Vanessa Singh Johannes

Vanessa Singh Johannes is an experienced trial attorney who counsels individuals and corporations on a wide array of civil, criminal, and compliance matters. She brings to the table more than 18 years of experience as a former federal prosecutor and complex litigator.

For a decade, Vanessa honorably served as an assistant U.S. attorney for the Southern District of Florida, trying dozens of jury trials, handling hundreds of criminal and civil investigations, and arguing appellate matters before the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals. She investigated, indicted, and tried cases involving crimes that affected everyday people in the Miami community, large companies, and American taxpayers, such as fraud, money laundering, espionage, civil rights, arms trafficking, human trafficking, and murder. Her vast experience as an AUSA provides unique insight into all phases of government investigations — such as grand jury inquiries, complex search warrants, and mutual legal assistance treaty (MLAT) requests — and reliable knowledge of federal practice in the district. She also developed a close working relationship with federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies, such as the Secret Service; the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives; Homeland Security Investigations; and the FBI. In addition to serving as a trial prosecutor, Vanessa’s passion for representing vulnerable victims led her to serve as the district’s Project Safe Childhood coordinator. In that capacity, she assisted federal, state, and local law enforcement officers, task forces, and special prosecutors with training and case preparedness, while also intaking all child exploitation cases. Among other accolades, Vanessa earned the prestigious Attorney General’s Award for Distinguished Service for her work prosecuting Christopher R. Glenn, a U.S. citizen and highly skilled Department of Defense contractor who committed a host of national security, fraud, money laundering, and human trafficking violations while living in Honduras.

Vanessa also has extensive experience handling complex, “bet-the-company” civil cases. Indeed, before serving as a federal prosecutor, she was a senior associate at Kirkland & Ellis LLP in New York. There, she was a “go-to” litigation associate on numerous high-stakes trials, such as Discover v. MasterCard and Visa, a billion-dollar case. Vanessa currently represents companies in an array of civil matters, such as insurance litigation, and recently assisted in the successful victory for a client before the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals. She also assists companies in responding to inquiries by federal agencies (such as subpoena or civil investigative demand requests), in conducting internal investigations, board presentations, and training on relevant updated laws, or crafting compliance programs to meet legal regulatory and criminal requirements. In this regard, she has developed a track record of representing Fortune 500 companies and executives in complex litigation and during crisis mode. Some of her notable matters include representing a nonprofit foundation in a lawsuit against a purported hedge fund manager who ran a million-dollar Ponzi scheme in New York, a large telecommunications company in environmental toxic tort litigation in federal court, corporate executives accused of federal health care fraud and money laundering violations, a large utility and energy company conducting an internal investigation into potential corruption actions committed by company managers and executives, and the CEO and founder of a telecommunications company facing a federal criminal wire fraud and money laundering investigation. In addition, Vanessa handles complex criminal matters, including those involving the False Claims Act, the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, wire fraud, and money laundering. Vanessa strives to achieve the best resolution for her clients and is always poised and prepared to take a case to trial.

Throughout her career, Vanessa has stayed involved in civic and nonprofit organizations and community activities. She serves on the board of the Federal Bar Association’s South Florida chapter and the Miami-Dade Beacon Council. She is a member of the American Bar Association, Wilkie D. Ferguson Jr. Bar Association, Gwen S. Cherry Black Women Lawyers Association, South Asian Bar Association, and Caribbean Bar Association, and is a Leadership Council on Legal Diversity fellow. Vanessa is a frequent speaker at conferences hosted by these various organizations, such as the ABA Criminal Justice Section’s Annual White Collar Crime Institute. She also serves as a writing coach for the Posse Foundation. In addition, Vanesa is a leader within the firm, serving as the Miami office co-managing shareholder and chair of the Minority Business Resource Group.

Vanessa was born in Guyana and moved to South Miami as a child with her family. She currently lives in Miami Beach with her husband and three children. She is a proud Duke Law School alum and Blue Devils fan, as well as an avid traveler and runner. Learn more on her podcast Athena Rising.

Tried dozens of criminal cases before a federal jury as a federal prosecutor and defense attorney in the Southern District of Florida. Jury trials include the following:

• Defense of a health care facility CEO charged with 28 counts, including health care fraud, wire fraud, and money laundering.
• Prosecution of a prominent local high school teacher for enticing a minor student to engage in sexual relations.
• Prosecution of a former military contractor for espionage, fraud, and trafficking.
• Prosecution of an extremely violent gang leader for assaulting and sexually trafficking women.
• Prosecution of a long-distance truck driver and suspected serial killer for kidnapping and assault.
• Prosecution of a city of Miami firefighter for distribution of infant and toddler child pornography.
• Prosecution of an aerospace executive for arranging and orchestrating a murder-for-hire plot against his business partner.

Representative civil matters include:

• Represented a Fortune 500 financial institution in a billion-dollar antitrust litigation in federal court.
• Represented a nonprofit foundation in a lawsuit against a purported hedge fund manager who ran a million-dollar Ponzi scheme in New York.
• Represented a Fortune 100 telecommunications company in an environmental toxic tort litigation in federal court.
• Represented various corporations’ litigation interests in bankruptcy court.

• Legal Elite Notable Women Leaders in Law, Florida Trend Magazine (2024)
• 2024 Most Influential Lawyers, Savoy Magazine (2024)

• Miami-Dade Beacon Council
  • Board of Directors
• Federal Bar Association
  • Board of Directors
• American Bar Association
• Caribbean Bar Association
• Gwen S. Cherry Black Women Lawyers Bar Association
• Leadership Council on Legal Diversity
  • Fellow (2022)
• Miami Beach Bar Association

• “AI for Defense and Intelligence,” eMerge Americas, Miami, FL (April 18, 2024)
• "Educational Policy: Public Schools and the U.S. Supreme Court," Florida Law Con (March 31, 2023)
• "Redistricting: The Legal Parameters of Redistricting ... Where Does It End?," Miami Law Con (April 22, 2022)
• "The Future of Sentencing: A Look at the Federal Sentencing Guidelines," American Constitution Society, Florida Chapter (June 28, 2021)