Sandra Cavazos

Special Counsel

• scavazos@steptoe.com
• vCard
• New York Office

Sandra Cavazos is special counsel in the New York office of Steptoe & Johnson LLP, where she is a member of the Litigation Department, with a focus on appellate litigation. She represents clients in complex civil and criminal litigation matters, bringing the insight from her years of experience with the US Department of Justice to the complex legal problems that arise.

After graduating magna cum laude from Harvard Law School, Ms. Cavazos was selected by US District Court Judge William Hoeveler, of the Southern District of Florida, to serve as his law clerk for the prosecution and trial of deposed Panamanian dictator Manuel Noriega. She worked on the Noriega case for two years, during which time she dealt with complex issues involving international law and US jurisdiction, classified information procedures, and First Amendment press issues.

Ms. Cavazos then served in the US Justice Department under the Clinton Administration as a Special Assistant to Deputy Attorney Generals Philip Heymann and Jamie Gorelick, where she worked on the Justice Department's internal investigation of the FBI siege of the Branch Davidian compound in Waco, Texas. From there, she prosecuted white-collar criminal cases as an Assistant US Attorney in the US Attorney's Office for both the North District of California and the Eastern District of New York.

Immediately before joining Steptoe, she worked as an appellate lawyer in the Manhattan District Attorney's office under Robert Morgenthau, where she was responsible for handling appeals and habeas corpus litigation in state and federal court, reviewing applications for eavesdropping and electronic surveillance, and advising trial attorneys on legal issues.

Select News & Events

• Steptoe Team Invalidates Extraterritorial Subpoenas in Phoenix
• Steptoe Adds Cavazos to NYC Appellate Litigation