Bachner & Associates: The Rackets-Bureau Deputy Chief Who Out-Crossed the Wolf of Wall Street

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Michael Bachner has cross-examined the Wolf of Wall Street — and won. The stock-fraud acquittal in which he took apart Jordan Belfort on the stand is one line in a résumé that runs through both of Manhattan’s elite prosecution shops — the DA’s Rackets Bureau, where he rose to Deputy Bureau Chief under Robert Morgenthau, and the city’s Special Narcotics Prosecutor’s office, where he held the same rank — plus an apprenticeship in Benjamin Brafman’s firm and an in-house chapter at Prudential Securities. Since 1988, Bachner & Associates has converted that formation into one of New York’s most credentialed white-collar and securities defense boutiques.

At a Glance

Firm	Bachner & Associates, PC (private practice since 1988)
Principal Attorney	Michael F. Bachner
Office	Lower Manhattan, New York, NY (current address via the firm’s site, bhlawfirm.com — see Methodology); clients served regionally and nationwide, including New Jersey and Florida
Focus	White-collar criminal defense and securities litigation — fraud in all forms, insider trading, RICO, grand-jury investigations, narcotics-trafficking and money-laundering matters — plus violent-crime, cybercrime, and international-crime defense, in New York state courts, the SDNY and EDNY, and the Second Circuit, with cases litigated in California, Pennsylvania, Georgia, and Florida
Background	Assistant District Attorney and Deputy Bureau Chief, Rackets Bureau, Manhattan District Attorney’s Office (beginning as a narcotics prosecutor under Robert Morgenthau); Deputy Bureau Chief, Office of the Special Narcotics Prosecutor for the City of New York; associate to Benjamin Brafman; Associate Vice President and Assistant General Counsel, Prudential Securities
Admissions	New York; U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York (1982); Second Circuit practice
Education	B.A., Rutgers University (1978; Phi Beta Kappa, criminal justice); J.D., Hofstra University School of Law (1981)
Fee Structure	By consultation; premium boutique engagement

Career History

Passaic-born, Bachner took his Rutgers degree Phi Beta Kappa and his Hofstra J.D. in 1981, then built the most double-sided formation in this directory: prosecuting rackets and narcotics at deputy-bureau-chief rank in two of the city’s premier offices, defending as an associate in Benjamin Brafman’s firm, and working the securities industry from the inside as assistant general counsel to a New York Stock Exchange member firm, handling broker-fraud, SEC, and criminal-investigation matters. Private practice since 1988 has produced a four-decade trial career across state, federal, and arbitration forums; election as a Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers; an AV Preeminent rating; Super Lawyers recognition; regular commentary on Fox News, CNBC, and truTV; and published scholarship including a New York Law Journal analysis of parallel SEC and criminal probes.

Practice Concentration

The practice sits where criminal law meets the securities industry, and the firm’s structural claim is unusual but documented: genuine fluency in both the legal and financial mechanics of securities-related prosecutions, from insider trading and stock fraud through money-laundering theories attached to trafficking cases. A distinctive line is pre-charge advocacy — working with state and federal prosecutors behind the scenes to prevent charges from ever being filed — alongside grand-jury investigation defense and full trial capability. The client roster documented across public sources spans public officials (former NYPD Commissioner Bernard Kerik), entertainers (Robert Iler of The Sopranos; civil matters for Bob Guccione Jr. and Carl and Rob Reiner), and professional athletes (former Giant Antonio Pierce).

Track Record

The documented record includes service as defense counsel in the largest insider-trading case in New Jersey history; acquittals in stock-fraud prosecutions, including the trial in which he cross-examined government witness Jordan Belfort; and tax-case acquittals — results published through his American College of Trial Lawyers fellowship profile, a vetted peer-institutional source. The firm’s broader outcome characterizations are attributed as its own; no itemized dispositions ledger is published, and this research did not independently verify individual results beyond the ACTL-profiled matters. Past results do not guarantee or predict a similar outcome in any future case.

Client Voice

The consumer-review base is small, as expected at this tier, and uniformly positive in substance: one client reports “the best possible result” attributable to his work and commitment; another describes meticulous, methodical counsel who guided them through every step, adding that it is obvious why he represents well-known names. The observation embedded in that praise — a practice accustomed to prominent clients — is the honest signal about engagement economics. This research did not surface any public disciplinary findings.

