NEW YORK CRIMINAL DEFENSE LAWYERS
Who We Are
ZMO Law PLLC is a group of New York criminal and civil rights attorneys. We have decades of experience representing people in state and federal trials and appeals in New York City and Westchester County. We have worked in large firms, legal services organizations, and academia. We are supported by a dedicated staff of paralegals. We work with top experts such as psychiatrists, forensic analysts, economists, and mitigation specialists. We are a client-focused, trial-ready law firm.
What We Do
Our federal criminal lawyers represent people accused of serious crimes like possession of child pornography, RICO, sex trafficking, health care fraud, and computer crimes. Our New York civil rights attorneys help victims of sexual assault seek compensation from their assailants or responsible institutions. We represent people wrongfully convicted. We handle trials and appeals.
Why We Do It
We believe in fighting for our clients. Jails and prisons are dangerous, dirty, unsafe, terrible places. No one should spend a second more incarcerated than necessary. As private lawyers, we take pride in holding to account abusive prison officials and violent police officers. We enjoy presenting cases to juries at trial. We love researching, writing, and arguing appeals, coming up with innovative ways to use the law to help people. We obtain justice for our clients.
How We Do It
We thoroughly investigate every case we handle. We listen to our clients. We focus on our client’s concerns — not our own, not the court’s, not the prosecutor’s. We provide honest advice. In some cases, we partner with other leading law firms and organizations such as the Innocence Project. We represent indigent clients in federal court through the Criminal Justice Act panels for the Eastern District of New York and the Southern District of New York. We are ready to go to trial in every case. Our adversaries know we do not back down.
Where We Work
We regularly fight for clients and frequently go to trial in federal courts in the Southern District of New York, the Eastern District of New York, and throughout the northeast. We appeal cases to the Second Circuit Court of Appeals. We try cases in New York State courts in Manhattan, the Bronx, Brooklyn, Queens and Westchester County. We represent innocent clients all over New York State. Our clients come from all over the United States and the world, including Europe, Africa and Asia.
What We Have Done
Principal attorney Zachary Margulis-Ohnuma has achieved groundbreaking results for clients since opening his firm in 2005. Our work led to the release and exoneration of Antonio Yarbough and Sharrif Wilson in 2014 after 22 years in prison for a triple-homicide they did not commit. Partnering with the Innocence Project, we obtained freedom for Felipe Rodriguez via executive clemency in 2017 and complete exoneration in 2019. We have obtained tens of millions of dollars for clients who were wrongfully convicted or sexually abused. In 2020, we obtained clemency for a mother of two serving a 13-year prison term. In 2010, our work led to leniency for a Songhai tribesman wrongly accused of helping Al Qaeda. Our appellate work has led to reversals of convictions in cases involving fraud, sex abuse, sex offender registration, drug trafficking, and murder. One of our appeals established, for the first time, that any sexual abuse of a prisoner violates the Constitution. At trials, our clients have been acquitted of murder, sex trafficking, federal conspiracy, gun possession, narcotics trafficking, receipt of child pornography, sex abuse, and other crimes. Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome.
How Much It Will Cost
A lot. Our cases require professionals to expend time, energy, and passion to get the best possible outcome. In criminal cases, we charge hourly fees that are billed against a retainer set in consultation with the client at the outset of the case. In civil cases seeking compensation for sexual assault, wrongful conviction, or excessive force, there is no up-front cost to the client, but substantial fees are taken from the recovery.
How We Can Help
If you or a loved one faces child pornography, sexual assault, homicide, or other serious criminal charges in New York City and you can afford a private attorney, you should call us immediately. If you are the victim of sexual assault at the hands of a powerful or wealthy individual or institution, you should call us immediately. If you or a loved one has been wrongfully convicted or seriously injured by police, you should call us immediately. We will listen to you and give our honest opinion of your case and your legal options. If we cannot help, we will try to refer you to an attorney or other professional who can.
