Best Lawyers in New York, United States for Bet-the-Company Litigation
New York City is one of the most active and complex legal markets in the world. With a dense network of courts, regulations and high-stakes legal matters across every industry, navigating the legal system here requires more than just any attorney—it requires the right one.
Whether you're dealing with a corporate dispute, a criminal charge, or a personal legal issue, experience matters. So does reputation. That’s why this directory exists.
The Best Lawyers New York directory offers a streamlined, trustworthy way to start your search. Every attorney in New York listed has been recognized by their peers for professional excellence and the platform is designed to help you filter by legal need, review credentials and take the next step with confidence.
How the Directory Works
This page serves as a targeted directory for users looking to find a lawyer in New York. Each attorney listed has been recognized in the most recent edition of Best Lawyers—a distinction based entirely on peer nominations and evaluations.
You won’t find ads or sponsored listings here. Instead, you can search by:
- Practice area: filter by the type of legal help you need
- Location: narrow results to your borough or region
- Attorney name: if you’re looking to verify someone you’ve already heard of
Each attorney profile includes a clear summary of their experience, focus areas and credentials—giving you the information you need to make a confident decision.
Legal Help by Practice Area
New York City residents’ and visitors’ legal needs are wide-ranging and so are the attorneys listed in this directory. You can quickly narrow your search by legal focus. This directory includes attorneys who concentrate on some of the most in-demand areas of law in New York, such as:
- Business and commercial law
- Criminal defense and investigations
- Employment and labor disputes
- Real estate and construction law
- Divorce, custody and family matters
- Immigration issues
- Personal injury and malpractice
- Estate planning and probate
Why These Attorneys Are Listed
Every attorney on this page has earned a place through Best Lawyers’ rigorous annual peer-review process—one of the most trusted selection methods in the legal profession.
It’s recognition by fellow attorneys who know the work and understand what excellence looks like. Attorneys are nominated by peers and then evaluated on legal skill, professional conduct and client outcomes. Thousands of lawyers participate each year, providing confidential assessments within their specific practice areas.
To be listed, an attorney must:
- Be nominated by another legal professional
- Receive consistently high marks from peers in their practice area
- Maintain a strong track record of ethical behavior and client success
Only those who stand out among their peers are selected. And only those chosen in the most recent edition of the Best Lawyers awards appear in this directory, ensuring that every listing reflects current, active recognition.
Attorneys also manage their own profiles, so the information you’re reviewing is not only credible, but current. You’ll find clear details about each attorney’s practice focus, background and achievements—everything you need to make an informed decision.
This page is built to support your search—not get in the way of it. Whether you're starting from scratch or narrowing down a list of top attorneys in New York, this directory is a practical, no-frills tool to help you move forward.
Start Your Search
If you're trying to find a lawyer in New York, this directory offers a trusted, peer-reviewed way to start. Whether you're hiring for the first time or looking to verify someone's standing, the attorneys listed here have been selected for a reason.
Begin your search by selecting your legal focus. Then explore profiles, compare qualifications and connect with an attorney in New York who’s already earned the trust of the legal community.
Practice Area Overview
Bet-the-company cases create unique challenges. Counsel inside and outside the company must respond to several alarmed constituencies, including insiders (management, the board, employees, shareholders, investors); outsiders (customers, vendors, lenders, insurers), and regulatory authorities (to name only a few: SEC, FTC, FDA, EPA, and DOJ and their international counterparts). Counsel must conduct every aspect of the litigation with the needs and desires of these sometimes conflicting constituencies constantly in mind.
The company may face multiple investigations: congressional, criminal, regulatory, as well as special quasi-governmental commissions and internal investigations conducted by the company itself or by other parties. Counsel must deal with these investigations understanding that decisions made early on can have an enormous impact on the outcomes of investigations, subsequent litigation, and on the ultimate resolution.
Litigation may erupt in multiple jurisdictions (federal, state, international) and in multiple forms (criminal, civil, administrative, arbitral). The company may face multiple litigation adversaries, including the United States Department of Justice, State Attorneys General, regulatory counsel, and private counsel for adverse parties. Parties aligned with the company will have their own counsel, constituencies and agendas. The formal and informal coordination of all these proceedings and parties will impact the duration, cost and course of the litigation. The reputation of the company’s lead counsel – in part pre-existing and in part earned over the course of the litigation – will be critical in dealing with all these tribunals, parties, and attorneys.
Bet-the-company cases require an ability not only to navigate in these different environments, but also to see how the moving parts fit together. That in turn is the key to a more important ability: to work out, with the client, a plan – a plan that will be constantly adjusted – to get from the chaotic beginning to a satisfactory resolution.
It is best in bet-the-company cases to have a lead lawyer responsible for coordinating the varied teams of lawyers needed to handle, under a coherent plan, all these facets of the problem – teams with varying types of expertise, drawn from multiple firms, and often working in different locations. With leadership, cohesive teams can solve extraordinary problems.
