Isabelle A. Kirshner

Isabelle A. Kirshner is one of New York's premier criminal defense trial attorneys. She has won acquittals for her clients in both state and federal court. Isabelle has more than twenty-five years of experience defending individuals on a wide range of criminal matters including investigations and prosecutions relating to securities fraud, money laundering, bank fraud, tax fraud, as well as distribution of crystal methamphetamine, drug trafficking and violent crimes. She has represented individuals at every stage of criminal proceedings, from the inception of a criminal investigation through indictment and trial.
Isabelle served as an Assistant District Attorney in the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office from 1982 to 1986. She then entered the private sector as a criminal defense attorney, and joined Clayman & Rosenberg LLP in 2005. Isabelle has lectured on federal and state criminal practice for the New York State Bar Association and the Association of the Bar of the City of New York. She is also a long time faculty member of the Intensive Trial Advocacy Program at the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law.
Isabelle has been appointed to the Criminal Justice Act Committee and the Criminal Justice Advocacy Board for the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York. She served as a member of District Attorney Cyrus Vance’s transition committee and is a member of the National Association of Criminal Defense Attorneys, the New York Council of Defense Attorneys, the New York State Criminal Bar Association and the New York City Criminal Bar Association.
Recent representative matters include:
-- Successfully defended a pharmacist indicted for distribution of prescription controlled substances in federal court in New York
-- Served as trial counsel in one of the largest criminal tax shelter cases ever brought by the IRS
-- Won an acquittal for a client charged with RICO and murder in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York
-- Represented a number of individuals in both state and federal court who were charged with the possession and distribution of crystal methamphetamine
-- Lead counsel for a pharmacist charged with unlawful distribution of prescription drugs
-- Successfully defended the CEO of a major military contractor in an anti-trust Investigation
-- Persuaded prosecutors to not indict a business entity in connection with a criminal investigation into the development of low income housing
-- Obtained the dismissal of all charges filed against an individual alleged to have engaged in immigration fraud
-- Negotiated a favorable disposition for an individual in connection with an investigation by the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office into compliance with construction standards
-- Convinced federal prosecutors to drop most serious charges against an individual charged with internet solicitation of a minor
-- Won acquittal for a client charged with a Hobbs Act robbery conspiracy
-- Successfully avoided charges for client under investigation for violation of federal securities laws relating to the municipal bond market
-- Represented an individual charged in connection with an investigation into stolen antiquities
-- Lead counsel for an individual charged with tax fraud
-- Negotiated a favorable disposition for an individual charged with a large-scale bank fraud
-- Represented an individual under investigation by the City of New York’s Department of Buildings for conduct relating to a fatal elevator accident