Zach Intrater. Photo: Julio Cortez/AP Zach Intrater. Photo: Julio Cortez/AP

The boutique defense firm Brafman & Associates made a rare addition to its ranks Monday, with Zach Intrater joining the firm as of counsel.

Intrater, 42, most recently served as executive assistant U.S. attorney in the District of New Jersey. His other leadership roles within the office included chief of the general crimes unit and deputy chief of the economic crimes unit.

Prior to joining the U.S. Attorney's Office, Intrater was an associate at Cravath, Swaine & Moore. He will focus on white-collar defense, among other matters, at Brafman & Associates, according to the firm.

Firm principal Benjamin Brafman said Intrater is the firm's first hire in six or seven years. Including Brafman himself, the firm now has nine attorneys.

"When you're in the midst of a COVID pandemic where a lot of firms, including ours, experienced a couple of slow months at the start of the virus, it took a lot of guts to offer a position to a seasoned veteran, and it's already paid substantial dividends," Brafman said.

Intrater is off to a strong start, Brafman said.

"He's an extraordinarily talented trial lawyer and he's also very personable, and I think that's an important combination that this firm really stresses," Brafman said

Brafman launched the firm in 1980, and its attorneys have since defended an array of household names, including, in recent years, former Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein, former pharmaceutical executive Martin Shkreli and so-called "sex cult" leader Keith Raniere.

Intrater graduated from New York University School of Law and clerked for Judge Michael Chagares of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit and U.S. District Judge Berle Schiller of the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, according to Brafman & Associates.

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