The Criminal Appeals Unit chief in the Manhattan U.S. Attorney’s Office has been nominated to serve as a district judge in the Southern District of New York.
Katherine Polk Failla has served as a federal prosecutor in Southern District of New York since 2000 and in 2004 became the deputy chief of the Criminal Appeals Unit. Failla, who previously worked as a member of the office’s Securities and Commodities Fraud Task Force, was named chief of the criminal appeals unit in 2008.
During her tenure at the office, she worked on appeals in the cases of convicted terrorist Sheik Omar Abdel Rahman and KPMG, which was found guilty of supporting tax shelters.
Before joining the government, she worked at Morgan Lewis & Bockius LLP for six years. She also previously clerked for Joseph E. Irenas of the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey.
Failla, 43, is a graduate of the College of William & Mary and Harvard Law School.
