Preetinder Singh Bharara is an American lawyer, author, and former federal prosecutor who served as the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York from 2009 to 2017. He served as an Assistant U.S. Attorney for five years prior to leading the Southern District. Born in Firozpur, India, his family immigrated to New Jersey in 1970. Bharara became a U.S. Citizen at age 12. Bharara graduated from Harvard College in 1990 and attended Columbia Law School before joining Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher as a litigation associate in 1993. Three years later he moved to Shereff, Friedman, Hoffman & Goodman. Bharara first entered the public sector as chief counsel to Senator Chuck Schumer the he transferred to the U.S. Department of Justice in 2004 as an assistant U.S. Attorney, launching his career as a federal prosecutor. Upon the election of U.S. President Donald Trump, Bharara was dismissed after refusing to submit his resignation as part of the 2017 dismissal of U.S. attorneys. He received a Bachelor of Arts degree magna cum laude from Harvard College in 1990 and a Juris Doctor degree from Columbia Law School in 1993 where he was a member of the Columbia Law Review.
