Who Is Barry Pollack? Meet The Lawyer Defending Venezuelan Leader Nicolas Maduro
Barry Pollack has previously represented controversial figures such as WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange.
Nicolas Maduro has appointed Barry Pollack, a seasoned criminal defence attorney, to represent him in the courtroom. Pollack, known for defending WikiLeaks’ Julian Assange, has also taken on several other high-profile cases.
Barry Pollack was by Nicolas Maduro’s side on Monday as the Venezuelan leader entered a plea of "not guilty" in Manhattan federal court, just days after he and his wife were taken into custody during a US military operation.
Who Is Barry Pollack?
Barry Pollack is a partner at Harris St. Laurent & Weschler LLP, a law firm in New York.
According to Harris St. Laurent & Weschler LLP’s profile on him, Pollack graduated with High Honours from Indiana University in 1986 and went on to earn his law degree from Georgetown University School of Law in 1991, graduating magna cum laude and as a member of the Order of the Coif. He served as a clerk to the Hon. Thomas A. Flannery at the United States District Court for the District of Columbia.
He is admitted to practice in New York, Maryland, and the District of Columbia.
“Mr. Pollack has over 30 years of experience representing individuals, including executives and high-ranking government officials, as well as corporations and other organisations, in sensitive and often high-profile trials and investigations,” according to his firm’s website.
At 61, Pollack has established a reputation as a formidable trial lawyer, representing clients in high-stakes international matters. Among his notable clients is Julian Assange, the WikiLeaks founder, who was charged by US authorities with the unlawful disclosure of information affecting national security.
For more than a decade, Pollack represented WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange in the United States, overseeing his defence. In 2024, he played a key role in brokering a plea agreement that resulted in Assange’s release.
Assange admitted guilt to one count under the Espionage Act for releasing classified documents relating to the military and diplomacy. Federal investigators had alleged that he had conspired to unlawfully acquire and disseminate top-secret defence information, putting national security at risk.
Pollack also secured an acquittal for Michael Krautz, the former senior accounting director of Enron’s broadband division. Krautz had faced allegations of fraudulently overselling services for the Houston-based energy giant.
In a landmark 2007 case, Pollack secured the freedom of Long Island resident Martin Tankleff, who had endured 17 years in prison after a mistaken conviction for his parents’ murder.
According to a New York Times report, Jon May, the attorney who defended General Manuel Noriega, the Panamanian leader seized by US forces in 1989 and later convicted in Miami, in a case comparable to Nicolas Maduro’s, said the Venezuelan leader “could not be in better hands” than under Barry Pollack’s care.
Maduro “certainly has a lawyer who will figure it out, if it can be figured out,” May said.
As per an NBC News report, Andy Birrell, president of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, a body Pollack previously led, said that representing a globally contentious client such as Assange had prepared Pollack for the challenges of defending Nicolas Maduro.
“There’s always challenges in high-profile cases, but Barry’s a veteran,” Birrell said. “He’s done it before.”
Appearing at Maduro’s arraignment in a Manhattan federal courtroom on Monday, Pollack warned of a lengthy legal fight, indicating the defence would challenge the legality of what he called a “military abduction”, as per a Reuters report.
Pollack may also advance a claim of immunity, arguing that Maduro is protected from prosecution as a foreign head of state, the Reuters report added.
