Legal Services & Lawyers

With 25 years of experience, I represent financial professionals and firms in all aspects of their operation, compliance and litigation matters, nationwide. I also represent individual brokers from virtually every major firm in their contract negotiations, employment termination, U-4 and U-5 issues. In specialized situations where the facts or law present novel issues, I also represent investors.

Locally, I represent small and medium sized businesses in their formation, operation and litigation, using my Wall Street background to assist those business entities.

Brian Heller, a Partner with Schwartz & Perry LLP, has been with the firm since his graduation from Fordham Law School in 2001, where he served on the Fordham Urban Law Journal and as a mediator in the Bronx Small Claims Court. A Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Penn State University, Mr. Heller has an impressive background in all aspects of employment law, including discrimination, sexual harassment, fraudulent inducement, contractual disputes, stock options and benefits and workplace torts.

Mr. Heller is an experienced litigator, having Co-Chaired numerous trials, including jury and non-jury trials in both the Federal and state courts. Mr. Heller has also prosecuted and argued numerous appeals in various appellate courts in New York State. In addition to litigation, Mr. Heller negotiates severance agreements, employment contracts, non-compete and confidentiality agreements, and counsels employees who are subjected to discrimination in the workplace. With a strong emphasis on research and writing, Mr. Heller contributes to all aspects of Schwartz & Perry LLP's practice.

Mr. Heller is also active in Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR), successfully representing employees in mediations sponsored by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the courts, and a number of private dispute resolution entities. Mr. Heller has appeared on behalf of individuals in arbitrations before The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA, formerly the National Association of Securities Dealers) and the American Arbitration Association (AAA).

Mr. Heller lectures on employment discrimination, litigation, contracts, workplace torts and trial practice before attorneys of all experience levels and practices, contributing the skills and insights he has gained during his tenure Schwartz & Perry LLP.

HOWARD E. GILBERT, ESQ. of the LAW OFFICES OF HOWARD E. GILBERT maintains a private practice law firm devoted exclusively to Labor and Employment Law matters. Mr. Gilbert’s experience is extensive, spanning more than twenty-nine (29) years as an attorney, professor, negotiator, arbitrator, and mediator involving a wide array of labor and employment disputes in both the private and public sectors.

The firm serves a diverse range of clients. Mr. Gilbert provides daily counsel regarding employment discrimination and harassment of all types, labor-management issues, employee relations, contract administration and interpretation, executive compensation, ERISA, discipline and discharge, and wage and hour issues.

Mr. Gilbert’s litigation experience is extensive, encompassing various administrative agencies, and the federal and state courts, at both the trial and appellate levels, including the U.S. Supreme Court and N.Y.S. Court of Appeals.

Over the years, Mr. Gilbert has handled literally hundreds of administrative proceedings including contractual grievance arbitrations, disciplinary hearings, unfair labor practice hearings, representation cases, organizational campaigns, and employment discrimination matters. He regularly appears before such agencies as the EEOC, State Division of Human Rights, American Arbitration Association, National Labor Relations Board, Public Employment Relations Board, and Merit Systems Protection Board. Mr. Gilbert has also regularly supervised or handled comprehensive collective bargaining negotiations.

Typical issues involve discipline and discharge, executive compensation disputes, sexual harassment, whistleblowing, contract administration and interpretation disputes, arbitrability, commissions, seniority, compensation, employee and labor relations policy, family and medical leave, reasonable accommodation, past practices, retirement compensation, overtime, denial of benefits, past practices, management rights, promotion and upgrading, transfers, health care, unfair labor practices, compliance with Employee Handbooks, layoffs, subcontracting, wage and hour, increase of production work rules, employment discrimination, unfair labor practices, union representation issues, and health and safety issues. The firm also handles disputes concerning administration of collective bargaining agreements, Handbook policies, and complex collective bargaining negotiations.

