Ms. Aida Ferrer Leisenring is a well-known and well-respected trial attorney who has successfully litigated a broad variety of complex state and federal criminal cases over the last 18 years and successfully participated in the exoneration of the innocent. Ms. Leisenring, a native Spanish speaker, was born in Barcelona, Spain and immigrated to the United States when she was six years old. She attended The Hotchkiss School in Lakeville, Connecticut and graduated with Honors in 1995. In 1999, Ms. Leisenring graduated from Brown University, making the National Honors Society, with a Bachelor of Arts in English Literature and Hispanic Literature and Culture in 1999. Prior to law school, she then spent three years in the publishing industry as an editor at Elle Magazine, representing the magazine at industry events worldwide and pitching and writing monthly features.
Ms. Leisenring graduated with Honors from the Benjamin Cardozo School of Law in 2006, where she was recognized for excellence in service to the law school for her clinical work in criminal defense by receiving a Public Interest Award. During her time in law school, Ms. Leisenring interned at The Innocence Project, working alongside the renowned Barry Scheck, and participated in the exoneration of Barry Gibbs who spent 19 years in prison for a murder he did not commit. She also participated in the school’s Criminal Defense Clinic, where she interned for the Legal Aid Society in Manhattan and represented people charged with crimes from arraignment to final disposition.
Ms. Leisenring began her legal career representing indigent defendants as a Staff Attorney with the Legal Aid Society in Brooklyn, New York. There she successfully represented thousands of clients charged with felonies and misdemeanors in both the Criminal Courts of New York City and the New York State Supreme Court. In the last 11 years at Barket Epstein, she has tried high profile, complex felony trials resulting in acquittals in both state and federal courts and has successfully obtained favorable plea offers, and dismissals before arrest, Indictment, and trial.
Ms. Leisenring has obtained Not Guilty verdicts and dismissals in a broad variety of cases including allegations of Murder, Manslaughter, Attempted Murder, Insurance Fraud, Bribery, Grand Larceny, Burglary, Domestic Violence, Harassment, DWI, Vehicular Manslaughter, Robbery, Weapons Possession, Drug Possession, Rape, Sexual Abuse, Endangering the Welfare of a Child, and Assault. She has also obtained a Not Guilty By Reason of Mental Defect disposition on a Murder case. Ms. Leisenring has participated in the representation of a defendant charged with federal death-penalty eligible crimes, ultimately resulting in the government reversing its decision to seek capital punishment as a result of her and her team’s combined advocacy. Ms. Leisenring has cross examined a wide range of witnesses, including DNA experts, serologists, FBI agents, police witnesses, doctors, EMTs, forensic psychiatrists, toxicologists, government cooperators, ballistics experts, and civilian witnesses.
She is well known in the New York criminal defense community as a vigorous and ethical criminal law advocate. Notable cases she has worked on have been featured in Dateline, 48 Hours, 20/20, The New York Law Journal, NY Post, NYTs, and Newsday); See People v. Calvin Harris, Schoharie County, NY (murder acquittal), US v. Matthew Conroy, Southern District, NY (insurance fraud acquittal); People v. William Flanagan, Nassau County, NY (bribery acquittal), People v. Nestor Ortiz-Ocampo, Dutchess County, NY (murder and manslaughter acquittal), US v. Nicholas Tartaglione, Southern District, NY (deauthorization of capital charges), US v. Eric Gerwatowski, District of Columbia (no jail for a January 6th Capital Breach defendant).
Ms. Leisenring brings a creative and personable touch to humanize those accused of crimes and to create a persuasive narrative about their story. Ms. Leisenring created, developed, and executively produced the ABC docuseries “The Last Defense” with Academy Award winning Actress Viola Davis, which explores flaws in the criminal justice system by focusing on potentially wrongfully convicted defendants on Death Row. “The Last Defense” aired on the ABC network beginning June 12, 2018. Ms. Leisenring and her co-executive producers were awarded the “Justice Through the Arts” Award by the New York State Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers in 2019 for her work on “The Last Defense.” Due, in part, to the publicity generated by “The Last Defense,” featured death row inmate Julius Jones was granted clemency by Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt just hours before his execution.
She also developed, produced and co-hosted 100 episodes of LI News Radio’s “Crime & Justice Radio” with Partner Bruce Barket. Featured guests on their one-hour weekly radio show included exonerees Amanda Knox and Marty Tankleff, The Innocence’s Project’s Barry Scheck, attorney Barry Kamins on Harvey Weinstein’s appeal and Rudy Giuliani’s Grievance, civil rights lawyer Ron Kuby, human rights lawyer Nancy Hollander of “The Mauritanian” on Guantanamo Bay detainees, attorney Laura Nirider on Making a Murderer’s Brendan Dassey, attorney Barry Pollack on representing Julian Assange, NXVM whistleblowers and HBO’s The Vow’s stars Anthony Ames and Sarah Edmondson, police commissioners, and District Attorneys. Ms. Leisenring was featured in two episodes of NATGEO’s ‘Criminal Defense,’ a pilot about public defenders in Brooklyn, NY and the clients they represent.
Other Practice Areas: Mental Hygiene Law (won a CPL §330.20 hearing opposing the DA’s and the Attorney General’s Application for a Retention Order of a client in a psychiatric facility), Administrative Hearings at the DMV (won refusal hearings resulting in clients retaining their driver’s licenses) and Child Protective Services, Civil Rights Actions, and Immigration Law (conducted Asylum hearing, client found credible by the Court).
Recognition
- Excellence in service award for clinical work in criminal defense, Benjamin Cardozo School of Law
- Super Lawyers Rising Stars, 2014-2016
Associations
- Nassau County Bar Association
- Nassau County Criminal Courts Bar Association
- New York State Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers
Contact Ms. Leisenring today at (888) 779-0267 or online.
