Anne R. Yearwood

Anne R. Yearwood’s practice focuses on criminal defense, investigations, regulatory compliance, and complex civil litigation matters. She also maintains broad public interest and pro bono practices.

At Hecker Fink, she has helped guide dozens of institutional and individual clients through government and regulatory investigations initiated by, among others, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), and U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), as well as state and international regulators and law enforcement agencies. She was part of the team that conducted a comprehensive review of gender equity issues in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) championships. She has also represented universities in connection with compliance investigations initiated by DOJ, the Department of Health and Human Services, and the Department of Education Office for Civil Rights. She has assisted several financial institutions in connection with SEC investigations relating to the use of personal devices for business-related communications, serving as pool counsel to employees in some cases and as a compliance consultant in others. She has helped lead internal investigations for universities and financial institutions relating to discrimination, regulatory compliance, institutional security, and employee misconduct. And she has advised numerous individual clients involved in government investigations, including executives and employees of Fortune 500 companies, large financial institutions, hedge funds, and cryptocurrency companies, preparing them for trial testimony and government proffers and negotiating the resolution of criminal matters with federal and state prosecutors. She has represented individual defendants in high-profile, high-stakes criminal prosecutions, including representing a former hedge fund manager in a criminal trial in the Southern District of New York (SDNY). Additionally, Anne has provided guidance to many companies, universities, foundations, and nonprofit organizations on a wide array of sensitive issues, helping them navigate an ever-changing legal landscape.

Anne also maintains a broad public interest practice. She represents indigent criminal defendants pro bono in both federal and state criminal prosecutions. Most notably, Anne was a member of the team that helped secure a dismissal of all charges against Tracy McCarter, a victim of domestic violence who was wrongfully charged with the murder of her husband. She has also represented individuals in civil rights cases brought under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 involving police misconduct, including representing two state lawmakers who were assaulted and pepper sprayed by police officers during the 2020 racial justice protests, and in employment discrimination cases involving allegations of sexual harassment and misconduct. Anne also represents plaintiffs in #MeToo matters, litigating sexual assault claims in federal and state court as well as through mediation.

Anne joined the firm from Davis Polk & Wardwell, where she advised large financial institutions, law firms, corporations, and individuals in investigations by the DOJ, SEC, Federal Reserve, Office of Foreign Assets Control, and state and international financial regulators and law enforcement agencies involving inquiries into Foreign Corrupt Practices Act violations, money laundering, sanctions violations, and wire and securities fraud. Anne also represented institutional clients in complex civil litigation and arbitration, including in cases involving allegations of securities fraud, contract disputes, professional malpractice claims, and intellectual property disputes. Anne also represented numerous clients pro bono and achieved several successful outcomes, including obtaining a reversal in the Second Circuit on denial of an asylum claim, vacating a state law conspiracy conviction in the Second Department, submitting a white paper in connection with the remedies phase of the stop-and-frisk class action settlements relating to Floyd v. City of New York that included recommendations ultimately adopted by the court, and winning summary judgment in a Hague Convention case on behalf of a refugee mother seeking to live with her children in the United States.

Before joining the firm, Anne clerked for the Honorable Kenneth M. Karas of the U.S. District Court for the SDNY. Prior to law school, Anne worked as a housing manager at Girls Educational and Mentoring Services, overseeing operation of a program which provides transitional independent living services for survivors of domestic and international human trafficking and sexual exploitation.