Aidan P. O'Connor

Aidan P. O’Connor is the co-chair of the firm’s Criminal Defense Practice Group and a member of its Litigation Department, concentrating on criminal defense, internal investigations, and both commercial and complex civil litigation, including securities fraud matters.

Prior to entering private practice, Aidan was an Assistant United States Attorney in the District of New Jersey for 18 years, serving in the Criminal Division, the Organized Crime Strike Force, and as the chief of the Violent Crimes Unit.

A seasoned trial lawyer, Aidan has extensive courtroom experience as well as negotiation skills that bring resolutions to difficult cases in both civil and criminal contexts. His clients appreciate his creative problem solving, direct approach, and history of many successful settlements and decisions. He appears frequently in federal and state courts in New Jersey and New York.

Aidan has conducted internal investigations for corporate and public organizations and has represented private corporations, public entities nonprofit businesses and individuals in governmental investigations. He has also managed subpoena compliance issues for numerous entities. In addition, he has represented clients on matters involving civil RICO, the False Claims Act, securities fraud, regulatory issues, real estate, contract disputes, civil forfeiture and insurance issues.

Aidan’s experience with criminal matters includes defending individuals against allegations of securities fraud, insurance fraud, health care fraud, tax evasion, bank and mortgage fraud, money laundering, public corruption, union corruption, kickback schemes, computer intrusions, hacking and other cybercrimes, embezzlement, trade secrets, antitrust matters, and federal grand jury investigations. He has also represented clients accused of assault, kidnapping, extortion, murder, theft, sexual offenses, drug and controlled dangerous substance offenses, and state parole violations in both state and federal courts, as well as municipal court matters. He has also argued cases before the Second and Third Circuit Courts of Appeals, as well as the Supreme Court of New Jersey. 

During his tenure with the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Aidan conducted hundreds of federal prosecutions involving long- and short-term investigations, grand jury presentations, witness interviews, wiretapping, and search warrants for offenses including organized crime, RICO, tax fraud and evasion, money laundering, theft of trade secrets, union corruption, embezzlement, commercial and insurance fraud, large stolen property rings, health care fraud, computer crimes, extortion, murder, robbery, and kidnapping.

Aidan has tried more than 20 federal jury trials, argued hundreds of motions and conducted scores of hearings involving organized crime, tax fraud, money laundering, government program fraud, racketeering, kidnapping, alien smuggling, homicide, bank robbery, narcotics trafficking, civil rights violations and other offenses.

He was a recipient of the Director’s Award for Superior Performance as an Assistant U.S. Attorney for his successful prosecution of a RICO case involving hundreds of millions of dollars in excise tax fraud and organized crime. Previously, he was a litigation associate with Thacher Proffitt & Wood in New York City, where he conducted or assisted in civil trials involving banking and international maritime insurance in state and federal courts.

Aidan is proud of the results he has achieved for clients, some of which are noted here and under the “Experience” section of this biography.  Of course, each legal matter is unique on many levels, and past successes are not a guarantee of results in any other pending or future matters.

Honors & Recognitions

• InsiderNJ, New Jersey Irish American Leaders, 2023-2024
• Selected for inclusion in the list of Best Lawyers, Criminal Defense: White-Collar, 2015-2018, 2021-2024
• Selected for inclusion in the list of Best Lawyers, Criminal Defense: White Collar), 2025 
  • Selected for inclusion in the list of Best Lawyers, "Hackensack: Lawyer of the Year," Criminal Defense: White-Collar, 2021
• Selected for inclusion in Chambers USA, Business Litigation, White-Collar Crime & Government Investigations, 2017-2024
• Selected for inclusion in Chambers USA, “Leaders in their Field”, 2013-2016
• Selected for inclusion in the list of New Jersey Super Lawyers, 2013-2024

The Chambers USA ranking list is published by Chambers & Partners. A description of the selection methodology can be found at https://chambers.com/about-us/methodology.

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.

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Community & Professional

• Former President- Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers of New Jersey (ACDL-NJ)
• Member, New Jersey State Legislature’s Criminal Sentencing and Disposition Commission
• Officer and Member of the Executive Committee of Rutgers Law School ‘s Inn of Court (the Willard Heckel Inn)
• Association of the Federal Bar of New Jersey