In the course of your career, you will likely face at least one legal dispute that you can't afford to lose but can't resolve without expert help. To manage the risk successfully, you will need to partner with someone who has the necessary experience, skill, and resources. Many people in your position seek to engage me to do just that. Read on to see why. Trial counsel People who should know have described me as an "incredibly gifted lawyer" (Chambers and Partners) who is "magic in the courtr...
Barry H. Berke, Co-chair of the Litigation department, is a nationally recognized trial lawyer who represents officers, directors, professionals and corporations in sensitive and high-profile investigations and proceedings. Mr. Berke has handled major matters on behalf of his clients involving all aspects of white collar crime, including allegations of securities fraud, accounting and bank fraud, RICO and FCPA violations, tax offenses, bribery, bid rigging, and embezzlement. Mr. Berke also ha...
Laurie Styka Bloom represents clients in complex and commercial litigation as well as environmental based litigation claims. What do you focus on? I use my 30 years of litigation and environmental law experience to assist my clients in solving their disputes efficiently and effectively. My practice is focused on litigation arising out of environmental issues, such as alternative energy, cell tower siting and land use as well as commercial and products liability/personal injury issues. Environ...
Terrence M. Connors has been recognized by his peers as one of the pre-eminent trial attorneys in the state. For the past seven years, he has been ranked as the number one lawyer in all upstate New York by Super Lawyers magazine. This year, the Erie County Bar Association named him Lawyer of the Year and, in 2006, the New York State Bar Association awarded him the prestigious Attorney Professionalism Award. He is a fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers. Membership in that organizati...
James E. Hacker is a 1981 graduate of Hamilton College and a 1984 graduate of Albany Law School. Mr. Hacker holds an AV rating from Martindale Hubbell and is recognized as a “Best Lawyer in America” in the fields of commercial litigation and personal injury by “Best Lawyers”. Mr. Hacker is a member of the Board of Trustees at Albany Law School and is a member of the Board of Directors for the Albany County Bar Association. He is a Regional Vice President of the New Yor...
Michael J. Hutter is a Professor of Law at Albany Law School of Union University, where he has been a member of the faculty since 1976. He is also Special Counsel to the Albany law firm of Powers & Santola, LLP. Professor Hutter is an honors graduate of Brown University and Boston College Law School. In law school, he was the Editor-In-Chief of Boston College’s law review and was elected to the Order of the Coif. After graduation, Professor Hutter served as law clerk to Judge Matthe...
Jay B. Kasner, Skadden’s national securities litigation practice leader, represents a diverse group of U.S. and international public and private companies and their directors and officers in their most crucial litigation matters. He has been ranked repeatedly in the top tier for nationwide securities litigation in Chambers USA , is one of only three lawyers listed in Chambers as a “star individual” for New York securities litigation, and received its Business Trial Lawyer Aw...
Rick’s practice is focused on representing companies and individuals involved in complex litigation matters. Rick is experienced in a variety of high-stakes litigation areas, including complex commercial litigation, intellectual property litigation, securities claims and derivative litigation, fiduciary obligations, and corporate governance disputes. Rick has handled all phases of complex litigation from investigation through trial and appeal, as well as in arbitration and mediation. Ri...
Carolyn Nussbaum is a partner in the Commercial Litigation group, and a member of the Securities and Governance Litigation team as well as the Class Action team. Carolyn represents companies and their management and leaders who confront business disputes. She is also the Managing Partner for the Rochester office of the firm, where she oversees policies impacting nearly 300 employees. What do you focus on? I concentrate my commercial litigation practice in four main specialized areas, using mo...
Lee S. Richards III has devoted his 45-year career to the representation of businesses, corporate boards, and individuals in white collar criminal defense, securities enforcement defense, regulatory proceedings, internal investigations, and complex commercial litigations. Lee has amassed extensive trial experience, regularly representing investment banks, hedge funds, public companies, investment advisers, corporate officers and directors, and other professionals in investigations and proceed...
Richard Zielinski, who practices in Boston and New York, is a nationally known ‘bet the company’ trial lawyer who handles a wide range of complex, high-stakes commercial litigation. He is also known for his specific expertise in legal malpractice defense. According to Chambers USA, Richard is ‘very smart, thorough and knowledgeable. ’ Clients say he is ‘fantastic on his feet’ and ‘thinks seven steps ahead of everyone else.’ He has extensive tria...
Our Methodology
Recognition by Best Lawyers is based entirely on peer review. Our methodology is designed to capture, as accurately as possible, the consensus opinion of leading lawyers about the professional abilities of their colleagues within the same geographical area and legal practice area.
The Process
Best Lawyers employs a sophisticated, conscientious, rational, and transparent survey process designed to elicit meaningful and substantive evaluations of the quality of legal services. Our belief has always been that the quality of a peer review survey is directly related to the quality of the voters.