New York (AFP) – The lawyer defending deposed Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro is a veteran trial attorney who previously represented WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange.

Barry Pollack, 61, appeared beside Maduro during his arraignment in a New York courtroom on Monday on drug trafficking and other charges.

Maduro pleaded not guilty and it will be up to Pollack to try to convince a federal jury to render that verdict when the case eventually goes to trial.

The next hearing has been set for March 17.

A graduate of Georgetown University law school, Pollack is a partner in Harris St. Laurent & Wechsler LLP, a boutique New York law firm, and a former president of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers.

Law firm research guide Chambers USA describes him as a "thorough and deep-thinking lawyer" who "lives, breathes and sleeps trials, and has such a natural way in front of juries."

In 2024, Pollack secured the release of Assange from a British prison after negotiating a plea deal with the US Justice Department that saw the Australian plead guilty to violating the Espionage Act by unlawfully disclosing national defense material.

In another high-profile case, Pollack obtained the acquittal of a former Enron accountant who was facing criminal fraud charges stemming from the collapse of the energy giant.

Another prominent case involved a New York man who was wrongfully convicted of murdering his parents when he was a teenager and spent 17 years in prison.

Pollack managed to get the charges dismissed and secured his freedom.

Pollack gave a hint of his defense strategy during Monday's brief arraignment of Maduro before District Judge Alvin Hellerstein, questioning the "legality of his abduction" by the US military.