Michael Bachrach

Michael K. Bachrach has practiced criminal law since 2001. He received his B.A. from Sarah Lawrence College, his J.D. from the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law, and studied international law at Oxford University. Michael practices primarily in Federal court at all stages of trial and appeal. Michael’s notable cases include: winning 284 counts of acquittal for Ahmed Khalfan Ghailani, the first and thus far only Guantanamo Bay detainee to be transferred to civilian custody for trial; winning an acquittal on all counts for NY State Assemblyman William Boyland Jr., who had been accused of political corruption and bribery; winning a life verdict for Ronald Mallay, one of two defendants who had been facing the death penalty for their alleged responsibility for the deaths of four people in New York and Guyana; winning an Atkins hearing striking the death penalty for a defendant accused on seven gang-related murders; and numerous appeals including for Vincent Basciano, the former boss of the Bonnano crime family, Mostafa Kamel Mostafa (aka Abu Hamza), the highest profile defendant ever extradited from England to the United States, and for Agron Hasbajrami, a U.S. person challenging the lawfulness of Section 702 NSA surveillance. Michael teaches nationally on the practice of criminal law, particularly in relation to the defense of defendants facing the possibility of the death penalty, previously edited a treatise on Second Circuit law, and is co-author of the book, "Understanding International Criminal Law," published in 2014. Michael has served on the faculty of The Bryan R. Shechmeister Death Penalty College at Santa Clara University School of Law, and is presently a member of the Federal Death Penalty Resource Counsel Project. Michael serves on the Board of Directors of the New York Criminal Bar Association, having previously served as its President. Michael is also a Life Fellow in the American Bar Foundation, and as of January 1, 2026, serves on the Joint EDNY-SDNY Local Rules Committee of the U.S. Courts.