Robert Shwartz, a retired partner, was a member of the Litigation Department whose practice consisted principally of trial work, civil as well as criminal. Apart from his trial practice, he focused on complex commercial disputes, civil fraud, RICO and class action litigation. Mr. Shwartz also conducted numerous internal investigations of alleged wrongdoing by corporate officers and employees, often in conjunction with grand jury, SEC or other administrative investigations.

During 1987 – 1988, Mr. Shwartz left the firm to serve as Associate Counsel in the Office of Independent Counsel in the Iran-Contra investigation. He was a senior attorney responsible for the investigation and analysis of the flow of funds and all other financial aspects of the Iran-Contra scandal, including all international requests for assistance. Before joining Debevoise, Mr. Shwartz served as an Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York from 1977 – 1983. His work there focused on white collar criminal matters, including securities, commodities, tax and other business and financial frauds. He prosecuted several dozen tax cases, as well as 12 members of the New York Cotton Exchange in what was then the single largest commodity fraud prosecution.

Mr. Shwartz is the author of “A Proposal for the Designation of Shareholder Nominees for Directors in the Corporate Proxy Statement,” 74 Columbia Law Review 1139 (1974) and “The Guilty Plea as a Waiver of ‘Present But Unknowable’ Constitutional Rights: The Aftermath of the Brady Trilogy,” 74 Columbia Law Review 1435 (1974).

Mr. Shwartz joined Debevoise in 1983 and became a partner in 1985. He received his B.A. from Syracuse University in 1972 and his J.D. from Columbia University School of Law in 1975, where he was the notes editor of the Columbia Law Review. From 1975 – 1976, Mr. Shwartz served as a law clerk to the Hon. Orrin G. Judd, U.S. District Court of the Eastern District of New York.