent, June 9, 2020
There is a popular misconception that asset forfeiture is limited to the luxury cars, private jets and speedboats of drug dealers, but many well-meaning businesses and individuals are finding themselves with their assets seized under statutes that provide U.S. authorities extremely broad powers. And these seizures often occur without any warning to, or even accusation against, the owner of the assets. Once seized it can take years to obtain recovery of perfectly legal assets. In these uncertain times, as many well-meaning people seek the relative safety of the U.S. banking system, individuals and companies in many countries may innocently use money-transfer systems that exponentially increase the risk of having their assets seized. Why does this happen and how can it be avoided?
May 11, 2020The coronavirus pandemic has not only caused untold misery, it has forced the virtual shutdown of the global economy. Everyone hopes that this crisis will pass, but events have shown there is a false choice between mitigation and resumption of economic activity. Mitigation, with testing and social distancing, must be done to avoid wave after wave of disease, which will only lead to rolling cessations of economic activity. Given the economic dislocation occasioned by this global crisis and that it is likely to continue for at least a few more months, we can anticipate that many businesses will fail, and others will require time and help to restore financial health and operations. There is little doubt that innumerable global businesses will need the protection of an organized and coordinated insolvency and reorganization process as soon as this crisis is over. The time for them to begin planning is now.
April 24, 2020In recent weeks, the world has been engulfed by the spread of COVID-19 as governments scramble to protect their citizens and avoid the collapse of public health systems and long-term damage to their economies. The wide-ranging efforts to flatten the curve of COVID-19 has created a tidal wave of ramifications for an international business community that is today more interconnected than ever, and led to high levels of uncertainty surrounding current and future contractual obligations. At a time when government policies fluctuate daily and courts and arbitration centers are becoming increasingly inaccessible to resolve active disputes, it is difficult for a party to seek or obtain interim measures or relief. From country to country and company to company, the responses have not been uniform: some commercial parties have continued to perform their obligations, while others have argued for wholesale abdication of their responsibilities, and still others are somewhere in between. Certain trends of government action and commercial response are emerging worldwide, no less so in the hyper-connected global businesses that are found in the Middle East.
April 20, 2020In these tough times, when clients are looking to protect assets and increase revenue, it is more important than ever to ensure that their arbitral awards are collectible. A truly successful outcome requires the ability to enforce and monetize the award that was won in the arbitration. When faced with a recalcitrant award debtor, it is imperative to think strategically and work closely with counsel and experts to enforce and identify recoverable assets.
April 2, 2020Eric Lewis focuses on three key areas: (1) the widening of the net from sanctioned individuals to their families; (2) the application of the evasion provisions to foreign persons; (3) the bringing of new classes within existing sanctions.
The New York Law Journal, December 8, 2017- For global transparency and financial integrity, the US must ensure that the dollar remains dominanthttp://www.independent.co.uk, October 31, 2017
- New York Law Journal; Law Firm Management Supplement Section page 8, May 8, 2017
We are pleased to report that on August 16, 2016, the United States Treasury Department removed the Philippines and Indonesia branch offices of our client, the International Islamic Relief Organization of Saudi Arabia (IIROSA) from the Office of Foreign Assets Control Specially Designated Nationals (SDN) list. The administration’s action in this matter demonstrates a clear commitment to an impartial review of the facts and its belief in IIROSA’s ability to oversee its critical global relief operations.
August 18, 2016- December 10, 2015
- May 30, 2015
- "Eli Lilly Settlement Reinforces the Need for Active Anti-Corruption Controls"January 2, 2013
- November 29, 2012
- August 24, 2012
- August 16, 2012
- "Supreme Court Action Reinforces the Difficulty in Piercing Sovereign Immunities"June 26, 2012
- U.S. Cracks Down on Foreign Evaders of Iran-Syria SanctionMay 24, 2012
- "Regulators Turn Their Attention to FCPA Violations by Investment Advisers"May 23, 2012
- Annual Review - Financier WorldwideApril 2012
- "U.S. Appeals Court Bolsters U.S. Discovery In Aid Of Foreign Proceedings"March 19, 2012
- "Petrobras Wins Immunity in U.S. Bond Case"March 14, 2012
- September 28, 2010
- "Judge Griesa's Ruling in NML Capital: A U.S. Judge Wades Deep Into the Argentine Political System"April 2010
- "The El Paso Ruling and its Effect on the Use of §1782 in Private International Arbitration Proceedings"September 2009
- June 16, 2009
- February 2009
- "Is Argentina the Next Hub of Money Laundering and What are the Consequences for International Business?"December 2008
- "What Can Madoff Investors do to Maximize the Recovery of Their Assets?"December 2008
- "Potential Implications of the Lehman Brothers Insolvency for Latin American Financial Institutions"
Authored by Eric L. Lewis, Manuel S. Varela and Cristían Francos.
