Draft:Karen Patton Seymour

Karen Patton Seymour is an American attorney and a partner of Sullivan & Cromwell. Earlier in her career, she served as Executive Vice President and General Counsel of Goldman Sachs, and, previously, as Chief of the Criminal Division for the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York.

Early Life and Education
Born Karen Patton on March 3, 1961, Seymour was raised in Fort Worth, Texas. She earned her bachelor’s degree, magna cum laude, from Southern Methodist University in 1983, a J.D. from the University of Texas at Austin in 1986 and an LL.M. from the University of London in 1987.

Career
Seymour’s practice at Sullivan & Cromwell includes criminal defense and internal investigations, corporate governance, crisis management and complex commercial litigation. She also serves on the firm’s Management Committee.

In 2021, Seymour rejoined Sullivan & Cromwell from Goldman Sachs, where she served as Executive Vice President and General Counsel and was a member of the firm’s Management Committee. She oversaw the company’s strategy regarding litigation and enforcement issues.

While at Goldman Sachs, Seymour was responsible for matters including the multijurisdictional settlement relating to 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB),   for which Global Investigations Review named her “Investigations Professional of the Year.” Seymour also advised the “Launch with GS” initiative, Goldman Sachs’ commitment to narrow the gender investing gap and to increase access to capital for women and diverse entrepreneurs and investors, and served on the firm’s Diversity and Inclusion Committee.

Previously, Seymour was co-managing partner of Sullivan & Cromwell’s Litigation Group and head of the firm’s Criminal Defense and Investigations Group. She represented corporations and individuals in investigations and proceedings involving allegations of securities fraud and insider trading, and sanctions and criminal violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, anti-money laundering laws and regulations overseen by the Office of Foreign Assets Control.

In 2016, Seymour represented Goldman Sachs when it secured a $5 billion settlement in connection with actual and potential claims regarding the company’s structuring, underwriting and sales of residential mortgage-backed securities. The settlement was with parties including the U.S. Department of Justice, the Attorneys General of New York, Illinois and California, the National Credit Union Administration and the Federal Home Loan Banks of Chicago and Seattle.

In 2015, Seymour represented Barclays in a $2.4 billion settlement of criminal and regulatory investigations related to allegations that currency traders at a number of banks were colluding to manipulate foreign exchange prices among multiple currency pairs worldwide.

Seymour represented BNP Paribas in a criminal and regulatory case brought by state and federal authorities, culminating in a nearly $9 billion criminal penalty and a guilty plea at the level of the parent company.

In addition, Seymour represented ING Bank in a criminal sanctions investigation that culminated in a $619 million settlement.

In 2023, Seymour represented DWS Investment Management Americas in its settlement with the U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission (SEC) of alleged misstatements about its environmental, social and governance (ESG) investment process. Seymour also represented DWS in the settlement of a separate SEC investigation related to the firm’s anti-money laundering program.

Public Service
From 2002 to 2004, Seymour served as the chief of the Criminal Division for the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York, where she supervised 165 federal prosecutors in matters including investigations of corporate fraud involving WorldCom, ImClone and Adelphia. She was lead trial counsel for the government in the securities fraud prosecutions of Martha Stewart and Peter Bacanovic in the ImClone stock trading case.

During her first tenure in the U.S. Attorney’s Office, from 1990 to 1996, Seymour prosecuted cases including that of Alan Rosenthal, an aide to Michael R. Milken at Drexel Burnham Lambert.

Awards
Seymour has been recognized for her public service by the Vera Institute of Justice and the 2020 Laurie A. Miller Leadership Award for the Advancement of Women in the White-Collar Defense from the Women’s White-Collar Defense Association. She has received the Law & Society Award from the New York Lawyers for the Public Interest in 2012 and the Gould Award for Outstanding Oral Advocacy by the Office of Appellate Defender in 2012. She was named a “Women Worth Watching” award winner in 2014.

In 2021, Chambers USA cited Ms. Seymour as an “Eminent Practitioner,” and previously had included her in its Leading Lawyers for Business category as a Leading Litigator in White-Collar Crime & Government Investigations (2006-2015) and in Financial Services Regulation: Banking (Regulatory Enforcement & Investigations) (2007-2015).

Other recognition received by Seymour included being named by Crain’s New York Business as one of the city’s “Notable Women in Law” for 2021. She received the Benchmark Litigation in-house award at the Euromoney LMG Americas Women in Business Law Awards 2018 and was named “White-Collar/Enforcement/Investigations Attorney of the Year” in 2016 by Benchmark Litigation. In 2010, she was named to the Lawdragon 3000, a list of preeminent American attorneys.

Civic Activities
Seymour serves as a Trustee for the Board of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, a member of the Board of the Public Art Fund, an Honorary Trustee for the Vera Institute of Justice and as an Advisory Board Member for the New York University School of Law Program on Corporate Compliance and Enforcement.

Personal
Seymour is married to Samuel W. Seymour, a lawyer who is Of Counsel with Sullivan & Cromwell and a former president of the New York City Bar Association. They live in Brooklyn and on Long Island, New York. The couple’s professional and charitable work has been recognized by the Robert M. Morgenthau Award given by the Police Athletic League in 2009.