Chris Porrino, the chair of the litigation department at Lowenstein Sandler, said the firm’s New York City office has long been looking to add an experience litigator who had served in the Eastern District of New York — preferably an attorney that would fit into the firm’s strong financial services practice area.
Porrino said Lowenstein found all that and more in Jonathan Alger, a former assistant U.S. Attorney who joins the firm today as a partner, working in the firm’s White Collar Defense and Corporate Investigations practice groups.
“Jonathan’s a very strategic hire for us,” Porrino told BINJE. “He’s strong in white-collar cases, which is where we’re so strong, but he’s also strong in civil litigation in the financial services area, which is another strength for us given all the funds we represent — hedge funds, private equity and venture capital.
“And in addition to being a very experienced and really smart lawyer, based on everything we’ve learned, he’s also a great guy.”
Algor, a West Point graduate and a veteran of numerous tours in the Middle East, certainly brings a lot of experience to the firm.
He is a former prosecutor for the National Security and Cybercrime section of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York — a more-than-five-year stretch that encompassed part of the first administration of President Donald Trump and that of President Joe Biden.
And he comes to Lowenstein after more than two years at Kasowitz Benson Torres, where he represented individuals and companies in high-stakes criminal and regulatory matters, as well as complex commercial and international disputes.
Algor has defended multinational public companies, SPACs, hedge funds, private equity and financial services firms, and executives against claims such as securities and bank fraud, foreign bribery, money laundering, and CFIUS violations. He also has represented prominent individuals and companies in arbitrations, litigations, and trials, as well as in investigations by such agencies as the U.S. Department of Justice, the Department of
Treasury, the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, and the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority.
In his former role as an Assistant U.S. Attorney, Algor handled prosecutions — including numerous jury trials, investigations, and appeals — involving terrorism, cybercrime, economic sanctions, foreign agent registration, foreign counterintelligence, export control violations, racketeering, money laundering and bank fraud.
A resident of Bergen County, Algor is expected to also spend time working out of the firm’s Roseland office, building a book of business in New Jersey, too.
Algor said he’s open to all possibilities at Lowenstein.
“It’s the top firm in the state and it offers a top-notch national platform for me to expand my investigative and white collar practices,” he said. “I am looking forward to collaborating with some of the country’s leading litigators, such as Chris and Matthew Boxer, as well as with specialists in such areas as CFIUS and AML — like Doreen Edelman and Robert Johnston and fellow New York U.S. Attorney’s Office alumnae Rachel Maimin.
“I’ve done a good amount of white-collar work and a lot of pure commercial litigation and national security cases. So, when you plug all that into the Lowenstein platform, I think it’s a great opportunity.”
The addition of Algor is the latest example of Lowenstein’s ongoing success in attracting prominent former prosecutors and public servants and deepens the firm’s reach in New York federal and state matters.
In addition to Maimin, Algor also joins Kathleen McGee, the former chief of the bureau of internet and technology for the New York State Attorney General’s Office.
In just the past year, the firm also has welcomed Shontae Gray, former Assistant U.S. Attorney and former deputy attorney general for the state of New Jersey; Parimal Garg, former chief counsel to Gov. Phil Murphy; Jason Gould, former chief, health care fraud unit, U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of New Jersey; and Michael Long, former director of the Division of Law within the New Jersey attorney general’s office.
Algor said symmetry was evident when he met the team and its numerous former public servants.
“There’s a persona about it,” he said. “When I was going through the interview process, you could just start to see the wheels turning on both sides about how we’re going to work together.
“Rachel Maimin is a Southern (District) alum. We plan on going out and pitching cases, Southern, Eastern – across the globe. I’m really thrilled to be able to join that type of team – to be able to rely on them, and then hopefully, for them to rely on me – as we build out the team.”
Porrino, who previously served as attorney general of New Jersey and as chief counsel to former Gov. Chris Christie, sees it the same way.
“In litigation, we’re very often hiring people out of government or people who spent time in government. Jonathan fits that mold beautifully.
“But it’s more than that. We have a real culture in the litigation group here. We really do work as a team. People like one another, are friendly toward one another and are actually friends outside the office.
“So, when we add someone, in addition to being a great lawyer, it’s really important that that they are a solid citizen and a great person. In addition to my time with him, I’ve been able to confirm through people I trust that he’s just a fabulous human being in addition to being a fabulous lawyer. So that makes him a perfect fit.”
Before joining the Department of Justice, Algor practiced litigation at two international law firms and clerked for the Hon. Raymond M. Kethledge, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit.
Prior to his legal career, Algor served in a variety of leadership roles in the U.S. Army, including two tours of duty in Iraq, where he was twice awarded the Bronze Star for meritorious service in combat.
