Nicolas Bourtin is a litigation partner and a member of Sullivan & Cromwell’s Criminal Defense and Investigations Group. His practice focuses on white collar criminal defense and internal investigations, regulatory enforcement matters, and securities and complex civil litigation.

Mr. Bourtin has represented individuals, corporations and financial institutions in numerous high-profile matters involving accounting fraud, antitrust, the FCPA, insider trading, money laundering, OFAC sanctions, securities fraud and tax fraud. He has extensive experience representing financial institutions in parallel regulatory and criminal investigations and representing non-U.S. companies and individuals in connection with U.S. investigations.

Mr. Bourtin has conducted numerous jury trials and has argued frequently before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit.

He is frequently recognized as a leading practitioner in the area of white collar criminal defense.

Mr. Bourtin also serves, on a pro bono basis, on the Criminal Justice Act panel for the Eastern District of New York, representing indigent defendants in federal criminal proceedings.

Government Service
Mr. Bourtin served for four years as an assistant U.S. attorney in the Eastern District of New York, where he was involved in investigations, prosecutions and trials involving fraud, corruption, money laundering and other white collar offenses.

In addition, Mr. Bourtin successfully prosecuted the bosses and senior leadership of three of the five New York City-based Italian mafia families for crimes such as murder, racketeering, extortion, loansharking and narcotics trafficking. In total, Mr. Bourtin convicted over 75 members and associates of La Cosa Nostra and was involved in several historic prosecutions, including the first death penalty-eligible murder indictments of Italian mafia bosses in modern history.

Mr. Bourtin also coordinated the Eastern District U.S. Attorney’s Office’s cooperation with the Italian government on matters involving organized crime and led several successful collaborative efforts with the Italian Ministry of Justice, National Antimafia Bureau, National Police, Carabinieri and Guardia di Finanza.