Howard E. Tanner

Howard E. Tanner, Esq., a former prosecutor, is the managing partner of Tanner & Ortega, L.L.P. He graduated from the University of Florida in 1986 with a Bachelor’s Degree in Criminal Justice. Upon graduating from the University of Miami School of Law in 1989, he joined the Kings County District Attorney's Office in Brooklyn, New York. As an Assistant District Attorney, he successfully prosecuted the most serious felony cases, including narcotics, robberies, burglaries, rapes, assaults and murders, trying over 30 felony and misdemeanor trials to verdict. He left the District Attorney's Office in 1995 to join the law firm of Lysaght Lysaght & Kramer, P.C., where he put his expertise to work in the areas of criminal defense, labor and administrative law. There, Mr. Tanner conducted numerous trials to verdict, successfully defending government employees, such as police officers, housing authority employees and others against allegations of assault, bribe receiving, narcotics possession and other charges. He also defended against administrative allegations of employee misconduct. He left Lysaght in 1998 and established the law firm of Tanner & Ortega, L.L.P.

As lead defense counsel, Mr. Tanner has tried over 100 state and federal felony and misdemeanor cases to verdict. He has been successful in achieving positive outcomes for his clients by obtaining pre-trial dismissal of criminal charges, verdicts of acquittal after trial or by favorable plea bargaining through proactive and rigorous negotiations with the government. He has been retained as lead defense counsel in a variety of high-profile criminal cases. He secured an acquittal after trial in the NYPD 13th Precinct peddler bribery case in New York County; He successfully defended his client against allegations in the Sean Bell murder case in Queens County, resulting in no criminal indictment. He compelled a pre-trial dismissal, by the District Attorney, of all criminal charges against his client in the NYPD 61st Precinct Insurance Fraud case in Kings County; He obtained a favorable plea bargain for his client in the Byram Hills school teacher unlawful surveillance case resulting in probation and no jail time in Westchester County; and obtained a verdict of acquittal after trial in Yonkers in the off-duty NYPD McLean Avenue bar assault case in Westchester County.

Recently, after trial in U.S. Federal Court in the Southern District of New York, he obtained a verdict of not guilty from a jury in under 30 minutes. They acquitted his wrongfully accused client of all federal firearms charges, who was then released from jail. 

Mr. Tanner has appeared on ABC, NBC, CBS and FOX and was a legal analyst on Court TV.  He was featured on the front page of the Miami Herald and has been frequently quoted in or interviewed by major newspapers across the country, such as the New York Times, New York Post, New York Daily News, Journal News, Miami Herald, Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinal, the Associated Press and The Chief-Leader.  He has been interviewed on Dateline NBC and his case featured on 48 Hours, Investigation Discovery Channel, Anderson Cooper Live and other national broadcasts.  He has also appeared on local cable news and radio stations such as NY1, News 12 Westchester, 1010 WINS and 880 WCBS.

Mr. Tanner is admitted to practice in the state courts of New York, New Jersey and the District of Columbia, as well as the Federal Courts for the Southern and Eastern Districts of New York, the District Court of New Jersey and the Second Circuit Court of Appeals. He is a member of the New York County Lawyers' Association, the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers and the Kings County Criminal Bar Association.