ZMO Law PLLC is a New York City law firm. Our New York federal criminal lawyers fight for defendants in life-altering cases in U.S. District Courts for the Southern District of New York and the Eastern District of New York. We focus on clients accused of child pornography, other sex crimes, and federal fraud charges as well as serious state offenses like sexual assault. We also bring carefully selected civil lawsuits on behalf of victims of sex crimes and civil rights abuses, including wrongful convictions. We are client focused and trial ready. That means we listen carefully to our clients and are always ready to take our cases to trial.
Sex crimes include possession of child pornography, Internet sex crimes and enticement, date rape, statutory rape, sexual assault, sex abuse, prostitution, date rape, and people trafficking.
Federal crimes range from from drug trafficking and terrorism to washing a fish at the wrong faucet. Even submitting the wrong insurance claim form can be charged as fraud.
The Civil Rights Act lets individuals sue when state actors use excessive force, engage in false arrest or malicious prosecution, deliberately ignore serious health or safety risks of prisoners.
ZMO Law handles appeals involving charges of fraud, sex crimes, child pornography, & white-collar criminal cases in NY state & federal courts.
Our attorneys represent defendants accused of computer-based crimes in the U.S. District Courts for the Southern District of New York, the Eastern District of New York, and the state criminal courts in Manhattan, Queens, Brooklyn, the Bronx, and Westchester County. We have defended bankers, lawyers, doctors, teachers, public officials, and other professionals accused of white-collar crimes like health care fraud, wire fraud, mail fraud, insurance fraud, and bank fraud. Our federal criminal lawyers also have experience representing people accused of organized crime, terrorism, and drug-trafficking offenses including smuggling and distribution of heroin, cocaine, ecstasy (MDMA), ketamine, fentanyl, GBL, and marijuana.
Zachary Margulis-Ohnuma
Principal Attorney
Tess Cohen
Partner
Zachary is a brilliant attorney - he has a keen understanding of the law, with years of experience and practices with diligence and integrity. It was a pleasure to work with and learn from Zach, as he provided thoughtful and meticulous guidance. Zach is undoubtedly a devoted and passionate advocate for his clients, who operates with confidence, reliability, and the utmost professionalism.
— Vidya P.
Zachary is an excellent lawyer with great concern for his clients and equally great skills and thinking outside the box. I met him as an adversary and chose to keep him as a friend. He is both able and dedicated. In his areas of practice, he is outstanding.
— Joel A.
I highly recommend Zachary as a defense attorney. I hired him on a very serious jury case and the bottom line is we won. It is the best decision of my life at a critical point in my life. Zach was very professional, personable, a diligent expert, a masterful strategist but most importantly he took the time to understand my perspective.
— Ronald C. (Photo Courtesy of Steven Klapisch, Esq.)
I met Zack while I was representing a client in a high profile murder case in 2007. Zack represented a witness who was subpoenaed against his will. Although our interests were adverse, Zack was the consummate professional--calm and well versed in the relevant legal issues. He acted as an outstanding advocate for his client. I would recommend Zack to potential clients without hesitation.
— Mark Bederow
Zachary is a top-notch lawyer who fights vigorously to advance his clients' interests. I have referred cases to him in the past and will continue to do so in the future.
— David Feldman
I have had the opportunity to see Zachary in action while he was conducting a federal trial for which he was lead trial counsel. He's a highly talented trial attorney skilled in the art of cross examination. I recommend him highly.
— Ryan Blanch
The Appellate Division, Fourth Department, last month affirmed State Supreme Court Justice Paul Wojtaszek's August 2023 decision to vacate the convictions of Brian Scott Lorenz and James Pugh. A jury convicted Lorenz and Pugh in 1994 of murdering Deborah Meindl, 33, in her home on Franklin Street in the City of Tonawanda in February 1993. The District Attorney's Office plans to submit an application for leave to appeal to the Court of Appeals. In court, prosecutors said they are "definitely retrying" the case. Zachary Margulis-Ohnuma responded that they are either “bluffing or seriously misguided.” Read more here.
James Pugh, Mr. Lorenz’s co-defendant, was released on parole in 2019. But the trial judge and an appellate judge in Rochester refused to intervene to release Mr. Lorenz pending another possible trial. In late June, his lawyers asked the chief judge of the Court of Appeals, New York’s highest court, to intervene. A spokesman said the court would “decide the motion at a future session.”
Ilann Maazel, one of Mr. Lorenz’s lawyers, called his client’s continued imprisonment a “Kafkaesque nightmare” that is “intolerable, unconstitutional and wrong.” Read more here.
During trial, Zachary Margulis-Ohnuma portrayed Mr. Wang as a gregarious academic with nothing to hide.
“In general, fair to say he was very open and talkative with you, right?” the defense attorney Zachary Margulis-Ohnuma asked an undercover agent who approached Wang in 2021 under the guise of being affiliated with the Chinese security ministry. “He was,” said the agent, who testified under a pseudonym.
Read more here.
Wang and his defense did not deny that he communicated with the Chinese agents, but said his communication was largely benign, and did not contain sensitive information. “I think we showed pretty effectively at the trial that what he was doing … did no harm to the United States or to anyone here, said Wang’s attorney Zachary Margulis-Ohnuma. “I stand by what he said, that he’s pro-democracy and against the Chinese government,” he said. Read more here.
Outside the courthouse, principal attorney Zachary Margulis-Ohnuma said that he respected the verdict but did not believe Mr. Wang acted will ill intent. “He certainly didn’t mean to hurt anyone. He spent his life fighting the communist regime and, you know, life is complicated.” Read more here.
