Judith Germano

Judith H. Germano is an Adjunct Professor of Law at Cornell University Law School and NYU School of Law, a Visiting Lecturer at Cornell Brooks School of Public Policy, and a Distinguished/Senior Fellow in the NYU Center for Cybersecurity, Reiss Center on Law & Security, and Cornell Brooks Tech Policy Institute.  She is a public-company board member (independent director of Dime Community Bancshares, Inc. (Nasdaq: DCOM), a $14 billion financial institution, since 2023); founder and lead counsel of the boutique law firm GermanoLaw LLC; former U.S. federal prosecutor; and former associate at the global law firm A&O Sherman (then Shearman & Sterling).  

Ms. Germano has deep expertise in cybersecurity and AI governance, regulatory-compliance, complex financial and government fraud investigations and defense, data privacy, litigation (trials, appeals, motion practice, and high-stakes mediation), organizational (internal and external) communication, and risk management.  Ms. Germano regularly provides legal and strategic advice to companies, boards, and executives; negotiates high-stakes civil, criminal and regulatory matters; and is a frequent public speaker.  She has worked on numerous matters involving the US DOJ, FBI, US Secret Service, Securities & Exchange Commission, Department of Defense, Federal Trade Commission, and other federal and state investigators and regulators. 

Ms. Germano was Chief of Economic Crimes at the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of New Jersey. and an Assistant United States Attorney (AUSA) for 11 years. She prosecuted and supervised investigations and trials of national and international impact on cybercrime, public corruption, financial fraud, and national security matters. Before that, as a litigator at a global law firm, she worked on civil and criminal antitrust matters; multi-district litigation, international government investigations; and other matters.  She was cocounsel on a federal bankruptcy trial, defending a company and its board of directors against claims of violated fiduciary duties, and lead counsel in a federal civil rights trial, among other cases in and out of court. 

Ms. Germano has been called a “cybersecurity pioneer” who creates innovative cybersecurity programming and thought leadership, convening government officials and industry executives to address critical cybersecurity, AI and regulatory issues.  She created one of the world’s first cybersecurity legal conferences, Cyberspace and the Law, in 1996, addressing issues of safety, security and fundamental rights online – problems that are still at the core of discussions today.  Judi founded the Cybersecurity Leaders Roundtable Series at NYU School of Law in 2013, and Women Leaders in Cybersecurity programming in 2015.  In 2025, Judi co-designed and launched the Nasdaq/NYU Law Cyber Scholars Program for public company directors, a first-in-kind program addressing cybersecurity, AI and privacy risk in a synchronous, in-depth curriculum exclusively tailored to public company directors.  She is a frequent speaker and published author on cybersecurity topics. 

Ms. Germano, a Cornell University alum, has published whitepapers and articles and is a contributing author on two books regarding numerous topics in cybersecurity, cybercrime, and data privacy.  She serves on the New Jersey Supreme Court’s Advisory Committee on Judicial Conduct and the New Jersey Supreme Court’s Committee on AI and the Courts.  She also is a 5x IronMan (140.6-mile) triathlete (top 10 in age group; 2020 All World Athlete), and was recognized as a Top 50 Women in Business, NJBiz.