As a former federal prosecutor, Rizzy has a unique understanding of the legal, business, and reputational risks clients face when even the suggestion of their involvement in a criminal investigation is made public. Because of his successful track record of applying aggressive multifaceted strategies to advocate for his clients, corporations and high-profile individuals trust Rizzy to navigate them through difficult legal and reputational crises.

Prior to re-joining Reed Smith, Rizzy served with distinction as an Assistant United States Attorney in the District of Columbia. As an Assistant United States Attorney, he served in various roles, including a senior position in the Violent & Repeat Offender Unit where he prosecuted some of the District’s most violent offenders for various offenses, including armed robbery and homicide.  In this role, Rizzy was assigned some of the most high-profile violent crime matters in the District, including officer-involved shootings.  In these cases, Rizzy participated in parallel investigations to determine whether sufficient evidence existed to conclude that any officers violated either federal criminal civil rights law or District of Columbia law.  Most recently, Rizzy served in a senior position in the Cyber Crime Section where he led grand jury investigations involving cyber intrusions or hacking, fraud, money laundering, business email compromise schemes, aggravated identity theft and other related offenses. For each of his four plus years at the United States Attorney’s Office, Rizzy received a Special Achievement Award from the Department of Justice in recognition of his trial and investigative work.

Before his government service, Rizzy served as a senior associate in Reed Smith’s New York and Washington, DC offices. His practice was devoted to a wide range of commercial and financial services litigation and government investigations. Rizzy has successfully counseled clients in complex investigations involving the False Claims Act, Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and other securities-related investigations with the SEC.

Rizzy actively engages in social justice and civil rights initiatives and as part of that work, he partners with non-profits and firm clients to advance criminal justice reform.  Rizzy also maintains a substantial pro bono practice. His recent representations include successfully securing post-conviction relief for a formerly incarcerated client in Pennsylvania, withholding removal on behalf of a Haitian asylum applicant, and representing a client on Alabama’s death row in his capital appeal.

Along with his practice, Rizzy is actively involved with the firm’s Hiring Committee and Diversity & Inclusion Committee.