The Founder

Benjamin Gruenstein

bgruenstein@gruensteinlaw.com
Direct: (212) 379-490

Benjamin Gruenstein serves as a trusted advisor to companies, boards of directors and senior executives navigating their most consequential legal challenges in the areas of government and internal investigations, regulatory enforcement, white-collar criminal defense and complex civil litigation.

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        Before launching Gruenstein Law, Ben spent 14 years as a partner at Cravath, Swaine & Moore, where he was a founding member of the firm’s Investigations and Regulatory Enforcement Practice. In that role, he represented companies and executives in investigations and litigation involving securities and accounting fraud, money laundering, healthcare fraud, trade sanctions, theft of trade secrets, the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and the False Claims Act. He also routinely advised companies and their boards of directors on corporate governance and regulatory compliance.

        Ben is a first-chair trial lawyer, who has tried numerous cases as a federal prosecutor and in private practice. He also regularly argues cases in federal courts of appeals, and recently argued a case before the U.S. Supreme Court.

        Ben has been recognized as a leading lawyer by Chambers USA for White-Collar Crime & Government Investigations, named a “National Star” by Benchmark Litigation and selected by Lawdragon as one of the “500 Leading Lawyers in America.”

        Clients and peers have praised Ben as “highly esteemed,” “the most strategic lawyer I’ve ever worked with” and “known for his strategic acumen, meticulous approach and dedication to achieving the best possible outcomes for his clients.” Others have noted that he “brings an exceptional amount of intellect to his cases and is strategically on point,” and has “impeccable judgment” and “total command of the facts of a case.” Another has described Ben’s “professionalism, effectiveness, intelligence, legal expertise and bedside manner” as “unparalleled,” stating that he “went above and beyond anything I or any board member had ever experienced.”

        Before joining Cravath, Ben served from 2002 to 2008 as an Assistant U.S. Attorney in the Criminal Division of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York. He is a summa cum laude graduate of Harvard College and a magna cum laude graduate of Harvard Law School, where he was an editor of the Harvard Law Review. After law school, he clerked on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit for Judge Stephen F. Williams and on the U.S. Supreme Court for Justice David H. Souter.

        Education
              • J.D., 1999, Harvard Law School, magna cum laude
              • A.B., 1996, Harvard College, summa cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa
              CLERKSHIPS
                    • Hon. David H. Souter, U.S. Supreme Court
                    • Hon. Stephen F. Williams, U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit
                    ADMITTED IN
                          • New York
                          • District of Columbia
                          Rankings
                                • Chambers USA
                                • White‑Collar Crime & Government Investigations - New York (2025-2019)
                                • Best Lawyers in America
                                • Criminal Defense: White‑Collar (2025‑2016)
                                • Benchmark Litigation  
                                • White Collar Crime Litigation Star - National (2026-2017)
                                • Litigation Star - New York (2026-2017)
                                • Lawdragon
                                • 500 Leading Lawyers in America (2026‑2013)
                                • Legends of the 500 Leading Lawyers in America (2023)
                                • 500 Leading Global Litigators (2025, 2024)
                                • 500 Leading Litigators in America (2026-2023)
                                • 500 Global Leaders in Crisis Management (2026-2025)