October 2008 - "The Availability of U.S. Discovery in Foreign Litigation: How Foreign Parties in Foreign Litigation can Obtain the Assistance of U.S. Courts"
Authored by Eric L. Lewis, Manuel S. Varela and Cristián Francos.
October 2007 - "The Expanding Reach of United States Law: Extraterritorial Enforcement and Compliance Obligations of International Business"
Presented by Eric L. Lewis, Manuel S. Varela & Cristián Francos.
August 2007 - "Good Judgments Travel Fast: Avoiding Pyrrhic Victories In International Litigation"
Presentation by Eric L. Lewis & A. Katherine Toomey.
June 2003 - "Anti-Terrorism Legislation and its Impact on Commercial Law"
Eric L. Lewis, address to the Commercial Bar Association of England and Wales (COMBAR).
March 31, 2003 - "Lawyer's Duties of Disclosure in Response to Commercial Fraud"
Eric L. Lewis delivered address at the Commercial Bar Association of England and Wales (COMBAR)
June 7, 2002
In the News
Lewis Baach Kaufmann Middlemiss made its debut this year in Chambers’ annual Latin America Guide, ranking as a leading international firm in the Corporate Crime & Investigations practice area.
LBKM is the only boutique firm to be so ranked.
August 2024Eric Lewis, A. Katherine Toomey, Adam Kaufmann, and John Moscow were recognized for their market-leading expertise in the tracing and recovery of lost, misappropriated or stolen assets.
July 2024LBKM is once again ranked as a leading firm worldwide for Asset Tracing & Recovery in the 2024 edition of Chambers and Partners Litigation Support. Chambers noted the firm’s “particularly strong networks in Latin America, the Middle East and the UK,” and clients described the firm as “extremely responsive and on the ball.”
June 2024Julian Assange, charged with ten counts under the Espionage Act in a highly politicized case, won a crucial victory today that postponed his extradition to the United States.
LBKM’s Eric Lewis advised the Assange UK defense team with respect to the law and procedure of foreign nationals asserting rights under the First Amendment as a defense in criminal trials.
The Guardian, May 20, 2024Eric Lewis and Solomon Shinerock successfully petitioned OFAC to remove a vessel from the SDN list. The vessel was listed pursuant to Executive Order 14024, relating to the Russian sanctions program, due to a misidentification of ownership.
March 2024LBKM filed an amicus brief in support of the Republic of Argentina with the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit in Petersen v. Argentina and a related appeal. LBKM represented OFEPHI, an organization of ten Argentine provinces, arguing that the district court misconstrued Argentina's expropriation law, and that complex questions of Argentine law should be left to Argentine courts.
February 29, 2024An acid attack on Pakistan’s former anti-corruption minister outside his Hertfordshire home is a timely reminder of the risks that political dissidents can face.
The Independent, December 5, 2023- Abu Zubaydah was the first prisoner waterboarded by the C.I.A. He has never faced charges at Guantánamo Bay.
Lawyers for the longest-held prisoner in the U.S. war against terrorism have begun a new legal offensive in multiple courts aimed at securing his release from Guantánamo Bay.
The New York Times, October 4, 2023 Chambers Litigation Support 2023, a guide to leading litigation professionals, has again ranked Lewis Baach Kaufmann Middlemiss in its Global-Wide Asset Tracing & Recovery category.
July 2023- June 27, 2023
In a recent wide-sweeping decision, Twitter v. Taamneh, the United States Supreme Court dramatically reshaped liability under the 2016 Justice Against Sponsors of Terrorism Act (“JASTA”), which imposes secondary, civil liability under the Anti-Terrorism Act (“ATA”) on persons who aid and abet or conspire to commit acts of international terrorism.
