Jay Leiderman is a criminal defense attorney in Ventura, California. He co-authored the first ever book on the legal defense of California medical marijuana crimes and has been called the “Hacktivist’s Advocate” for his work defending those accused of computer crimes. He has been recognized and won awards for going above and beyond to represent clients accused of all sorts of crimes.

Rolling Stone magazine recently called Tor a “powerful . . . and . . . famed advocate” for federally indicted hackers and hacktivists. His small private practice is handling three of the most prominent recent cases involving federal criminal prosecutions under the notorious Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (“CFAA”).

The CFAA is the federal government’s primary weapon in its prosecution of what it considers computer crimes. Tor’s involvement with the CFAA began with a chance meeting with the infamous Internet troll Andrew Auernheimer (“weev”), the defendant in U.S. v. Auernheimer, currently on appeal at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit.

Tor served pro bono as lead trial counsel on U.S. v. Auernheimer, and he serves alongside Orin Kerr, the Electronic Frontier Foundation, Hanni Fakhoury, and Marcia Hoffman as appellate counsel. The Third Circuit’s decision will set an important precedent on the interpretation of the notoriously vague CFAA. Amicus briefs arguing for appellant Andrew Auernheimer were filed by the Mozilla Foundation (via Stanford’s Center for Internet and Society’s Jennifer Grannick); the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers; The Berkman Center for Internet and Society at Harvard University, and a group of prominent information security specialists including some of the biggest names in the business. The case has received considerable media attention, including an in depth front page article in the Washington Post and coverage in the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Rolling Stone, Mother Jones, The Atlantic, Columbia Journalism Review, and numerous other journals and media outlets.

In addition to U.S v. Auernheimer, Tor represents, along with Jay Leiderman, former Reuters Social Media Editor Matthew Keys in U.S. v. Keys, another case that has received significant national media attention. Mr. Keys is currently under indictment for CFAA violations in the Eastern District of California for his alleged participation in a hack of the Los Angeles Times website. Finally, Tor represents Deric Lostutter. Mr. Lostutter is currently under FBI investigation, and faces a pending indictment, for his alleged role in exposing information leading to the conviction of two Steubenville, Ohio High School football players for the rape of a 14-year-old girl. Mr. Lostutter was also instrumental in exposing the widespread cover up of the rape by students and officials in Steubenville, Ohio. If he is charged under the CFAA, he will face more jail time than the young men convicted of the rape.

Tor's firm has a thriving transactional practice as well, representing technology businesses, financial services companies, and creatives. He currently is general counsel for YourAnonNews. He graduated cum laude from Fordham Law School in 2006, where he was Senior Articles Editor of the Fordham Law Review. He lives and works in Brooklyn.