Alan Silber

Alan Silber has litigated cases in numerous federal and state courts across the United States. He has also tried a variety of major white-collar cases involving RICO, bank, securities, telemarketing, health care, and wire and mail fraud as well as defended clients in money laundering cases of significant size and scope, kidnapping (representing a police officer), and murder. Alan is also experienced as counsel for claimants in civil and criminal forfeiture actions.  He concentrates his practice on federal and state complex criminal litigation, as well as representing lawyers in disciplinary cases. Alan has appeared in complex civil litigation in state and federal courts as diverse as the Northern and Central Districts of California, the Northern and Southern Districts of Florida, the Western and Eastern Districts of Virginia, and the District of Hawaii.

Alan is a member of the state bars in New Jersey, New York, California, and Virginia, and is a New Jersey Certified Criminal Trial Attorney, a status granted by the Supreme Court of New Jersey’s Board on Trial Attorney Certification. Fewer than 3 percent of New Jersey attorneys achieve this certification. In addition, Alan is admitted to practice in nine United States district courts and has litigated pro hac vice in more than a dozen other federal district courts. An experienced appellate advocate, Alan has appeared and litigated cases in the United States Supreme Court, five United States Courts of Appeals, the state appellate courts of New York and New Jersey, and in the Supreme Court of Oregon.

Outside of the courtroom, Alan has earned a reputation as a lecturer and author and as a drug law reformer for his work through a multitude of criminal defense bar associations. He was a three-term member of the Board of Directors of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (NACDL), having been elected in 2001, 2004, and 2016. He previously served on its Executive Committee as well as the Nominating Committee. He is currently a Third Circuit co-chair of the Lawyers’ Assistance Committee (Strike Force representing other NACDL lawyers) and Third Circuit co-chair for the NACDL Amicus Committee. He is a member of the White Collar Committee.  Alan previously served as chairman of the Drug Law Reform Committee, and of the Electronic Discovery Committee.

Alan was a founding member of the Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers of New Jersey and served as its eighth president. He was also a founding member of the board of directors of the New York State Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, and is a fellow of the American Board of Criminal Trial Attorneys. In 1995, he was appointed as the state bar representative on the Legislature’s Sentencing Policy Study Commission.

When he lived in Virginia, from 2002 to 2005, Alan was the Fourth Circuit coordinator for the Lawyers Assistance Committee and the Fourth Circuit vice-chair of the Amicus Committee of NACDL.

Alan has appeared as a speaker in criminal defense seminars across the country and internationally, including in Virginia, New Jersey, New York, Florida, Louisiana, Washington, D.C., Oregon, Colorado, and England. His articles have appeared in The Champion (magazine of NACDL), Rutgers Law Review, The New Jersey Law Journal, and The Vindicator (magazine of Ohio Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers). He has lectured in New Jersey on forfeiture and across the country on ethics and trial strategy.

Alan has received recognition from a number of New Jersey and national organizations for his advocacy. In 2011, he received the Al Horn Award at the NORML Legal Seminar. The award is presented annually to one lawyer “in recognition and appreciation of a lifetime of ceaseless work to advance the cause of justice and for extraordinary support for NORML.”

Alan is a graduate of Duke University (and has written a blog on Duke basketball for the last decade) and Columbia Law School.

In Alan's Words:

"As a criminal defense lawyer with a focus on federal white-collar crimes, I’m generally in the courtroom, including state court as well as federal. I truly love being a litigator, and I am lucky in that I work with a superb team of litigators at Pashman Stein Walder Hayden (PSWH) who bring a unique blend of experience and youthful energy to this practice. I have argued in the New Jersey Supreme Court in cases of the Justice Gary S. Stein Public Interest Center, which gives me the privilege of working on important cases that matter to our system of justice.  Though I have worked in many offices – including my own firm and also with Walder Hayden before merging with Pashman Stein, I can truthfully say that the PSWH setting has been the most rewarding place for me to practice. At PSWH I have found supportive colleagues, resources as needed for cases big and small, and, most of all, a firm devoted to craft, to integrity, and to simply doing the right thing."

Honors & Recognitions

• Selected for inclusion in the list of Best Lawyers, Criminal Defense: White-Collar, 2010-2013, 2018-2025
• Selected for inclusion in the list of Best Lawyers Criminal Defense: General Practice, 2018-2025
• NORML, Al Horn Award, 2011
• Selected for inclusion in the list of New Jersey Super Lawyers, 2007-2013, 2017-2023
• Selected for inclusion in the list of Martindale Hubbell, AV Preeminent lawyers

The Super Lawyers list is issued by Thomson Reuters. A description of the selection methodology can be found at http://www.superlawyers.com/about/selection_process.html.

The Best Lawyers list is issued by BL Rankings, LLC of the selection methodology can be found at https://www.bestlawyers.com/About/MethodologyBasic.aspx.

The Martindale-Hubbell® Peer Review Ratings list is issued by Martindale-Hubbell. A description of the selection methodology can be found at AV Peer Review Ratings & Client Review Awards | Martindale-Hubbell®.

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Blog Posts

Community & Professional

• American Bar Association (Criminal Law Section Ad Hoc Drug Policy Committee, 1990)
• Sentencing Policy Study Commission (State Bar Representative to Legislatively Created Commission Mandated To Recommend Sentence Reforms, 1993-1994)
• Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers of New Jersey (Trustee and a Founding Member; President, 1992-1993; President-Elect, 1991-1992; Vice President, 1988-1991; Secretary-Treasurer, 1987-1988; Chairman, Program Committee, 1985-1987; Chairman, Lawyers Assistance Committee, 1985-1998; 2000; Member, Long Range Planning Committee; ACDL Representative to Warden’s Metropolitan Correctional Center Oversight Committee, 1985-1988)
• National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (Board of Directors, 2016 to 2019; 2001-2007; Executive Committee 2004-2005; Drug Policy Committee, Chairman, 1990-1992; 2000-2007; Nominating Committee, 1990, 1998; Amicus Committee, Vice-Chair, Third Circuit, Fourth Circuit 2002-2005; Lawyers Assistance Committee, Third Circuit Coordinator; Fourth Circuit Coordinator, 2002-2005; White Collar Committee)
• New York State Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (Board of Directors, 1989-; Charter Member; Member, Long Range Planning Committee)
• American Board of Criminal Lawyers (Fellow)
• Association of the Federal Bar of New Jersey