May 25, 2023LBKM’s Middle East team is featured in The Legal 500 Private Practice Powerlist 2023 for Arbitration (Middle East). The publication is designed to highlight the region's leading arbitration counsel to Legal 500's broad international readership of private practice lawyers, in-house counsel, and expert witnesses.
April 27, 2023The United States Supreme Court decided for the first time that foreign sovereigns and foreign-owned entities are subject to criminal prosecution in United States courts, rejecting the contentions of a Turkish state-owned bank that it was immune from prosecution under the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act (“FSIA”).
April 20, 2023On March 2, 2023, the US government published a multi-agency notice setting forth red flags and warning of enhanced enforcement efforts related to third-party intermediary evasion of US Russia-related sanctions and export controls. The Financial Times subsequently reported that a senior Treasury official stated that the UAE was a “country of focus” for US investigators.
March 2023Eric Lewis, a lawyer and expert on extraditions, said that Bankman-Fried’s decision to go along with extradition might have been due to his not wanting to spend months in a Bahamian jail, where conditions are notoriously bad. While Bankman-Fried has the legal right to challenge the extradition, prosecutors might view that negatively “when it comes time to look at both bail and a potential sentence.”
Washington Post, December 20, 2022Who's Who Legal has recognized four Lewis Baach Kaufmann Middlemiss lawyers as leading asset recovery practitioners in its 2022 guide.
August 2022Chambers Litigation Support 2022, a guide to leading litigation professionals, has ranked Lewis Baach Kaufmann Middlemiss in its Global-Wide Asset Tracing & Recovery category.
July 1, 2022The justice was targeted during her Supreme Court hearings for supposedly helping ‘terrorists’. As someone who has done the same kind of work — and proudly — I find it sad that she felt she had to minimize what she did
The Independent, April 7, 2022Sweden and Switzerland understand that neutrality is no longer an option in an interconnected world. Qatar has stepped up to try to make up the shortfall in global energy markets. Even China has sounded an uncertain trumpet
The Independent, March 4, 2022When I first began working on behalf of Guantanamo detainees in 2002, I would never have believed that twenty years after the first detainees arrived on January 11, 2002, there would still be 39 men at the prison, 28 of whom have never been charged with anything. Nearly 800 men have processed through the prison over the last 20 years, some there for a few years, many more for decades.
The Independent, January 11, 2022On December 9, 2021, the Biden administration published the first-ever United States Strategy on Countering Corruption. This Strategy sets forth a “whole-of-government” approach to combating corruption in the United States and around the world. Individuals and entities should expect an increase in sanctions and scrutiny of activities that present high corruption-related risk. As such, companies and individuals should immediately review current business activities to ensure that they understand their exposure to corruption-related risk and have in place commensurate controls to deter and detect potential problems. A proactive approach to corruption risk now will provide material future benefits if the expected increase in regulatory and law enforcement scrutiny results in a corruption-related inquiry.
December 10, 2021A federal judge has found that a former Afghan militant has been held unlawfully at the Guantánamo Bay detention camp, the first time in 10 years that a detainee has won such a case against the U.S. government, his lawyers said.
Washington Post, October 21, 2021A federal judge has ruled that the United States has no legal basis for holding an Afghan man at Guantánamo Bay.
October 20, 2021- US has no basis to detain Asadullah Haroon Gul, who was cleared for transfer last week, in a first such ruling in a decade
A US federal court has ruled that a detainee at the Guantanamo Bay detention centre has been unlawfully kept there, several days after he was cleared to be transferred out of the military prison.
The US court granted the petition for a writ of habeas corpus for Asadullah Haroon Gul, who has been detained without charge by the US since 2007. The decision marks the first time in a decade a Guantanamo detainee's imprisonment has been ruled unlawful.
Middle East Eye, October 20, 2021 Who's Who Legal recognized four Lewis Baach Kaufmann Middlemiss lawyers as leading asset recovery practitioners for 2021.
August 2021Eric Lewis was quoted in a Wall Street Journal article on the shifting culture of American gymnastics in the wake of abuse allegations and criminal charges.
The Wall Street Journal, April 18, 2021Back in 2009, Eric Lewis warned In These Times readers that closing Gitmo was not enough — that if the United States wants to reaffirm the rule of law, it must ensure that all of its prisoners are given due process.
