use both this parameter and , birth_date to display the person's date of birth, date of death, and age at death) --> , death_place = , death_cause = , nationality = , other_names = , citizenship = , education = , alma_mater =

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (also known as Penn or UPenn) is a Private university, private research university in Philadelphia. It is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and is ranked among the highest- ...

(BS)

Boston University School of Law Boston University School of Law (Boston Law or BU Law) is the law school of Boston University, a private research university in Boston, Massachusetts. It is consistently ranked among the top law schools in the United States and considered an eli ...

(JD)

New York University School of Law New York University School of Law (NYU Law) is the law school of New York University, a private research university in New York City. Established in 1835, it is the oldest law school in New York City and the oldest surviving law school in ...

(LLM) , occupation = Attorney , years_active = , era = , employer =

BakerHostetler BakerHostetler is an American law firm founded in 1916. One of the firm's founders, Newton D. Baker, was U.S. Secretary of War during World War I, and former Mayor of Cleveland, Ohio. History , the firm was ranked the 73rd-largest law firm in ...

, organization = , agent = , known_for = Recovery of funds from the Madoff investment scandal , notable_works = , title = , term = , predecessor = , successor = , party = , movement = , opponents = , boards = , criminal_charge = , criminal_penalty = , criminal_status = , spouse = , partner = , children = , parents = , mother = , father = , relatives = , family = , awards = , website = , module = , module2 = , signature = , signature_size = , signature_alt = , footnotes = Irving H. Picard (born June 26, 1941) is a partner in the law firm

. He is known for his recovery of funds from the Madoff investment scandal from investors, Bernie Madoff and his family, and their spouses and estates.

Early life

Picard was born in

Fall River, Massachusetts Fall River is a city in Bristol County, Massachusetts, United States. The City of Fall River's population was 94,000 at the 2020 United States Census, making it the tenth-largest city in the state. Located along the eastern shore of Mount H ...

, and is Jewish."Meet Irving Picard, the lawyer with the toughest task in the world,"
''Financial News''."Meet Madoff?s match"
''Detroit Legal News''. Accessed September 28, 2022. His parents were Julius Picard (a doctor born in

Lauterbourg Lauterbourg ( or ; ) (historically in English: Lauterburgh) is a commune and Bas-Rhin department in the Grand Est administrative region in north-eastern France. Situated on the German border and not far from the German city of Karlsruhe, it ...

, France) and Claire Dreyfuss (born in

Kaiserslautern Kaiserslautern (; Palatinate German: ''Lautre'') is a city in southwest Germany, located in the state of Rhineland-Palatinate at the edge of the Palatinate Forest. The historic centre dates to the 9th century. It is from Paris, from Frankfu ...

, Germany)."Guide to the Julius Picard Family Collection, 1732-1991 AR 3586 / MF 1114"
Accessed September 28, 2022. In August 1938, Julius and Claire Picard immigrated with their children from

Mainz Mainz () is the capital and largest city of Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. Mainz is on the left bank of the Rhine, opposite to the place that the Main joins the Rhine. Downstream of the confluence, the Rhine flows to the north-west, with Ma ...

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...

to the United States. They settled in Fall River, where their third son, Irving, was born. Irving's uncle Moritz Cahn, a lawyer in Frankfurt/Main, Germany, committed suicide, with his wife, in 1941 to avoid the concentration camps.

Education and legal career

Picard graduated from the

Wharton School The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania ( ; also known as Wharton Business School, the Wharton School, Penn Wharton, and Wharton) is the business school of the University of Pennsylvania, a private Ivy League research university in ...

with a B.S. degree in Economics (1963), from

with a J.D. degree (1966), and from the

with an LL.M. degree (1967).United States Congress. Senate Committee on the Judiciary. Subcommittee on the Constitution
"Balancing the Budget: Hearing Before the Subcommittee on the Constitution of the Committee on the Judiciary, United States Senate, Ninety-seventh Congress, First Session, on S.J. Res. 58, Phoenix, Ariz., May 29, 1981."
/ref> In the 1970s, he was variously Assistant General Counsel, Acting Chief Counsel, and Trial Attorney in the Division of Corporate Regulation of the

Securities and Exchange Commission The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is an independent agency of the United States federal government, created in the aftermath of the Wall Street Crash of 1929. The primary purpose of the SEC is to enforce the law against market ...

. He was admitted to the New York Bar in 1982, and has been in private practice since then. He joined the law firm of

as a partner in 2008.

Recovery of funds from Madoff scandal

In 2008, U.S. District Judge of the Southern District of New York Lawrence McKenna appointed Picard trustee of assets seized by the court from Bernard Madoff. Since then, Picard has led the recovery of funds from the Madoff investment scandal. He and his team have been overseeing the liquidation of Bernard Madoff's firm in bankruptcy court, and have so far recovered over $13 billion — about 76 percent of approved claims — by suing those who profited from the scheme even if those individuals were unaware or uncharged."Madoff's Victims Are Close to Getting Their $19 Billion Back"
Bloomberg.com. Accessed September 28, 2022. Kathy Bazoian Phelps, a lawyer at Diamond McCarthy, said "That kind of recovery is extraordinary and atypical", as clawbacks in such schemes range from 5 percent to 30 percent, and many victims don't get anything. Picard has successfully pursued not only investors, but also spouses and estates of those who profited, such as the widow and estate of the deceased Stanley Chais, and the widow and estate of the deceased Jeffry Picower, with whom he reached a $7.2 billion settlement (the largest civil forfeiture payment in US history). His most notable case was Ruth Madoff, the wife of Bernard Madoff."$7.2 Billion Picower Settlement: Payday for Madoff Victims"
''The Daily Beast''. Accessed September 28, 2022. "You don’t take this job if you're thin-skinned", Picard once said.

References

Bibliography

Huffington Post
Letter to Gene L. Dodaro Comptroller General of the United States Government Accountability Office from Congress requesting probe

Trustee, SEC Should be Probed -US Reps
* July 27, 201

External links

Profile from Baker Hostetler
{{DEFAULTSORT:Picard, Irving 1941 births Living people 20th-century American lawyers 21st-century American Jews 21st-century American lawyers Place of birth missing (living people) American people of French-Jewish descent American people of German-Jewish descent Boston University School of Law alumni Jewish American attorneys New York University School of Law alumni People associated with BakerHostetler People associated with the Madoff investment scandal People from the Bronx People from Fall River, Massachusetts Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania alumni