Beyond the Courtroom

Bachner’s contributions to the profession run through lecturing on securities regulation and insider trading, published practitioner scholarship in the New York Law Journal, and the public legal education of his recurring broadcast commentary — the teaching posture of a practitioner whose specialty is genuinely technical.

Recognition

Sorting per our standard: the Fellowship in the American College of Trial Lawyers is an elected peer honor of the first rank — among the most selective credentials in American trial practice; the AV Preeminent rating is Martindale-Hubbell’s highest peer-review tier; the Super Lawyers selection is peer-informed recognition from a commercial publication; and the “Top 100 National Trial Lawyers” designation is a membership-based marketing program, which we label as such. A disclosure we apply to every New York profile: New York State does not operate a board certification program for legal specialties comparable to the Texas Board of Legal Specialization, so no New York attorney profile on this site will describe its subject as a state-certified specialist, and this profile attributes no state specialty certification to Bachner.

New York Legal Backdrop

White-collar and securities matters run on machinery of their own. The decisive phase is usually pre-charge: grand-jury subpoenas, SEC parallel proceedings whose civil discovery can feed a criminal file, and proffer-session decisions that shape everything after — the terrain where behind-the-scenes advocacy can end a case before it begins. Charged federal matters proceed through detention hearings, the Speedy Trial Act, and Sentencing Guidelines mathematics in which loss amount drives exposure. State prosecutions follow the standard New York framework — arraignment within roughly twenty-four hours, the CPL § 180.80 grand-jury release deadline (120 hours, or 144 spanning a weekend or holiday), CPL § 30.30 speedy-trial limits (six months on most felonies), automatic discovery under CPL Article 245, and sealing eligibility under CPL § 160.59. None of this is legal advice; consult a licensed New York attorney about your situation.

Awesome Attorneys Assessment

The case for Bachner is formation nobody else in this category can match point for point: deputy-chief prosecutorial rank in two elite offices, training in Brafman’s firm, in-house securities-industry fluency, ACTL Fellowship, and vetted trial results that include out-crossing the most famous fraud cooperator of his era. For the executive, broker, or public figure whose case lives at the intersection of criminal exposure and the securities laws, this is among the city’s most precisely fitted practices.

The honest trade-offs, stated plainly: this is a premium solo-branded boutique whose economics fit serious and complex matters; the practice’s centre of gravity is white-collar and securities work, with generalist criminal matters a secondary line; admission dates from the early 1980s invite the ordinary longevity and succession questions for multi-year engagements; the consumer-review base is small; and one cited accolade is a marketing-program award, labeled above.

Methodology & Sourcing

This profile was researched and written independently by Awesome Attorneys in August 2026 without the participation, sponsorship, or payment of Bachner & Associates, PC. Primary sources: the firm’s website (bhlawfirm.com), including its firm-overview, attorney, and white-collar practice pages (career chronology; the Kerik representation; practice scope; the pre-charge advocacy line; multistate litigation history). Independent verification: the American College of Trial Lawyers fellowship profile (the Brafman associateship; the Rackets Bureau and Special Narcotics service; the Prudential Securities role; the New Jersey insider-trading case; the Belfort cross-examination and stock-fraud and tax acquittals; the client roster; the NYLJ article); Super Lawyers profile (the Morgenthau-era narcotics-to-Rackets progression; media appearances; AV Preeminent rating); FindLaw profile (Rutgers 1978 Phi Beta Kappa; Hofstra 1981; SDNY 1982; the Special Narcotics Deputy Bureau Chief rank); Wikipedia’s sourced biography (birth and education; high-profile client history; media presence); Avvo profile (the client reviews quoted in Client Voice). The National Trial Lawyers designation is labeled as a marketing program per our standard. The precise street address is available via the firm’s site and should be confirmed at contact. Statutes cited in the New York Legal Backdrop were verified against the New York Criminal Procedure Law (§§ 30.30, 160.59, 180.80, and Article 245).

Publisher Disclosure & Independence Notice

Awesome Attorneys is an independent legal-directory publisher. This profile was not paid for by Bachner & Associates, PC, and inclusion in our editorial coverage cannot be purchased. Our methodology and editorial standards are applied consistently across all firms we cover.