Ben has worked in the criminal justice system as a prosecutor, adjunct professor and defense lawyer since 1969. Upon establishing his own private practice in 1979 and continuing for the next five decades he has vigorously defended clients and achieved winning results in trials and appeals, including those in a number of high-profile cases charged with white-collar crimes as well as murder, racketeering and drugs and in New York State and Federal courts. His representation in the 2000 trial to acquittal of the lead defendant in the Amadou Diallo murder case on national television was the subject of a recent Netflix special and his argument to the jury in that case is published in a collection of “Great Opening and Closing Statements of the last 100 Years.” He was a national Exemplary Legal Writing honoree in 2011. He is now one of the longest-serving members of the Criminal Justice Act panel in the Southern District of New York. He has defended federal criminal cases originating in locations throughout the United States and from Europe to Mexico.
Bennett M. Epstein
Sarah M. Sacks
Sarah has been practicing as a lawyer for over 20 years in both the private and public sectors. She was a law clerk to the Honorable Whitman Knapp in the Southern District of New York, an associate in the New York office of Paul, Weiss, Rifkind & Garrison LLP, and served for over 10 years at the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office investigating and prosecuting a wide variety of criminal cases. When she left the DA’s Office in 2017, Sarah was a Senior Investigative Counsel in the Major Economic Crimes Bureau.
When she left the DA’s office, Sarah joined veteran attorney Bennett M. Epstein and together they formed their own firm, Epstein Sacks PLLC. Since then, Sarah has put all her prior experience to use defending, advising and advocating for her clients, whether it be at trial, hearings, motion practice or in negotiating a more favorable plea deal. With the reputation for being a straight-shooter and a results-oriented attorney, she looks at each client’s case and circumstances individually. Sarah fights for each one of her clients and works tirelessly to get them the best possible outcome. Sarah serves on the CJA panels in the Southern and Eastern Districts of New York and is an adjunct professor of law at the Fordham University School of Law in New York City. She received her JD from the New York University School of Law and her BA from Binghamton University, Summa Cum Laude.