Stacey J. Rappaport and Antonia M. Apps, partners in Milbank, Tweed, Hadley & McCloy LLP’s nationally recognized Litigation & Arbitration practice, were named to Crain’s New York Business’ “2019 Notable Women in Law” list. The list recognizes the brightest and boldest legal minds of New York City based on both distinguished careers and exceptional civic and philanthropic activities.
The Crain’s list highlights 100 trailblazing female attorneys, including law firm partners and corporate counsel at companies in New York City, who have excelled in their professional fields and impacted their immediate or greater New York City communities. According to Crain’s, those on this year’s list are “an exceptional pool of talented of female attorneys in New York City.”
“We are proud to have two Milbank partners recognized by Crain’s among such an impressive group of women lawyers,” said Scott A. Edelman, Chairman of Milbank. “Both Stacey and Antonia have made outstanding contributions to our firm and to the industry, representing the nation’s most respected organizations.”
Recently elected to Milbank’s five-member Global Executive Committee, Ms. Rappaport has been an integral part of Milbank since she joined the firm in 1996. She has successfully advised and defended major corporations and financial institutions in numerous complex financial transaction cases. She is currently defending several insurance companies in class action and other litigation concerning cost of insurance rate adjustments.
Ms. Rappaport previously served two terms as an elected member of the Firm’s Compensation Committee. She both founded and chaired Milbank’s Women’s Initiative Committee, is a current member of the Pro Bono Committee, and has previously served on the firm’s Associate Life, Diversity, and Nominating Committees. Ms. Rappaport’s commitment to the advancement of women in the legal profession is reflected in her work outside of Milbank as well. She is the founder and former co-chair of the Women Partners Subcommittee of the Committee on Women in the Legal Profession of the New York City Bar. She also serves on the boards of three non-profit organizations: Sanctuary for Families, Inc., New York’s leading service provider to victims of gender-related violence; Lincoln Square Legal Services, Inc., Fordham Law School’s student law clinic; and the Center for WorkLife Law at University of California at Hastings, a leading research and advocacy organization for the advancement of gender equality in the workplace.
Ms. Apps is a nationally recognized trial attorney and former federal prosecutor who joined Milbank in 2014 after more than seven years as an Assistant United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York. At Milbank, Ms. Apps has led multiple significant cases, representing public companies, private equity firms, hedge funds and senior executives facing bet-the-company government investigations and billion-dollar commercial litigation. She has conducted numerous internal investigations on behalf of Boards of Directors in connection with shareholder demands, regulatory inquiries and whistleblower allegations, including claims concerning corporate culture issues, and she provides advice to companies on corporate governance matters.
As a prosecutor, Ms. Apps led many of the government’s highest-profile securities fraud and insider trading cases, including the prosecution of the hedge fund S.A.C. Capital Advisors, L.P. During her tenure in the government, Ms. Apps prosecuted more than 20 insider trading defendants, and tried numerous securities fraud trials. She also argued several appeals in the Second Circuit, including the landmark case of U.S. v. Newman, for which she was the lead prosecutor at trial and on appeal. She was awarded the Executive Office of U.S. Attorneys’ Director’s Award for Superior Performance.
Ms. Apps is a member of Milbank’s Women’s Initiative Committee and has mentored and supervised dozens of associates. In the larger New York legal community, she is a member of the New York City Bar Association Committee on White Collar Crime, the Federal Bar Council and American Bar Association, and is on the board of the Office of Appellate Defender. Ms. Apps has been named in Lawdragon’s list of 500 Leading Lawyers in America every year since her return to private practice in 2014. She is ranked as one of “America’s Leading Lawyers for Business” in the Chambers USA listing for White-Collar Crime & Government Investigations and was shortlisted in 2018 for the Chambers USA Awards in the area of White Collar Crime, among other industry recognitions. She is a frequent speaker at industry conferences and teaches a course on white collar criminal law and procedure at Harvard Law School.
See Crain’s New York Business “Notable Women in Law” Feature
