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Am Law 100 firm with practices in Business, Digital Assets and Data Management, Intellectual Property, Labor & Employment, Litigation and Tax.

Home | BakerHostetler

John Carney Chairs and Speaks, Jimmy Fokas Speaks at PLI Basics of Accounting for Lawyers 2025

Webinar Series: Transforming Legacy Management Experience

Rebecca Schrote Presents on APEX Depositions at Columbus Bar Association CLE Session

To Help the New Administration Help Your Industry, You Need an Agency Strategy (Real Estate Finance Journal)

Seanna has worked on every major aspect of the Madoff engagement, spearheading the negotiation of billion-dollar settlements, leading trial and appellate teams in the litigation of some of the most critical matters facing the bankruptcy bar in generations, chasing assets across the globe, and distributing over $14 billion of recovered assets to Madoff’s victims – an unparalleled amount that far exceeds even the most optimistic projections made when the fraud was first discovered in 2008.

Efficiently managing and collaborating with large teams of diverse lawyers, Seanna combines exceptional strategic thinking, formidable project management skills and instinctual good judgment to achieve the right results for her clients. Her versatility and pragmatic approach to the law allows her to operate effectively in the various disciplines that large, multifaceted cases present – complex litigation, major motions, trials, appeals to the Circuit Courts and Supreme Court, bankruptcy, asset recovery and e-discovery and document management in the modern era.

Seanna brings the same skills to bear for indigent clients too, representing death row inmates in post-conviction challenges in Alabama and Georgia state and federal courts for the last dozen years. Her appellate acumen and exceptional brief writing skills have been sought out by such clients as the American Bar Association, the Fines, Fees &amp; Justice Center and the National Women’s Law Center, with Seanna representing them as amici curiae to the Supreme Court and Circuit courts across the nation on the Sixth Amendment right to counsel, the Eighth Amendment prohibition on fines and Title IX on college campuses.

Seanna serves as co-leader of the New York Bankruptcy team, is co-chair of the firmwide Pro Bono Committee and is one of 10 members of the firmwide Strategic Planning Committee. Seanna was recognized as a Rising Star by both Law360 and the New York Law Journal and has been a New York Metro “Super Lawyer” every year since 2013.

core/freeform

J.D., Fordham University School of Law, 2006

B.A., The City University of New York, Hunter College, 2003, 

<ul>
<li>Global Restructuring Review, &#8220;Most Significant Restructuring or Insolvency Related Litigation&#8221; (2019)</li>
<li>Law360: &#8220;Rising Star&#8221; in Securities (2016)</li>
<li>New York Law Journal: &#8220;Rising Star&#8221; (2015)</li>
<li>New York Metro Super Lawyers
<ul>
<li>&#8220;Super Lawyer&#8221; (2013 to 2024)</li>
<li>&#8220;Rising Star&#8221; (2011 to 2012)</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>Bar of the City of New York: Thurgood Marshall Award</li>
</ul>

New York

Seanna Brown, Patrick Campbell Comment on Pro Bono Death Row Case in Law360 Article

Veterans Legal Institute names Costa Mesa office its Law Firm of the Year

Second Circuit Reverses Lower Courts, Preserves Madoff Trustee’s Ability To Pursue $3.75 Billion of Stolen Customer Property

Podcast Features Seanna Brown as it Recounts Firm’s Role in Recovering Billions for Victims of Madoff Ponzi Scheme

Seanna Brown, Tatiana Markel are Speakers for Webinar on Cross-Border Bankruptcy and Private Funds

Firm, Madoff Team Earn Prestigious Award for Significant Litigation

150 BakerHostetler Attorneys Named 2016 Super Lawyers; 91 Named Rising Stars

Bloomberg’s article “Madoff Victims to Get $322 Million in Trustee Payout” acknowledges BakerHostetler attorneys at announcement of fifth distribution plans

CNBC reports on BakerHostetler and the Madoff Recovery Initiative in article Madoff Recoveries Top $10 Billion With New Settlement, “… an amount virtually no one thought possible”

The Associated Press reports on BakerHostetler and the Madoff Recovery Initiative recoveries of $10.5 billion

BLMIS Interest Claims Questioned by Second Circuit in Law360 article naming SIPA Trustee and BakerHostetler

Law360 story on Bankruptcy Court’s favorable decision re: Solus and Optimal names SIPA Trustee and BakerHostetler attorneys

BakerHostetler talks with USA Today about the SIPA Trustee’s fourth pro rata interim distribution; states Madoff Recovery Initiative nears $6 billion in distributions to allowed claimants

National Association of Bankruptcy Trustees Supports SIPA Trustee and his BakerHostetler Counsel in Second Circuit 546(e) appeal