In These Times, April 5, 2021Eric Lewis appeared on Corporate Counsel Business Journal's daily podcast, In House Warrior, to discuss extradition, OFAC sanctions, and what to expect from the Biden administration.
In House Warrior podcast, March 18, 2021Eric Lewis, a Lewis Baach Kaufmann Middlemiss PLLC partner, told Law360 that the Civil Division is likely the branch of the DOJ most in need of a morale boost.
"It's overwhelmingly staffed by career people who have really suffered through the last four years, and they've lost a lot of good people too," he said. "These are people who just want to do their job and not impose any ideology."
Law360, February 23, 2021A lawyer for Mohamed Soltan, a US citizen who has filed a lawsuit alleging torture in Egyptian custody, said that plain-clothes officers raided the homes of six family members Sunday, detaining two cousins.
"Now the Egyptian regime is arresting his relatives to try to intimidate him into silence. Such tactics have no place in the international community," said Eric Lewis, a lawyer for Soltan.
Agence France-Presse (AFP), February 16, 2021"Now the Egyptian regime is arresting his relatives to try to intimidate him into silence," said Soltan's lawyer Eric Lewis. "Such tactics have no place in the international community. Egypt cannot seek the benefits of membership in that community while denigrating human rights and behaving with impunity and lawlessness."
CNN, February 16, 2021Law360's Aebra Coe interviewed leaders at three law firms, including LBKM's Eric Lewis, on the changing ways that associates can demonstrate their value and engage with those in power in a pandemic-era work environment.
Law360, January 12, 2021Eric Lewis was quoted in Law360 on President-elect Joe Biden's selection of Merrick Garland as the next attorney general.
Law360, January 6, 2021A British judge rejected the US' request to extradite WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, saying that Assange would be at greater risk of suicide in the American prison system. Eric Lewis told the British court that Assange, if extradited, would face a "best-case scenario" of 20 years in prison.
Ars Technica, January 4, 2021The International Academy of Financial Crime Litigators is comprised of academics and litigation professionals committed to vigorously pursuing their clients’ interest while aspiring to the highest ethical standards in criminal and civil actions in cases of economic crime. Fellowship is extended only by invitation, after careful research, to experienced individuals who have litigated cases related to economic crimes.
December 8, 2020- The Independent, November 19, 2020
- The Independent, October 28, 2020
Two Lewis Baach Kaufmann Middlemiss professionals have been recognized as Global Leaders in Who’s Who Legal: Asset Recovery 2020. Who’s Who Legal is one of the world’s leading directories of legal practitioners.
October 2020The Times of London reported on the extradition hearing of Julian Assange, quoting senior partner Eric Lewis' expert testimony.
The Times of London, September 15, 2020Bloomberg reported on the extradition hearing of Julian Assange, quoting senior partner Eric Lewis' expert testimony.
Bloomberg, September 15, 2020Senior Partner Eric Lewis was quoted in AP on the extradition hearing of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange.
AP, September 14, 2020- The Washington Post, July 17, 2020
- Foreign Policy, July 3, 2020
- The Independent, June 26, 2020
- AP, June 11, 2020
- Reuters, June 11, 2020
- Courthouse News Service, June 1, 2020
- The Washington Post, June 1, 2020
'Looking forward from this improbable ninth week of shutdown, I believe that litigation is about to enter another sea change,' writes Eric Lewis, a senior partner at litigation boutique Lewis Baach Kaufmann Middlemiss.
AmLaw Litigation Daily, May 21, 2020- New York Law Journal, April 30, 2020
Lewis Baach Kaufmann Middlemiss PLLC is pleased to announce that three of its lawyers have been named to the 2020 Washington, DC Super Lawyers list. Each year, no more than five percent of the lawyers in each state are selected by the research team at Super Lawyers to receive this honor.
April 17, 2020The business of law is personal, and the human interaction cannot be fully replaced by technology, particularly for those that practice on an international scale. Lewis Baach senior partner Eric Lewis, who usually travels the globe to meet with clients, offers his personal take on how he and his firm are coping during the pandemic.
