Rick Castello chairs the firm's Criminal Defense Department.  After his graduation from Yale Law School, Mr. Castello began his legal career at the Manhattan District Attorney's Office, working for District Attorney Robert M. Morgenthau.  At the District Attorney's Office, he tried more than 75 criminal cases to verdict, and he held supervisory positions for more than 20 years, including Deputy Chief of the Trial Division.

After his career at the D.A.'s Office, Mr. Castello was a principal at intellectual property boutique Fish & Richardson P.C., where he specialized in complex business litigation, including intellectual property, commercial and criminal defense matters.

Mr. Castello has a record of winning cases at the pre-trial stage as well as the trial stage, and he has aggressively pursued procedural mechanisms and strategic presentations at the earliest stages of a case to procure favorable dispositions for his clients.  His expertise in examining and cross-examining expert and hostile witnesses has enabled him to conduct thorough investigations and to secure successful verdicts. 

Mr. Castello's peers and other professionals have recognized his trial expertise and experience.  He is a frequent lecturer on trial topics (most recently lecturing to FINRA on cross-examination), and is an adjunct professor at New York Law School, teaching Criminal Advocacy of Cases.  He has also been a regular commentator on Court TV.  Mr. Castello's initial appearance on Court TV featured his successful prosecution of an off-duty police officer who shot and seriously injured an undercover officer on a subway platform, a case that Court TV covered in its entirety.