Akerman today announced that Carolyn Pokorny has joined the firm as a partner and co-chair of its White Collar Crime and Government Investigations Practice in New York. Carolyn brings two decades of federal and New York state government leadership to Akerman’s expanding New York litigation platform, enhancing the firm’s capabilities in government enforcement, complex internal investigations, trial litigation, crisis management, and sports integrity matters.
“Carolyn is one of the country’s premier enforcement lawyers, and her arrival reflects the strategic investment we are continuing to make in New York and across our national litigation platform,” said Akerman Chairman and CEO Scott Meyers. “She brings extraordinary experience overseeing some of the nation’s most significant investigations and enforcement matters, advising institutions through moments of acute reputational risk, and trying complex fraud and corruption cases. Her credibility, judgment, and leadership will be invaluable to clients navigating today’s increasingly challenging enforcement landscape.”
A Proven Leader in Crisis Management, Investigations, and Trial Litigation
Carolyn brings to Akerman more than two decades of service at the highest levels of federal and New York state government, as well as experience in private practice at the partnership level. She represents corporations, executives, boards of directors, and institutions in multi-jurisdictional government investigations, enforcement actions, internal investigations, and complex litigation, and has served as a trusted advisor to clients confronting enforcement scrutiny, institutional crises, and significant reputational risk.
As Acting U.S. Attorney and First Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York — one of the nation’s most prominent federal prosecutorial offices — Carolyn oversaw landmark corporate enforcement matters involving fraud, national security, sanctions, cybercrime, and public corruption — including the first corporate guilty plea to material-support-for-terrorism charges. She served in senior roles under administrations of both parties.
Earlier in her career at the Eastern District of New York, Carolyn founded and led the Office’s International Narcotics and Money Laundering Section, overseeing complex international investigations targeting transnational criminal organizations, cartel-related financial networks, and global money laundering operations. Among these matters, she helped build and coordinate the landmark national effort targeting the leadership of several Mexican drug cartels and the financial networks that supported them, including the 2009 indictment of Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán. Over the course of her career, she supervised hundreds of federal prosecutors and investigators.
Carolyn also brings substantial courtroom experience. She has tried 11 jury cases to verdict, supervised prosecutors in dozens more, and briefed and argued more than a dozen appeals before the Second Circuit. Her courtroom experience includes public corruption, securities fraud, bank fraud, and other complex white collar matters involving elected officials, executives, and major institutions.
Beyond federal prosecution, Carolyn served as Inspector General of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority — the largest transportation agency in North America — where she oversaw independent audits and investigations involving waste, fraud, abuse, procurement misconduct, and critical safety failures. She also provided independent oversight of the agency’s federally required monitoring of its $4.8 billion in Superstorm Sandy recovery projects — performed in-house rather than through third-party monitors — and reviewed investigative and oversight protocols tied to major safety events.
As Special Counsel for Public Integrity in the New York Governor’s Office, she directed a statewide ethics, risk, and compliance program spanning more than 50 state agencies and authorities. She also served as counsel and senior advisor to a U.S. Attorney General, advising Department of Justice leadership on some of the nation’s most significant and sensitive enforcement matters.
At Akerman, Carolyn will continue to conduct internal investigations for corporations and boards, advise clients navigating sensitive crises, and represent companies and executives in complex federal and state enforcement proceedings. Her practice encompasses anti-corruption matters, anti-money laundering, sanctions and export controls, national security, the False Claims Act, employment and internal investigations, and complex commercial litigation.
An Established Voice on Sports Integrity, Enforcement, and Betting
After overseeing the Office’s sports gambling investigations at the Eastern District of New York, Carolyn has also emerged as an established voice on sports integrity, game manipulation, and the evolving enforcement and compliance challenges facing professional sports organizations and gaming markets amid the rapid expansion of legalized sports betting and prediction platforms.
She writes and speaks frequently on enforcement trends, market integrity, and the importance of independent oversight frameworks designed to protect competitive integrity and public trust.
Her experience leading independent investigations involving public trust, institutional accountability, and reputational risk uniquely positions her to advise organizations confronting integrity-related threats and enforcement scrutiny.
“Carolyn has built an extraordinary career at the highest levels of federal and state enforcement, and she brings the rare combination of first-chair trial experience, institutional leadership, and sophisticated investigative judgment,” said Lawrence Rochefort, chair of the Litigation Practice Group. “She has overseen major public corruption, fraud, sanctions, and national security matters, advised organizations through highly sensitive crises, and emerged as a distinctive voice on sports integrity and independent oversight. Her experience will be enormously valuable to clients facing complex investigative, regulatory, and reputational challenges.”
“I returned to private practice with a conviction that companies, boards, and senior executives need trusted advisors — not only when the government comes calling, but when they are conducting their own investigations, responding to crises, and making tough decisions under pressure,” said Carolyn. “Akerman combines a collaborative culture with a sophisticated client base and a focus on sectors like healthcare, private equity, cross-border matters, and sports, making it the right platform for the investigations, enforcement, and crisis work that defines my practice.”
About Akerman
Founded in 1920, Akerman is an Am Law 100 firm recognized by Vault among the nation’s most prestigious law firms. The firm has more than 700 lawyers and business professionals throughout the United States.