Bloomberg Law, April 13, 2020- The Independent, February 6, 2020
This article sets out the basic process for obtaining extradition to the United States and reviews certain recent cases that suggest that the United States is trying to leverage its political power to bring defendants to the United States either to fulfill political agendas or where the United States’ interest is tangential at best in view of the demonstrable interest of other countries.
New York Law Journal, February 3, 2020Six LBKM professionals have been selected to the 2019 New York and Washington, DC Super Lawyers lists - an honor limited to 5 percent of the lawyers in each state. In addition, one LBKM professional has been selected to the 2019 New York Rising Stars list.
October 2019Four Lewis Baach Kaufmann Middlemiss professionals have been recognized as Global Leaders in Who’s Who Legal: Asset Recovery 2019. Who’s Who Legal is one of the world’s leading directories of legal practitioners.
October 2019Bolton may be guilty of serious errors of judgment and defects of character. But he refused to play Trump's game — and now he might be the country's most valuable savior
The Independent, October 15, 2019Eric Lewis was quoted in The Washington Post on the allegations in the whistleblower complaint recently filed against President Trump.
The Washington Post, September 23, 2019Law360 asked Eric Lewis and other law firm leaders about the most common career blunders they see new attorneys make.
Law360, August 6, 2019Founding partner Eric Lewis was asked, as part of Law360's ongoing interview series, “What one trait is most important for a law firm partner?”
Law360, July 16, 2019An amended complaint filed in Miami-Dade County alleges that Amicorp, an international trust services company, actively participated in a multi-million-dollar real estate fraud which victimized many Latin American families.
www.businesswire.com, July 3, 2019- Independent, May 28, 2019
- New York Law Journal, May 13, 2019
- Support for capital punishment is diminishing among the American public, but Trump’s Supreme Court shows no sign of abolishing executions, writes Eric LewisIndependent, May 6, 2019
Mr. Lewis reflecting on what he looks forward to each day in his job: "One of the things I like about our firm and a firm our size is the continuity and trust of the people I work with, most of whom I've worked with for a long time. I think all of us buy into the concept we have here, which is being very public spirited, very flexible, very supportive, and trying to use our skills not only on commercial matters but also trying to do some good as well.”
Law360, November 28, 2018- On a human level, it is a place of misery and despair. And on a larger level, it is a monument to the death of the rule of lawIndependent, November 2, 2018
Eric Lewis is quoted saying, “The ability to understand a case, price a case, look at a case honestly and evaluate its strengths and weaknesses becomes more important.”
Law360, December 12, 2017Woodsford Litigation Funding, one of the leading global third party funders, has announced a funding facility agreement with Lewis Baach which ensures the firm can offer clients an expedited, one-stop arrangement for the financing of high value litigation and arbitration.
August 16, 2017- The American Lawyer, August 16, 2017
"The ability to understand a case, price a case and look at a case honestly — to evaluate its strengths and weaknesses — becomes more important," said Eric Lewis of Lewis Baach Kaufmann Middlemiss PLLC. "I spend more time on strategy than I did 10 to 15 years ago. I spend more time talking to clients as cases go along."
Law360, August 15, 2017Eric Lewis of Lewis Baach Kaufmann Middlemiss writes: Good lawyers don't get stuck in boxes. They are problem solvers who bring judgment and experience to their clients' issues, whoever those clients may be. They try to prevent economic interests from affecting their service to clients. They earn trust. Satisfaction in the law can be, and should be, measured in more than one way.
New York Law Journal, May 8, 2017On April 18, 2017, the International Islamic Relief Organization of Saudi Arabia (“IIROSA”) launched a major humanitarian distribution of food and other necessities in refugee camps in Juba, South Sudan to alleviate the plight of the South Sudanese affected by the famine. The distribution of the approximately $250,000 worth of much needed aid from IIROSA – including food items such as flour, sugar, corn, oil, and dried milk, as well as other basic goods – was made in conjunction with the South Sudanese Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and a local charity partner.
April 18, 2017- Eric Lewis Of Lewis Baach, On The Polarizing Legal Market, Internationalism, And White Collar Trends
As the market continues to pound out a separation between the niche players and the global elites, major legal consumers are increasingly turning to boutique firms for some of their more challenging work. Between their dexterity, fee flexibility, and, depending on the size of the boutique, deeper resources, we are seeing a growing interest in boutiques and niche firms in the legal market.
