Sam Raymond is Of Counsel in the New York office of Gibson Dunn & Crutcher and a member of the White Collar Defense and Investigations, Litigation, Anti-Money Laundering, Fintech and Digital Assets, and National Security Groups. As a former federal prosecutor, Sam has a broad-based government enforcement and investigations practice, with a specific focus on investigations and counseling related to anti-money laundering, the Bank Secrecy Act, and sanctions.
Sam is an experienced investigator and trial lawyer. Prior to joining Gibson Dunn, Sam was an Assistant United States Attorney in the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York from 2017 to 2024. In that role, Sam tried multiple cases to verdict and prosecuted a broad range of federal criminal violations. Sam was a member of the team that prosecuted executives at FTX and Alameda Research, including as a member of the trial team in United States v. Bankman-Fried, and was the lead prosecutor in the FTX case on issues related to asset seizure and forfeiture. Sam was also a member of the DOJ team that brought criminal charges against the senior leadership of Hamas for their roles in planning, supporting and perpetrating the October 7 terrorist attacks on Israel. Sam was a lead prosecutor in one of the first cases ever charging individuals with violations of the Bank Secrecy Act, in a pathbreaking prosecution of executives at a cryptocurrency exchange.
Sam led dozens of other investigations and prosecutions, including in cases involving money laundering, unlicensed money transmitting, sanctions evasion, asset seizure and forfeiture, tax fraud, securities fraud, bank and wire fraud, racketeering, extortion, illicit gambling, art fraud, and government benefits fraud. Earlier in his career, Sam prosecuted cases involving gang violence and narcotics trafficking. Sam argued multiple times before the Second Circuit Court of Appeals, including with respect to constitutional issues of first impression. He also served as one of the Office’s inaugural Digital Asset Coordinators, offering trainings and coordinating within the Office regarding digital assets, and engaging with other U.S. Attorney’s Offices, Department of Justice components, and law enforcement agencies, regarding cryptocurrency.
Prior to his government service, Sam practiced for several years at another major international law firm, where he practiced white collar defense and litigated complex civil cases and appeals.
Sam has a substantial pro bono practice. At his prior firm, Sam helped establish the innocence of a man who had served 29 years in prison for a crime he did not commit, leading to the vacatur of the man’s conviction by the Manhattan D.A.’s Office.
Sam received his undergraduate degree from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and his law degree from NYU Law School. Following law school, Sam clerked for Judge Mariana Pfaelzer of the Central District of California, and Judge J. Clifford Wallace of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.
Sam is admitted to practice in the State of New York and before the U.S. District Courts for the Southern and Eastern Districts of New York and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit.
Capabilities
- White Collar Defense and Investigations
- Anti-Money Laundering
- Fintech and Digital Assets
- Litigation
- National Security
Credentials
Education:
- New York University - 2011 Juris Doctor
- Massachusetts Institute of Technology - 2006 Bachelor of Science
Admissions:
- New York Bar
Clerkships:
- US Court of Appeals, 9th Circuit, Hon. J. Clifford Wallace, 2013 - 2014
- USDC, Central District of California, Hon. Mariana Pfaelzer, 2012 - 2013