Attorneys

Highly regarded for his impressive skills inside and out of the courtroom, Hartley T. Bernstein is recognized widely as a persuasive advocate for the distinct interests and concerns of each client. A thoughtful and meticulous problem-solver, he is a sought-after advisor to executives, an architect of innovative and winning business strategies, and a successful litigator who has achieved notable victories. His client base is wide, deep, and varied, running the gamut from global publicly traded corporations and investment banks to privately held companies, small businesses, and individuals.

 

PRIMARY FOCUS AND EXPERIENCE

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Litigation & Arbitration. Hartley ’s broad-based litigation practice includes high-stakes advocacy on a comprehensive array of civil claims. He has successfully tried cases and argued appeals in both federal and state courts and appeared as counsel in hundreds of alternative dispute resolution proceedings, achieving a notable record of success.

 

Real Estate. With extensive expertise in commercial and residential real estate transactions, including property sales, leasing, management, and financing, Hartley’s clients include real estate developers, management firms and property owners.

 

Corporate Counsel. Hartley provides legal counsel and strategic advice to private and public companies across a broad spectrum of issues and transactions. These include corporate governance, mergers and acquisitions, employment and employee compensation agreements and contract matters. 

 

Securities Matters. Over the course of his career, Hartley has represented investors, as well as companies and broker-dealers in connection with public offerings, private placements of securities, and corporate financing transactions.

 

Employment Matters. Hartley counsels employers and employees on a broad spectrum of employment and workplace matters and practices, and has represented them in claims and actions alleging discrimination on the basis of gender, age, disability, and LGBTQ status.

 

 

REPRESENTATIVE MATTERS

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• Achieved a total victory for a national auction house against Madonna in her appeal of a lawsuit over the ownership rights and sale of a letter from Tupac Shakur. (173 AD3d 415, 102 NYS3d 568 (App Div 2019)

• Prevailed against the New York State Attorney General on claims that owners and developers of New York City real estate violated New York’s Martin Act and Executive Law in connection with filings for condominium conversion, tax abatements and rent-stabilization laws.

• Recovery of millions of dollars in damages for individuals who suffered injuries resulting from deadly New York City crane collapses.

• Successful in over 100 arbitration proceedings representing investors before FINRA (and its predecessor, the NASD), collectively recovering millions of dollars.

• Outside General Counsel to a UK-based international investment bank, including on corporate structure, securities regulation, employment matters, and litigation.

• Represents clients in federal courts and before the EEOC and New York State Division of Human Rights on claims of employment discrimination, including obtaining favorable outcomes for claimants alleging workplace discrimination on the basis of their LGBTQ status.

• Engaged by more than 40 companies and securities brokerage firms in connection with public securities offerings, including Steven Madden, Ltd.

• Counsel to owners, property managers and purchasers in connection with acquisitions, development, sales, and financing of commercial and residential real estate.

• Defense of internet publishers against claims alleging violation of the U.S. Copyright Act.

• Counsel to New York City co-ops, condops, and condominiums.

• Corporate counsel to nationally franchised children’s sports program.

 

 

RECOGNITION AND ACCOMPLISHMENTS

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A well-recognized resource on securities fraud issues, Hartley has testified before the United States Congress and lectured extensively, including before the FBI, the Ontario Securities Commission, and the Canadian Joint Task Force on Securities, and has been quoted by the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Forbes, and other leading publications. He has also appeared as a guest contributor on CNBC, CNN, and Bloomberg television and radio. 

 

Hartley has been a member of the adjunct faculties of Yale Law School and New York Law School and an instructor at the National Institute for Trial Advocacy.

 

A long-standing member of the Board of Trustees of the New York Common Pantry (formerly known as the Yorkville Common Pantry), Hartley has served as a Committee Chair and legal advisor.

 

EDUCATION

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Columbia University, B.A.

New York University School of Law, J.D.

 

ADMISSIONS AND APPEARANCES

 

New York

U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit

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

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

 

Hartley also has been admitted to practice pro hac vice by federal and state courts in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, Florida, South Carolina, California, Illinois, Arizona, and Oklahoma.