Danielle Sassoon

Danielle Renee Sassoon was born in 1986 to Salomon (Sol) and Evelyn Sassoon in New York City.^[1] Her father was a partner at the law firm Morrison Cohen, and is now a partner at the law firm BakerHostetler, and her mother worked as a clinical and research psychologist.^[2][3][4] Her grandmother escaped Syria to avoid the persecution against Syrian Jews before Israel was created in 1948.^[5][6] While attending the Ramaz School ('04), a Modern Orthodox Jewish school on the Upper East Side of Manhattan where she was first in her class, Sassoon studied the Talmud, which she credits as preparation for her future legal work.^[7][8]

Sassoon graduated magna cum laude from Harvard University with a Bachelor of Arts in history and literature in 2008. She then attended Yale Law School, where she was a features editor of The Yale Law Journal, graduating in 2011.^{[5][7][9][10]}

Sassoon subsequently served as a law clerk for conservative Judge J. Harvie Wilkinson III of the US Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit.^[7][11] From July 2012 to August 2013, she clerked for conservative Justice Antonin Scalia of the U.S. Supreme Court.^[4][10] She then worked as a litigation associate at the law firm Kirkland & Ellis in its New York City office.^[4][10] In the spring term of 2016, she co-taught a Supreme Court seminar as an adjunct professor at New York University Law School.^[12]

In 2016, Sassoon was hired as an assistant United States attorney by Preet Bharara, the US Attorney for the Southern District of New York. Working in the Violent and Organized Crime Unit, she concentrated on murder and racketeering cases.^[13] During her tenure, she secured a 60-year sentence against Larry Ray for extortion and sex trafficking of students at Sarah Lawrence College.^[14] In 2023, Sassoon and fellow assistant US attorney Nicholas Roos prevailed in the trial of Sam Bankman-Fried, securing a 25-year sentence for fraud, conspiracy, and money laundering.^[14][15] Sassoon personally handled the cross-examination of Bankman-Fried at the trial.^[16][17][18]

She then served as Co-Chief of Criminal Appeals.^[19] In 2023, she received the Women in Federal Law Enforcement Top Prosecutor Award.^[19] In 2024, she was awarded the FBI Director’s Award for Outstanding Criminal Investigation.^[19]

On November 28, 2015, Sassoon married Adam Katz, an investment analyst. They met while attending Harvard University.^[4] Sassoon is a member of the conservative Federalist Society, and is a registered Republican.^[10][27]