Forbes, January 3, 2017 - Insiders 'Back on the Hook' After U.S. Supreme Court Insider Decision
For two years, stock traders and the attorneys who represent them said the law surrounding insider trading was a muddle, with no one knowing what exactly is or isn’t legal.
The U.S. Supreme Court Dec. 6 said it had ‘‘easily’’ settled the question (Salman v. United States, 2016 BL 404795, U.S., No. 15-628, 12/6/16).‘‘Going forward, even remote tippees of inside information are at risk if the government can demonstrate that the defendant knew he was trading on inside information and the chain of disclosure is sufficiently close, even if no money changes hands.’’ Eric Lewis, Lewis Baach PLLC
Bloomberg BNA White Collar Crime Report, 2016 Both the speed and the unanimity of the decision sent a strong message re-affirming existing insider trading prosecutions, according to Eric Lewis, a partner at Lewis Baach, a Washington DC law firm specializing in financial crimes.
"It was somewhat surprising that the Supreme Court took this case," Lewis told ValueWalk, noting that it had been two decades since the high court took up an insider trading case.
ValueWalk, December 6, 2016Eric Lewis got a phone call from an old friend’s sister shortly after he wrote an op-ed in The New York Times in 2013 detailing his time playing under a high school football coach who was also a serial sexual predator.
That call ultimately led Lewis to take a turn this week as a journalist—a departure from his busy career as a prominent lawyer handling international fraud disputes, including representing Bernie Madoff’s investment firm in its liquidation—at his nearly 40-lawyer firm Lewis Baach in Washington, D.C.
The American Lawyer, November 17, 2016The Appellate Division, First Department, recently affirmed the dismissal of various claims brought by New Greenwich Litigation Trustee, successor to the claims of two feeder funds in the Bernard Madoff affair, against various third-party fund administrators, accountants and auditors.
New York Law Journal, November 16, 2016Mr. Lewis said that “there is no there there” on the allegations of any Saudi government role in the attacks, given the kingdom’s long history of being at war with Al Qaeda.
“The notion that senior Saudi officials or the Saudi government had an interest in supporting Sept. 11 and the attack on the World Trade Center is patently absurd,” he said.
The New York Times, September 29, 2016- Law360, May 19, 2016
- Law 360, March 30, 2016
- January 20, 2016
Fayez Al Kandari was released from Guantanamo today to the custody of the Government of Kuwait who transported him today to his home country of Kuwait.
January 8, 2016- Does FinCEN have too much power?
In March, the U.S. Treasury Department's Financial Crimes Enforcement Network imposed a corporate death sentence on Banca Privada d'Andorra by designating it as a foreign financial institution of primary money laundering concern under Section 311 of the USA PATRIOT Act.
The FCPA Blog, December 15, 2015 - American Banker, November 18, 2015
- October 23, 2015
- Law360, October 1, 2015
- Eric Lewis says Donald Trump is giving credence to those who stigmatize America's Muslims. He says such rhetoric is hateful and dangerous.September 20, 2015
- September 15, 2015
- Fayis al-Kandari has been held without charge for 14 years in US prison in Cuba, where he was allegedly tortured.Aljazeera, July 28, 2015
- Reuters, May 27, 2015
- New York Times, October 4, 2014
- IOL News, August 14, 2014
- Al Akhbar - English, August 14, 2014
- Une juge fédérale a ordonné un examen médical indépendant sur un détenu de Guantanamo nourri de force.RTL with AFP, August 14, 2014
- Interasksyon, August 14, 2014
- Yahoo Finance France, August 13, 2014
- Le Parisien, August 13, 2014
- Yahoo News, August 13, 2014
- Law360, August 12, 2014
- AP, July 25, 2014
- June 22, 2014
- Kathimerini, June 15, 2014
- The Litigation Daily, February 6, 2014
- January 30, 2014
- Negotiation with Mubarak regime officials accused of financial misappropriation should be viewed as being a piece of the greater asset-recovery puzzle.Al-Ahram Weekly, February 12, 2013
- September 13, 2012
- Insurance Day, April 12, 2012
- The Deal Pipeline, February 22, 2012