Law360 article on SCOTUS Request for DOJ Opinion on SIPA Trustee’s Petition for Writ of Certiorari names BakerHostetler attorneys

BakerHostetler’s settlement with JPMorgan Chase and the ongoing Madoff Recovery Initiative Discussed on National Public Radio’s All Things Considered

BakerHostetler attorneys’ work on Madoff Liquidation Second Circuit Appeal cited by Law360

BakerHostetler appears on NPR’s All Things Considered to discuss Madoff Recovery Initiative; host Robert Siegel interviews SIPA Trustee Irving Picard and his Chief Counsel David Sheehan

Madoff Recovery Initiative surpasses $5 billion in distributions to allowed claimants; CNBC’s Scott Cohn discusses latest recovery with BakerHostetler’s SIPA Trustee Irving Picard and his Chief Counsel David Sheehan

Madoff Recovery Initiative Marks Fourth Anniversary … Moves into Fifth Year Still Building Recovery Momentum

BakerHostetler’s work recovering more than half of the losses in the Madoff Ponzi scheme featured on WNYC in interview on The Brian Lehrer Show

Press Release: Second Interim Distribution of Recovered Funds to Madoff Claim Holders

Law360 article on Bankruptcy Court approval of $2.4 Billion Distribution Recognizes BakerHostetler Attorneys

Press Release: United States Supreme Court Denies Certiorari, Upholding Net Equity Decision in BLMIS Liquidation

The Wall Street Journal showcases BakerHostetler and the “unprecedented magnitude” of the global recovery efforts in article “The Madoff Liquidation, Three Years Later”

Press Release: Initial Interim Distribution of Recovered Funds to Madoff Claims Holders

BakerHostetler attorneys working on Madoff liquidation recognized in Law360 article on key Second Circuit decision

BakerHostetler attorneys working on Madoff liquidation recognized in Law360 article on key Bankruptcy Court decision

The New York Times reports on BakerHostetler’s negotiation and settlement with the Picower Estate for $5 billion in the SIPA liquidation of Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities LLC

Litigation

Restructuring and Bankruptcy

Global Fraud and International Asset Tracing and Recovery

Commercial Litigation

White Collar, Investigations and Securities Enforcement and Litigation

Appellate and Major Motions

Compliance

<ul>
<li>Argued and won a recent appeal to the Second Circuit on the issue of “value” and authored briefs on the definitions of “net equity” and “customer” under the Securities Investor Protection Act, landmark decisions that defined the scope and quantum of payments to BLMIS customers from the estate.</li>
<li>Obtained reversal in the Second Circuit on the issues of extraterritoriality and comity, a decision that the editor of Global Restructuring Review recognized has a “far-reaching impact . . . way beyond the U.S.”</li>
<li>Served as lead trial counsel of an all-women trial team on the first of the Trustee’s cases to go to trial. The success at trial has been sustained on appeal by the district court and the Second Circuit, where Seanna argued the appeal. Prior to trial, Seanna deposed Mr. Madoff and numerous other former BLMIS employees.</li>
<li>Worked on trial team on the second of the Trustee’s cases to go to trial, obtaining a judgment of 100% of fraudulent transfers sought and 9% pre-judgment interest.</li>
<li>Argued appeal at the Second Circuit worth more than $1 billion to the estate on the issue of whether customers were entitled to interest on their claims.</li>
<li>Served as lead counsel in resolving the cross-border insolvency issues relating to BLMIS’s London operation, including resolving proofs of claim filed in the liquidation of Madoff Securities International Limited (UK).</li>
<li>Involved in every one of the Trustee’s dozen-plus appeals to go directly from the bankruptcy court to the Second Circuit, developing a deep knowledge of bankruptcy appellate practice and strategy.</li>
<li>Represents the Trustee in all dealings with the U.S. government, including the Government Accountability Office, the U.S. Attorney’s Office, the Securities &amp; Exchange Commission and the Department of Justice Special Master.</li>
</ul>
<h5>Other Appellate and Litigation Experience</h5>
<ul>
<li>Represented a property owner in an appeal to the Second Circuit in a civil forfeiture case.</li>
<li>Represented a global pharmaceutical company in class action litigation regarding certain drug products.</li>
<li>Represented a qui tam relator against two New York hospitals regarding Medicaid fraud.</li>
<li>Defended against fraudulent transfer and preference actions, including a recent case in the Delaware bankruptcy court.</li>
<li>Represented limited partners in a contested dissolution of limited liability company.</li>
<li>Represented restaurant industry investors in dispute with controlling members of limited liability company.</li>
<li>Represented an artist in connection with copyright infringement claim on musical composition.</li>
</ul>

Seanna R. Brown

Seanna R. Brown

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