Daniel S. Connolly
Managing Partner, New York
Shelia Gallagher
212.508.6100 x6582
Daniel Connolly, managing partner of Bracewell & Giuliani’s New York office, is a seasoned trial and appellate attorney with a unique background that includes high-profile positions in New York City Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani’s administration and significant business consulting experience in regulatory compliance and crisis management and recovery. Mr. Connolly’s practice focuses on representing clients in such diverse industries as banking and pharmaceuticals in a wide spectrum of white collar defense and regulatory compliance investigations and related matters. He also litigates complex commercial cases.
In addition to representing clients in federal and New York State trial and appellate courts, Mr. Connolly regularly appears before numerous federal departments and agencies, including the U.S. Department of Justice, the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Food and Drug Administration, and the Health and Human Services’ Office of Inspector General, as well as various state investigatory and enforcement agencies.
Mr. Connolly began his legal career as a prosecutor in the Office of the Manhattan District Attorney, where he served for eight years. During his tenure as an Assistant District Attorney, Mr. Connolly tried more than 50 cases to verdict, including homicides and other complex criminal matters, and was involved in the prosecution of a number of controversial cases that garnered significant national attention, including the Tompkins Square riot case.
In 1995, Mr. Connolly was appointed General Counsel in the Office of the Criminal Justice Coordinator for the City of New York. In that position, Mr. Connolly participated in developing and defending the significant criminal justice reforms enacted by Mayor Giuliani.
In 1997, Mr. Connolly was appointed Special Counsel to the Corporation Counsel of the City of New York, where he served on the Executive Staff of the nation's largest municipal law office. During his tenure as Special Counsel, Mr. Connolly successfully defended, both at trial and on appeal, a number of First Amendment and other constitutional and statutory challenges to the city’s law enforcement efforts, including litigation involving the Million Youth March and Church of the American Knights of the Klu Klux Klan v. Safir, in which the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit upheld an injunction sought by the city to bar members of the Ku Klux Klan from rallying with their faces shielded by masks. As Special Counsel, Mr. Connolly also was responsible for direct oversight of 40 lawyers defending the city in civil rights actions litigated before the federal courts in New York, and served as the office’s spokesperson.
Prior to joining Bracewell & Giuliani, Mr. Connolly was a partner at Giuliani Partners, a management consulting firm, where he assisted Fortune 100 companies in developing regulatory compliance programs, crisis management and recovery, and related matters.
Mr. Connolly is an experienced public speaker who has addressed both professional and business groups on such topics as criminal justice issues and regulatory compliance in the pharmaceutical industry. He also serves on the Criminal Justice Committee of the Association of the Bar of the City of New York, and he is a member of the Board of Trustees of St. David’s School in New York City.
Education
J.D., cum laude, American University School of Law, 1988
B.A., with honors, Hamilton College, 1985
Bar Admissions
New York
Court Admissions
U.S. District Court for the Southern and Eastern Districts of New York
U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit
U.S. Supreme Court