Kate Fohrkolb is counsel in Rivkin Radler’s Compliance, Investigations & White Collar and Insurance Fraud Practice Groups.

Kate brings a unique blend of experience in investigations, litigation, and risk management to her practice. She is an accomplished investigative and trial attorney with extensive experience in complex litigation, investigative practices, fraud mitigation, problem solving, governmental affairs, and executive management—all grounded in effective risk- management practices. She also helps insurers prosecute civil lawsuits under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act.

Prior to joining Rivkin Radler, Kate worked as a special assistant attorney general in the Medicaid Fraud Control Unit, where she led a multidisciplinary team of detectives, auditors, medical analysts, and paralegals dedicated to identifying complex criminal and civil Medicaid fraud cases, as well as systemic patient abuse and neglect within health care facilities.

Kate has worked in law enforcement for 25 years. In January of 2022, she was appointed to serve as assistant deputy police commissioner for the Suffolk County Police Department in New York, the 12th largest police department in the country. In June of 2023, Kate was promoted and appointed to chief of staff. Prior to joining the police department, she served as an assistant district attorney for 21 years.

In 2021, she last served as the chief of the Special Narcotics Bureau in the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office. In this role, she led a team of prosecutors and investigators whose primary focus was long-term narcotics investigations and wiretaps. In 2018, she led the newly formed Gang Unit in her role as deputy chief of the Enhanced Prosecution Bureau. In 2016, Kate successfully charged a drug dealer with the manslaughter statute for causing a fatal overdose, which resulted in a conviction and significant prison time for the defendant. She served in the office’s Narcotics Bureau as well as the Major Crime Bureau, where she prosecuted violent felony offenses. She came to the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office in 2003 after working for three years as an assistant district attorney in Bronx County. Kate has successfully litigated dozens of high-profile cases all resulting in significant jail time.

Kate has also lectured on various topics for community organizations, law enforcement agencies, and prosecutors’ organizations throughout her career. In 2006, the FBI invited Kate to speak at the National CODIS (Combined DNA Index System) Conference regarding her prosecution of the People of the State of New York v. Eric Stevens, which is a nationally recognized DNA cold case success story. Kate has specialized expertise in violence-reduction strategies that prioritize proactive risk assessment and interventions. She has also lectured nationally on red flag laws (Extreme Risk Protection Orders).

Kate resides on the North Fork of Long Island with her family.

Court Admissions

U.S. Court of Appeals, Second Circuit

U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York

Education

Pace University School of Law, J.D.

Manhattanville College, B.A.