Evan T. Barr

Partner

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

750 Seventh Avenue
New York NY 10019
TEL: 212.506.3918
FAX: 212.506.3950

Evan T. Barr is a partner in the New York office of Steptoe & Johnson LLP. He is a member of the Litigation Department and concentrates on white-collar criminal defense and complex regulatory matters. Prior to joining the firm as a partner in 2005, Mr. Barr was Chief of the Major Crimes Unit at the US Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York. 

Mr. Barr has represented numerous individuals and corporations in investigations and prosecutions by the Department of Justice, the SEC, the Internal Revenue Service, the New York State Attorney General, the New York Stock Exchange, and the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office. Mr. Barr’s representations have included cases involving allegations of accounting fraud, tax evasion, securities law violations, obstruction of justice, public corruption, and money laundering. 

As Chief of the Major Crimes Unit at the US Attorney’s Office, Mr. Barr supervised approximately 25 federal prosecutors specializing in investigating and prosecuting a wide array of large-scale white-collar crimes.  Mr. Barr also served in the Securities and Commodities Fraud Task Force, Public Corruption Unit, and Asset Forfeiture Unit. During almost 10 years as a prosecutor, Mr. Barr was lead counsel in 11 federal district court trials and briefed and argued numerous cases before the Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. In addition, he participated in the prosecutions of several senior officials at WorldCom and in the investigation of the presidential pardon of Marc Rich.

In 1992, Mr. Barr served as Deputy Special Counsel to the US Senate Committee on Foreign Relations “October Surprise” investigation concerning the circumstances surrounding the release of the American hostages held in Iran, and co-authored the committee’s final report. 

Mr. Barr has been a trial advocacy instructor for the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Education and has spoken on topics in criminal and civil litigation. Mr. Barr has provided legal commentary for the New York Times, Wall Street Journal,  Washington Post and Crain’s New York Business.

Representative Matters

Some of Mr. Barr’s recent representations include:  

• The former president of a Nasdaq 100 company in connection with an investigation by the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York and the SEC into allegations of stock options backdating;
• The general counsel of a hedge fund in connection with a tax shelter investigation being conducted by the Department of Justice, the IRS, and the SEC;
• The former Chief Administrative Officer of a major department store chain in connection with an accounting fraud investigation by the SEC;
• A senior underwriter at a large insurance company in connection with the New York Attorney General’s investigation of fraudulent bid-rigging practices; and
• A trader at a major New York-based financial institution in an investigation by the New York Stock Exchange regarding the handling of certain complex derivative instruments.

Mr. Barr also has extensive experience in the area of asset forfeiture, and has represented clients in matters involving pretrial restraining orders; seizure warrants; civil forfeiture complaints; criminal forfeiture; and third-party claims.  As a federal prosecutor, Mr. Barr successfully litigated the seizure and forfeiture of numerous illegally imported artworks and antiquities.

Noteworthy

• John Marshall Award; Director’s Award for Superior Performance as an Assistant US Attorney

Select News & Events

• Barr Quoted in Wall Street Journal
• Barr Offers Hyde Solution
• Hell's Kitchen Controversy Heats Up
• Evan Barr on Second Circuit Ruling
• New York Office

Publications

• No Bright Line In Securities Sentencing Anymore
  December 17, 2007, Securities Law360
• Russell: Prosecuting Defense Counsel for Obstruction
  November 21, 2007, New York Law Journal
• Limiting the Scope of Honest Services Fraud
  July 23, 2007, New York Law Journal
• Privacy, Technology and the Law
  May 4, 2007
• Evolution of the Antiquities Trade: From Open-Air Bazaar to Buyer Beware
  Museum News, November/December 2006
• Insider Trading: Making Punishment Fit the Crime
  December 12, 2005
• Fix the Hyde Amendment
  June 13, 2005, The National Law Journal
• Second Circuit Says Government Lawyers Covered by Privilege
  March 23, 2005, New York Law Journal

Professional Affiliations

• Co-Chair, Committee on White Collar Criminal Litigation, New York State Bar Association
• Member, Federal Bar Council
• Member, New York City Bar Association Art Law Committee