Tali R. Leinwand is an associate in the firm’s Litigation Department and a member of the  Investigations, Compliance and Defense; Data Privacy and Cybersecurity; Government Controversies and Public Policy Litigation; and Media and First Amendment Practices.  She focuses her practice on internal and government-facing investigations.

Ms. Leinwand conducts investigations and compliance reviews to help clients navigate sensitive and multi-faceted legal challenges in areas including financial fraud, national security, money laundering, electronic surveillance, and cybersecurity.  She represents clients under investigation by federal and state law enforcement and regulators, including the Department of Justice, US Attorneys’ Offices, the Federal Communications Commission, and the state of New York.  In addition, Ms. Leinwand advises clients on complex internal employment issues, including those related to allegations of sexual misconduct or harassment.

Ms. Leinwand’s pro bono practice primarily focuses on First Amendment- and other content-related matters, including FOIA, defamation, unsealing, and public forum challenges to government official conduct.  Ms. Leinwand has also represented clients in federal criminal proceedings, including by obtaining a below-Guidelines sentence for a criminal defendant in the Southern District of New York.

Prior to joining Jenner & Block, Ms. Leinwand clerked for the Honorable Marjorie O. Rendell of the US Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit and interned for the Honorable Richard J. Sullivan of the US District Court for the Southern District of New York.  Previously, Ms. Leinwand was the First Amendment Fellow at The New York Times, where she litigated public records, access, reporter’s privilege, and copyright cases on behalf of The New York Times in federal and state court, counseled reporters and editors on newsgathering issues, and provided prepublication review.

Ms. Leinwand received her JD in 2015 from Columbia Law School, where she was a James Kent Scholar, online executive editor of the Columbia Journal of Transnational Law, the recipient of the Shearman & Sterling Student Writing Prize in Comparative and International Law, and a research assistant to Professors Vincent Blasi and Carol Sanger.  Ms. Leinwand received a BA, magna cum laude, with distinction in history, from the University of Pennsylvania in 2009.  Ms. Leinwand worked as a journalist before beginning her legal career.