Mr. Gilbert currently serves as an Arbitrator and Neutral Chairperson for both Nassau and Suffolk County District Courts. Mr. Gilbert has been a neutral appellate Hearing Officer on behalf of the Chancellor, New York City Board of Education in various disputes. Mr. Gilbert is a certified Labor Mediator and Arbitrator for the Employment Discrimination Resolution (EDR) and Alternate Dispute Resolution (ADR) panels of the Nassau County Bar Association.

Mr. Gilbert has lectured or taught numerous seminars and courses in such topics as Employment Discrimination Law, Sexual Harassment, Whistleblowers, Alternative Dispute Resolution, Employment At Will, Discipline and Discharge, Labor Law, Civil Service Law, and Fair Employment Practices. Mr. Gilbert has been an Adjunct Professor for Cornell University/New York State School of Industrial and Labor Relations.

Mr. Gilbert is a member of the American, New York State, Suffolk County, and Nassau County Bar Associations, where he serves on various committees. He is a member of the Industrial Relations Research Association.

Mr. Gilbert is a graduate of Clark University, Worcester, Massachusetts (top 5%) (B.A. Double Major: English and Psychology), and has a Juris Doctor degree from St. John’s University School of Law (1980). He successfully completed the National Institute of Trial Advocacy in August 1984.

The LAW OFFICES OF HOWARD E. GILBERT prides itself in providing the highest quality legal representation. Its overall objective has been and continues to be a specific commitment to outstanding, meticulous, and immediate service, caring, and developing an ongoing personal relationship with each of its clients.

Patrick W. Begos is a founding member of the firm and senior partner in the Westport office. He heads the firm's trial and appellate group. Pat brings 19 years of litigation, arbitration, mediation and negotiation experience to the firm.

Prior to forming Begos Horgan & Brown, Patrick was a partner in the New York City litigation firm Molton & Meekins (1995-1998), and he was previously associated with Weil, Gotshal & Manges (1990-1995); and Lane & Mittendorf (1988-1990).

He is a current member of the Trial Tactics and the Life, Health and Disability Sections of the Defense Research Institute, and a member of the Public Investors Arbitration Bar Association. He is also a member of the Alternative Dispute Resolution and Trial Evidence subcommittees of the American Bar Association. He is a past member of the Committee on Art Law of the Association of the Bar of the City of New York, and he is admitted to the bar in New York and Connecticut.

Patrick received his legal education from Columbia University School of Law (J.D) and did his undergraduate work at Johns Hopkins University (BA with honors).

Pat works primarily on cases involving business and personal disputes in a wide variety of commercial areas including:
- ERISA benefits
- insurance coverage
- securities transactions
- real estate development and property management
- employment
- copyright and trademark
- internet commerce
- secured lending
- fine art acquisitions and sales
- products liability
- real estate transactions
- bankruptcy
- corporate governance

His day-to-day practice includes:
- Defending ERISA claim administrators and disability insurers at trial and in appellate courts
- Pursuing lender liability and predatory lending claims on behalf of borrowers
- Representing real estate owners, buyers and sellers in disputes over sales, construction and land use
- Assisting business owners in solving problems with partners, shareholders, creditors and suppliers

I am a business litigator, Arbitrator, and Mediator.

Most entrepreneurs, professionals (including lawyers), and business managers and owners lack true and complete knowledge about Alternate Dispute Resolution (ADR). I hope to educate and enlighten them regarding the advantages of ADR and avoiding more costly court litigation proceedings. I welcome the opportunity to discuss this with you and to debunk some of the inaccurate myths that seem to re-circulate, based on misinformation, old information, or lack of information about the realities of ADR. I also can tell you about the particular situations where – in contrast – court litigation is preferable to ADR or even necessary; one size does not fit all in the realm of business dispute resolution.

ADR allows parties to take more control over, and often lets them customize the resolution of, their disputes instead of simply having an unwelcome adjudication forced on them by a judge who is constrained more mechanically to apply limited facts to the law, rather than take a flexible and targeted approach for the greater good of the parties. ADR is usually cheaper, faster, less disruptive, and more beneficial to the parties overall. Disputing parties who utilize ADR usually come out more satisfied with the end result than do those who litigate in court.

