What to know about Barry J. Pollack, lawyer representing Nicolas Maduro

When the deposed Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro goes on trial in New York, he will be represented by an experienced lawyer who is no stranger to complex cases at the intersection of geopolitics and the law

When the deposed Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro goes on trial in New York, he will be represented by an experienced lawyer who is no stranger to complex cases at the intersection of geopolitics and the law.

Maduro has tapped the services of Barry J. Pollack, a partner at Harris St. Laurent & Weschler LLP, a boutique law firm based in New York, where the authoritarian former leader and his wife face various charges, including narco-terrorism conspiracy. Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, pleaded not guilty at their first court appearance Monday, when Pollack was by the ousted president’s side.

Pollack previously represented WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, steering the anti-secrecy activist’s legal strategy in the U.S. for more than a decade. Pollack helped secure a 2024 plea deal that led to Assange’s release from prison.

Assange pleaded guilty to one count of violating the Espionage Act for publishing classified military and diplomatic documents. He had been accused of conspiring to unlawfully obtain and release top-secret national defense information, and federal investigators said his leaks jeopardized national security.

Andy Birrell, the president of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, a group that Pollack once headed, told NBC News that his colleague’s experience representing an internationally controversial defendant like Assange was good preparation for the Maduro case.