Soumya Dayananda is a partner in Willkie’s Litigation Department, where she is a member of the Investigations & Enforcement Practice. She is based in Willkie’s Washington, DC office.
Soumya has over 20 years of public service experience, including handling complex government investigations, crisis management and congressional oversight. She represents private companies, public entities and individuals facing scrutiny by the federal government, including the DOJ, State Attorney Generals and Congress.
Experience
Prior to joining Willkie in 2023, Soumya served as a Senior Investigative Counsel for the U.S. House of Representatives Select Committee to Investigate The Attack on the United States Capitol, where she led a team of attorneys investigating the law enforcement and military response on January 6.
She also previously served as a Senior Investigative Counsel at the U.S. Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee (HSGAC), the Senate’s top oversight Committee, for Chairman Gary Peters (MI-D), where she led high-profile bipartisan investigations.
Soumya served as an Assistant U.S. Attorney in the Eastern District of New York (EDNY) for more than a decade, where she held leadership positions in the International Narcotics and Money Laundering Section overseeing complex international narcotics and money laundering investigations and prosecutions. During her career, she served as lead trial counsel on dozens of trials, including numerous high-profile RICO cases. She began her career as an Assistant D.A. in the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office.
Soumya taught a Persuasion and Advocacy course at Seton Hall University, and has served as a guest lecturer at clinical programs at NYU School of Law, Brooklyn Law School and City University of New York.
In 2015, Soumya received the U.S. Department of Justice Director’s Award for Superior Performance by a Litigation Group and the Federal Law Enforcement Foundation’s Federal Prosecutor of the Year award, and in 2018, the Society of Asian Federal Officers Prosecutor of the Year award. She is a three-time recipient of the True American Hero Award from the Federal Drug Agents’ Foundation.
She also previously served as a Senior Investigative Counsel at the U.S. Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee (HSGAC), the Senate’s top oversight Committee, for Chairman Gary Peters (MI-D), where she led high-profile bipartisan investigations.
Soumya served as an Assistant U.S. Attorney in the Eastern District of New York (EDNY) for more than a decade, where she held leadership positions in the International Narcotics and Money Laundering Section overseeing complex international narcotics and money laundering investigations and prosecutions. During her career, she served as lead trial counsel on dozens of trials, including numerous high-profile RICO cases. She began her career as an Assistant D.A. in the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office.
Soumya taught a Persuasion and Advocacy course at Seton Hall University, and has served as a guest lecturer at clinical programs at NYU School of Law, Brooklyn Law School and City University of New York.
In 2015, Soumya received the U.S. Department of Justice Director’s Award for Superior Performance by a Litigation Group and the Federal Law Enforcement Foundation’s Federal Prosecutor of the Year award, and in 2018, the Society of Asian Federal Officers Prosecutor of the Year award. She is a three-time recipient of the True American Hero Award from the Federal Drug Agents’ Foundation.
Credentials
Education
Temple University Beasley School of Law, J.D., 2001 Pennsylvania State University, B.A., 1997
Bar Admissions
Court Admissions
United States District Court, Southern District of New York