If you would like to learn more, either in general or with regard specifically to your own present or future circumstances, please contact me.

I place particular emphasis upon effective, responsive communication with clients, helping to inform and guide them through the often unfamiliar and confusing maze of business litigation and alternative dispute resolution (ADR). Other central services include helping clients avoid business disputes by performing litigation risk management (troubleshooting for potential areas of litigation liability); representing clients who have received a subpoena from a governmental agency such as the New York State Attorney General or the United States Department of Justice; as well as drafting, reviewing, and/or negotiating confidentiality and non-competition agreements, commercial leases, and other types of contracts.

My firm practices primarily in New York State and Federal trial and appellate courts, and before arbitrators and mediators in the New York metropolitan area. Based on my unique level of experience in Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR), I provide ADR consultation services to other attorneys. I also serve regularly as New York or Long Island local counsel to out-of-state lawyers or companies involved in litigation in this region, respecting and protecting referring professionals' relationships with their clients.

My practice background includes clerkship with a federal Magistrate-Judge early in my legal training; service with a significant midtown Manhattan law firm; more than a decade as a partner in a medium-sized, high-quality Nassau County, Long Island law firm; and, since 2000, managing my own firm.

In addition to my law practice, I devote significant efforts to my service as a professional neutral commercial arbitrator for several major forums and as a private professional neutral commercial mediator. As an arbitrator, I hear and adjudicate business dispute cases, rendering binding Orders and Awards that are legally enforceable in court. As a mediator, I facilitate consensual resolution of business disputes, resulting in the parties' written settlement agreement. In each of my capacities, I handle conflict management in the context of business dispute resolution.

I also have personal experience running a small business: From 1988 through 2007, as President of a domestic real estate company owned by an Australian client, I managed autonomously the business operations and commercial real estate holdings of this entity, acting in all respects as a commercial landlord concerning property in Manhattan. I regularly serve on the boards of New York not-for-profit corporations, and help to run legal and business networking groups, enabling me to develop and foster a broad and deep network of trusted professionals on whom I can rely to assist my clients and colleagues for matters that are outside the areas of my expertise.

Business disputes should not be handled absent expert assistance. Not only should you not seek to deal with a brewing dispute by yourself, you also should be wary of hiring those whose legal practice focuses in other arenas (e.g., corporate transactional work; tax; real estate; personal injury; and the like) to handle the legal aspects of your business dispute. I don't presume to be able to practice in their areas; you should be cautious about having them venture into these specialized waters.

Mr. Raff was admitted to the Bar in the State of New York in 1969. He serves as a federal court appointed Special Master in three complex employment and discrimination law cases. He is also an active labor arbitrator, mediator and fact finder on panels from the American Arbitration Association, National Mediation Board, New York State Mediation Board, New York City Office of Collective Bargaining and the New York State-CSEA Disciplinary Panel. He has served as a member of the New York State Human Rights Advisory Council and is presently a member of the American Arbitration Association's National Alternative Dispute Task Force.

As a full-time member of the faculty of New York University School of Law for ten years, Mr. Raff taught labor and employment law, arbitration, administrative law and trial practice. He has served as a consultant to New York City's Bureau of Labor Services, New York State's Financial Control Board and the New York State Deputy Comptroller for New York City Affairs. He has also served as the Chairman of the New York State Bar Association's Committee on Civil Rights from 1981 to 1985, and is currently a member of the American Bar Association, Labor and Employment Section, and New York State Bar Association, Labor and Employment Law Section, the Association of the Bar of the City of New York, and the Society for Professionals In Dispute Resolution. Mr. Raff is listed in Who's Who in American Law, Who's Who of Emerging Leaders in America, and Who's Who in The East. In 1996, Mr. Raff was honored by the New York City Chapter of the National Organization for Women, 1998, for his legal work supporting women's rights. In 1998, Mr. Raff was honored by being elected as a Fellow of the College of Labor and Employment Lawyers.