Judd Burstein Judd Burstein helms Judd Burstein, P.C., a three lawyer boutique litigation firm. The philosophy of the firm is that litigation is itself a separate discipline that requires skills that can only be developed through extensive courtroom experience actually trying cases involving a broad variety of legal issues. In addition, Mr. Burstein is regarded as a leading appellate lawyer who has handled well over 100 federal and state appeals.

In essence, Mr. Burstein believes that the ability to communicate with judges and jurors, the trial skill of cross-examination, and the ability to develop overall litigation strategy are skills far more important to victory than a specialty in a particular area of the law. Knowledge of the substantive law underlying a case can be easily secured by the litigator through study and expert assistance. Most litigators who specialize in just one area, such as patents or bankruptcy, simply do not have the breadth of experience or confidence in their litigation talents to make use of that talent and experience in a broad number of areas. In contrast, by the time a case comes to trial, Mr. Burstein, through the course of trial preparation, necessarily secures the very knowledge and experience he may not have possessed at the time of his retention.

The value of Mr. Burstein as a lawyer is not restricted to his ability to win cases. In addition, he has a history of securing very favorable settlements for clients because adversaries are aware of Mr. Burstein's reputation as a trial lawyer and his love of the courtroom.

Ironically, precisely because he has tried so many different types of cases, there are few litigators in the country who have a breadth of substantive expertise in different areas of the law that is equal to Mr. Burstein's. Over the years, Mr. Burstein has served successfully as trial counsel in litigations and arbitrations involving defamation, negligence, the airline industry, common law fraud, bankruptcy fraud, securities fraud, income tax disputes, white collar crime, patent law, copyright law, unfair completion, corporate dissolutions, partnership partitions, child custody, divorce, breach of fiduciary duty, breach of contract, provenance of art works, the music industry, the sport of boxing, architectural malpractice, real estate, building construction and civil racketeering. He has handled cases at the trial level in 18 states. In addition, Mr. Burstein has extensive experience as an appellate advocate. He has taught appellate advocacy at Hofstra University Law School, and has argued more than 60 federal and 40 state appeals.

A review of the cases he handled in 2011 is illustrative of the breadth of Mr. Burstein's expertise:

  • He won a $26 million jury verdict in a breach of contract case that involved almost 400,000 documents produced by the parties.
  • He tried a child custody case in which the Father settled at the close of evidence by agreeing to give Mr. Burstein's client full legal and residential custody of all of the parties' children.
  • Following his late 2011 criminal forfeiture trial in a case where the defendant had been convicted (while represented by another lawyer) of making $185 million in trades based upon insider information, Mr. Burstein wrote all the briefs that resulted in the Court ruling that no insider trading forfeiture would be ordered.
  • He negotiated a multi-million dollar settlement for his client in a palimony dispute.
  • He forced Harvey Weinstein and The Weinstein Company to pay his client $500,000 just so that Mr. Burstein would agree to mediate a claim rather than file a complaint. When the mediation failed, the complaint was filed (a motion to dismiss by the defendants was subsequently denied and the case is ongoing), and Mr. Burstein's client kept the $500,000.
  • He represented famed boxer Oscar de la Hoya in an ongoing case involving tort claims made against him by an escort.
  • He successfully negotiated an agreement dividing up a $900 million company owned by trusts of which warring factions of a family are beneficiaries.
  • He represented a former Fortune 50 CEO in connection with his departure from the company.
  • He represented advertising executive and television personality Donny Deutsch in two ongoing real estate disputes.
  • He commenced a defamation action (quickly settled) on behalf of a high level television executive accused of sexual misconduct.
  • He settled a partnership dispute concerning a multi-million dollar electronics wholesale business.
  • He represented a Madoff investor in an ongoing dispute over whether the investor's profits may be recouped.
  • He represented a major advertising agency in an ongoing breach of contract dispute.
  • He represented a major Broadway producer in a dispute with another producer. After winning a motion to dismiss the defendant's counterclaims, the case was settled on very favorable terms.