- The lawyer behind a $1 billion cross-border suit against Goldman Sachs following the sub-prime mortgage crisis praises the merits of bringing major commercial cases in the United States.February 3, 2012
- Washington lawyer Eric Lewis, who is acting for hedge fund Basis Capital in its $1 billion court action against Goldman Sachs over collateralised debt obligation deals in 2007, is used to playing a long game.The Australian, February 2, 2012
- New York Times, November 21, 2011
- November 2, 2011
- Saudi Firms Continue Multi-Billion Dollar Global Legal BattleMiddle East Economic Survey, October 31, 2011
- Huffington Post, October 28, 2011
- Saudi Arabia’s most high profile legal battle indicates just how dangerous the world’s capital markets remain a decade after Sept. 11, 2001.Trends Magazine, September 11, 2011
- The National, March 13, 2011
- The Washington Post, February 13, 2011
- Insurance Day, February 11, 2011
- One of the US's top fraud investigators is warning that America's policing of money laundering is wide open to abuse.BBC News, September 28, 2010
- CNBC airtime 2:45 PM ET, September 28, 2010
- The Australian Financial Review, June 11, 2010
- Reuters, June 10, 2010
- An Australian hedge fund has launched a billion dollar lawsuit alleging Goldman Sachs knowingly sold it dud investments.ABC News, June 10, 2010
- Huffington Post, June 9, 2010
- Goldman Faces $1 Billion SuitBasis Capital Cites 'False Representations' in Collapsed CDO; Abacus Factor?Wall Street Journal, June 9, 2010
- Simmons, Withers and Linklaters Advise on $9.2bn Saudi Fraud CaseMultibillion-pound Saudi fraud case hands roles to raft of UK firmsLegalweek.com, January 20, 2010
- Yes, It Was Torture, and IllegalNew York Times, January 3, 2010
- Huffington Post, December 29, 2009
- Huffington Post, June 8, 2009
- Huffington Post, May 21, 2009
- The Lawyer, May 18, 2009
- Judge Rules Bagram Detainees Can Appeal to U.S. CourtsThe Washington Independent, April 3, 2009
- The Big Money from Slate, March 23, 2009
- In Torture Cases, Obama Toes Bush LineLegal Stance Appears to Contradict Earlier Statements From Obama and HolderThe Washington Independent, March 16, 2009
- In These Times, March 12, 2009
- Closing GuantánamoCQ Researcher, February 27, 2009
- Tort suits provide inadequate to challenge anti-terror policiesABA Journal, February 2009
- While others heard siren call, Lebanon's bank governor steered safely past tempation.Legal Times, December 15, 2008
- Black HoleThe U.S. detention center at Bagram in Afghanistan has earned a reputation as the new Gitmo - except that big-firm American lawyers aren't lining up to represent the inmates.Fall 2008
- Lawyers Consider Implications of Supreme Court Rulings Beyond GuantanamoLaw.com, June 16, 2008
- The United States has no right to re-educate Iraqi detainees in the ways of their faith.Legal Times, November 5, 2007
- The New GitmoLegal Times, October 29, 2007
- Judge Says U.S. Must Alert Lawyer on Detainee TransferLos Angeles Times, October 4, 2007
- Ex-Detainees Base Lawsuit On ReligionChicago Tribune, September 16, 2007
- Ex-Guantanamo Prisoners Want U.S. Lawsuit to ProceedReuters, September 14, 2007
- www.Slate.com, August 16, 2007
- Legal Business, March 2007
- State Department Official Resigns after Pro Bono AttackLegal Business, March 2007
- Former Detainees Allege Torture in U.S. CustodyUSA Today, October 28, 2004
Practice Areas
- Complex Financial Disputes
- Financial Crimes Compliance
- Government Relations and Legislative
- Internal Investigations
- International Arbitration
- International Asset Tracing and Investigation
- International Insolvency
- International Litigation
- Latin America
- Litigation
- The Middle East
- US Sanctions
- White Collar Defense
Education
- Yale Law School (J.D. 1983), Article and Book Review Editor of the Yale Law Journal
- Cambridge University (M. Phil., Fulbright Scholar, 1980)
- Princeton University, Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs (A.B. 1979)
Bar Admissions
- District of Columbia
- New York
- U.S. Supreme Court
- U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second, Fourth, Ninth, Eleventh and D.C. Circuits
- U.S. District Courts for the District of Columbia, the Southern District of New York, and the Eastern District of New York