Andrew St. Laurent is a trial lawyer and co-founder of Harris St. Laurent LLP, representing executives and companies in white collar criminal defense, regulatory investigations, and high-stakes commercial disputes.
Andrew began his career at a leading white collar criminal defense boutique and then served as a public defender at the Legal Aid Society in Manhattan, where he tried more than a dozen cases to jury verdict. He clerked for the Honorable Allyne R. Ross of the Eastern District of New York and the Honorable Diana E. Murphy of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit.
Since co-founding the firm in 2009, Andrew has represented CEOs, CFOs, and financial professionals in federal and state trial courts, in arbitration, and on appeal. His matters have included FCPA investigations, multi-agency inquiries following a bank's collapse, appeals of FINRA sanctions, and shareholder class and derivative actions in federal court in New York and the Delaware Court of Chancery. He has twice obtained vacatur in the Second Circuit, of a sentence and of a denial of habeas corpus. He defended a prominent UK litigator against two U.S. RICO actions, Solomon v. Dechert (S.D.N.Y.) and Azima v. Dechert (D.D.C.), both of which resolved without any finding of liability against the client or any payment by him.
Chambers USA has ranked Andrew in Litigation: White-Collar Crime & Government Investigations since 2021, where a client described him as "a brilliant legal mind." He is recognized as a Litigation Star and National Practice Area Star by Benchmark Litigation, as U.S. City Elite by Legal 500 (2026), and in Lawdragon's 500 Leading Lawyers in America and 500 Leading Global Investigations Lawyers (2026). He focuses on the client's goals over legal gamesmanship, cutting through procedural minutiae to find the most direct path to the best available result.
- Currently represents a former institutional salesperson in the D.C. Circuit challenging the constitutionality of FINRA proceedings.
- Represented a former public company CFO in defense of shareholder class and derivative actions in federal court in New York and the Delaware Court of Chancery. Following motion practice by Andrew and his team, all claims in all cases against the CFO were dismissed in the district court (S.D.N.Y.). Andrew now represents the CFO on appeal to the Second Circuit.
- Represented a prominent UK litigator in the defense of two U.S. RICO actions, Solomon v. Dechert et al. (S.D.N.Y.) and Azima v. Dechert et al. (D.D.C.). Both matters resolved without any finding of liability against the client or any payment by the client.
- Obtained vacatur in two separate criminal appeals to the Second Circuit: a sentence vacated and remanded to the district court, and a denial of habeas corpus vacated and remanded for an evidentiary hearing.
- Represented the chief executive officer and president of one of New York's largest factoring conglomerates in an action brought by the New York Attorney General in New York Supreme Court. Resolved through settlement.
- Commercial disputes
- White collar crime
- Financial services
- Bachelor of Arts, Brown University, 1994
- Juris Doctor, Columbia Law School, 1998
- New York Council of Defense Lawyers, 2011
- New York, 1999