High-Profile Criminal Defense Attorney Randy Sue Pollock
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Randy Sue Pollock is an experienced trial attorney specializing in criminal defense and complex white-collar cases in both federal and state court. She has over 100 jury trials to her credit and has experience defending many types of charges. Ms. Pollock began practicing law over 30 years ago after graduating cum laude from U.C. Berkeley and earning a J.D. from the University of California, School of Law, San Francisco. She served as an Assistant Federal Public Defender in the Central District of California (Los Angeles).
Ms. Pollock is always positive and realistic with her clients and provides cutting edge defenses. She has earned the respect of prosecutors and judges throughout Northern California courts including Sacramento, Ukiah and the South Bay. The reputation that she has established over her years of practice assists her in representing people throughout the United States.
Ms. Pollock was named one of the Recorder’s “Attorneys of the Year” in December 2011 for her work on U.S. v. Cerna, one of the largest federal RICO prosecutions ever tried in the Northern District of California. She won the only defense victory of the five-month multi-defendant trial, getting client Walter Cruz-Zavala acquitted of all charges. Read article. Most recently, in the Eastern District of Kentucky, in the only ongoing federal jury trial in the U.S. during the pandemic, Ms. Pollock obtained an acquittal for her client on money laundering and drug conspiracy charges (Read Article). Ms. Pollock has established an expertise in the area of sentencing and writes and prepares her own sentencing memorandum rather than relying on outside consultants. She stays in constant contact with each client and remains in contact with many clients long after their case is over.
Randy Sue Pollock's Successes
High-Profile Criminal Defense Attorney Successes also include:
- No charges filed in the case of a wife accused of murdering her husband and burying him in their backyard.
- No criminal or civil prosecution in a case of a grocery company accused of violating reporting requirements by filing structured deposits. All of their frozen bank accounts were returned.
- No criminal charges filed in a federal investigation of a Google employee allegedly involved in the misrepresentation of drug ads.
- Acquittal of several charges against an attorney convicted of filing false asylum documents. This was the largest asylum fraud case tried in the United States. The trial spanned four months in the Eastern District of California, Sacramento.
- Effective representation of a woman charged with transporting 6000 pounds of marijuana in upstate New York. The government filed for forfeiture of her Arizona home as a substitute asset in lieu of a $1 million judgment. After a court trial, the house was returned to defendant.
- Either minimum sentences or no filings for many of the marijuana growers and distributors she has represented in Northern California.
Lectures + Articles
Ms. Pollock has lectured at NORML conferences in Key West, Florida. She also planned and organized all of the California Attorneys for Criminal Justice seminars and trial advocacy programs for over 20 years. She remains active in Federal Bar Associations and a Vice President in Oakland, Northern District of California Chapter. Additionally she is on the board of directors and executive committee of the American Jewish Committee.
As a co-founder of the Women Attorney’s Advocacy Project, Ms. Pollock is responsible for organizing programs for women attorneys in federal court.
Randy Sue Pollock's Activities
- 2024-2025 President, Federal Bar Association, Northern District of California
- 2022 – 2023 Arabian Gulf Institute, American Jewish Committee
- 2022 – 2023 President-Elect, Northern District of California Chapter of Federal Bar Association
- 2022 Stanford Law School Trial Advocacy Workshop
- 2021 – 2022 Oakland Vice President, Northern District of California Chapter of Federal Bar Association
- 2017 – Present American Jewish Committee, Executive Committee, Member, Executive Committee and Board of Directors
- 2017 – 2020 Lawyer Representative to the Ninth Circuit Judicial Council for the United States District Court, Northern District of California
- 2017- present Chair, Learned Hand Award Committee, American Jewish Committee
- 2014 – 2022 Judge California Attorneys for Criminal Justice National Trial Competition
- 2014 – Present Woman Attorneys Advocacy Project (co-founder and organizer of programs)
- 2014 – 2016 United States District Court, Criminal Rules and Practice Committee
- 2013 – Present Executive Committee on Criminal Justice, Bar Association of San Francisco
- 1980 – 2000 California Attorneys for Criminal Justice, Board Member, Seminar Coordinator