Richard B. Zabel is the Deputy U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York. He was promoted to that position in October 2011 after serving as Chief of the office’s Criminal Division since 2009.
Mr. Zabel first joined the U.S. Attorney’s Office in 1991, where, as an Assistant U.S. Attorney, he prosecuted a variety of cases involving securities fraud, obstruction of justice, racketeering, firearms and narcotics charges, and argued numerous cases before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. From 1996 to 1999, he served as Deputy Chief and then Chief of the Office’s Narcotics Unit. He received numerous awards, including the Attorney General’s Award for Distinguished Service and the Department of Justice Director’s Award for Superior Performance as an Assistant U.S. Attorney. In 1999, he left the U.S. Attorney’s Office to join the law firm of Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP, where he was a partner until 2009.

Mr. Zabel received his A.B. in Comparative Literature and graduated summa cum laude in 1983 from Princeton University, where he was elected to Phi Beta Kappa, and was a Fulbright Scholar. He received his J.D. in 1987 from Harvard Law School where he was Best Oralist in the Ames Moot Court Competition. Mr. Zabel has taught as an adjunct professor of criminal law at Columbia Law School and the Fordham University School of Law. He is a member of the New York Bar, the Federal Bar Council, and the New York Inn of Court.