In a ceremony held on October 23, WilmerHale Partner Peter Neiman was formally inducted as a Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers (ACTL), joining an elite group recognized for exceptional trial advocacy and dedication to the highest standards of the legal profession. The ceremony took place during the ACTL’s 2026 Annual Meeting in New York.
Neiman, a seasoned trial lawyer and member of the firm’s White Collar Defense and Investigations Practice, has built his career in the courtroom, first as a federal prosecutor and now in private practice. As a prosecutor, he tried nine white-collar criminal cases and his work centered on investigations involving mail and wire fraud, accounting fraud, tax fraud, securities fraud, healthcare fraud, art fraud, immigration fraud, and foreign bribery. Since joining WilmerHale in 2006, Neiman has continued to try high-stakes cases. He was part of the trial team that won a resounding victory for T-Mobile and Deutsche Telekom in a landmark antitrust trial, in which attorneys general from 13 states and the District of Columbia sought to block T-Mobile’s merger with Sprint. He has also represented a financial institution in multiple trials arising from the collapse of the Puerto Rico bond market.
Neiman’s career has been distinguished by significant government service. Before joining WilmerHale, he spent nine years as an Assistant US Attorney in the Criminal Division of the US Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York. There, he led what was then the government’s largest Foreign Corrupt Practices Act investigation. The case involved the alleged payment of tens of millions of dollars in bribes to the president of Kazakhstan and other senior officials in connection with major oil deals in the 1990s. He also served as Deputy Chief Appellate Attorney from 2004 to 2005, argued more than 15 appeals in the Second Circuit and supervised the government’s response to more than 40 criminal appeals, including that of John Gotti Jr. His work earned him the Director’s Award for Superior Performance from the Executive Office for United States Attorneys.
Neiman’s trial record as a prosecutor includes the successful prosecution of the former owners of Days Inn of America for massive tax evasion and creditor fraud schemes. He also successfully prosecuted a former General Counsel of the US Department of the Treasury for securities and wire fraud, as well as a leading antiquities dealer for conspiring to sell a sculpture looted from Egypt.
The American College of Trial Lawyers, founded in 1950, is widely regarded as one of the premier legal organizations in North America. Fellowship is extended by invitation only, following rigorous evaluation of candidates’ trial skills, professional conduct and contributions to the legal community.