ABV - Key Persons
Job Titles:
- Associate
- Firm As an Associate
Alex Ehrlich joined the Firm as an associate in 2016, having previously worked as a summer associate and paralegal. Alex focuses primarily on complex commercial litigation in federal and state courts. He has worked on a broad range of disputed matters involving such substantive areas as commercial law, contracts, intellectual property, financial technology, corporate governance, business torts, and employment. Alex has extensive experience working with clients through all stages of litigation, from initial fact investigation and strategic analysis through discovery, motion practice, trial preparation, and appeals. He also has experience in corporate transactional matters.
Job Titles:
- Partner
- Firm As an Associate
Bianca Lin joined the Firm as an associate in 2015 and became a partner in 2022.
Bianca focuses her practice on complex commercial litigation but also has experience in corporate, securities, and other transactional matters. As a result of her experience in both civil (Taiwan) and common law legal systems, Bianca brings a unique perspective and ability to protecting the interests of international clients in the United States.
Bianca has extensive experience representing clients in various industries in complex disputes involving contracts, securities, corporate governance, business torts, bankruptcy, products liability, and real estate. She works with clients through all stages of litigation, from initial fact investigation and strategic analysis through discovery, motion practice, trial, and appeal.
Following law school, Bianca worked at Jones Day in Taipei in dispute resolution and transactional matters.
Bianca is fluent in Mandarin and proficient in Japanese.
Job Titles:
- Counsel
- Firm As an Associate
Charles Welcome joined the Firm as an associate in 2022, and became Counsel in 2024. Charles' practice focuses on complex disputes between sophisticated parties, representing businesses in a wide range of commercial matters, including trade secrets, shareholder derivative, corporate governance, commercial contract, securities, bankruptcy, employment, franchise, and real estate actions. Charles litigates matters from investigation through appeal in federal and state courts as well as in arbitration and other alternative dispute resolution forums, with a particular interest in international matters and cross-border disputes. After law school, Charles completed a public service fellowship at the United States Court of International Trade, and, immediately prior to joining the Firm, Charles served as a Law Clerk to Judge Claire R. Kelly of the United States Court of International Trade. During law school, Charles interned at the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development in Geneva.
Collins Burgess-Jackman is the Firm's Managing Clerk, having joined the Firm as a paralegal in 2000. Collins is particularly knowledgeable about practices in the federal and state courts in which the Firm regularly appears. He supervises all court filings, and plays an integral role in formulating and facilitating creative solutions to the many and vexing procedural challenges that arise in the Firm's litigation practice.
David Berger is a founding partner, and the managing partner, of ABV. Primarily a litigator and trial lawyer, David enjoys an expansive practice. He has tried high profile and challenging jury and non-jury cases in various federal and state courts and before numerous administrative and arbitral tribunals. He routinely counsels clients concerning business transactions and other strategic and sensitive matters, and is also an active mediator.
David's dispute resolution experience covers a broad range of substantive areas, including contract, antitrust, banking, securities and commodities, cryptocurrency, corporate governance, business torts, partnership, franchising, commercial, intellectual property, licensing, media and entertainment, health care, bankruptcy litigation, employment, and defamation law. He has managed complex, multi-party, and multi-district litigation, including class actions, cross-border matters, and has led internal investigations, as well as investigations by regulatory and self-regulatory authorities such as the SEC, FINRA, the CFTC, and by the Department of Justice, offices of the United States Attorney, and various state attorneys general.
David regularly provides clients with risk assessments in connection with potential transactions or in anticipation of significant business decisions or the implementation of new business strategies. He frequently negotiates employment, licensing, and intellectual property matters, and represents parties in "business divorce." David also counsels clients in crisis situations, drawing on his prior professional experience in corporate public relations and crisis management.
David has served for many years as a mediator, and law firms frequently call upon him to mediate various commercial and sensitive matters. He is active in the mediation community, including by serving on the ADR Advisory Council for the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York. David has published in the New York Law Journal and has lectured and served as a panelist at the New York City Bar Association, and at numerous professional events.
David Shaiman, a former summer associate, returned to the firm as an associate in 2011, and became a partner in 2019. David's practice focuses primarily on litigation. He has represented clients in various state and federal courts, at both the trial and appellate level, as well as before various administrative and arbitral tribunals. David has experience representing clients of all sizes, from individuals and privately-owned companies to major banks and publicly held corporations. He prides himself on being able to tailor his representation to each client and their needs, and to solve complex legal problems creatively and cost effectively in partnership with clients. Having established those relationships and familiarity with their particular business needs, clients frequently call upon David to represent them in transactional matters ranging from employment, licensing, trademark issues, and sports-betting law.
David has litigated and arbitrated a broad range of disputes, including those arising out of commercial contracts, letters of credit, Ponzi schemes, residential mortgage-backed securities, structured finance and real estate transactions, pharmaceutical distribution, trademarks, employment, and bankruptcy. He also has particular experience with cross-border, and complex litigation.
During law school, David interned for the Honorable Kenneth M. Karas of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, and at the Federal Communications Commission, where he worked on issues relating to media ownership and administrative law.
Job Titles:
- Chairman of the Association of the Bar
- of Counsel ( Retired )
Jim Beha's three decades of lawyering experience have covered all phases of litigation, including workouts, investigation and preparation of cases, pretrial discovery, pretrial motion practice and preliminary injunctions, mediations, preparation and examination of experts on issues of liability and damages, trials and arbitrations, appeals, and all manner of settlement negotiations. In most recent years his practice has emphasized civil business fraud and commercial disputes. Over the years he has represented clients in cases in the bankruptcy and civil trial courts of numerous federal district courts around the country, in New York State civil courts, in various arbitration and mediation settings, and in federal and New York State appellate courts. His experience as lead counsel includes three federal court jury trials through verdict, various trials and contested hearings before federal judges, state judges and arbitrators, and numerous mediations.
Although Jim is now retired from active practice as a litigator he remains available to the firm to consult on matters.
Jim is the author of a number of articles and reports on civil practice and other professional topics that have appeared in the Journal of the New York State Bar Association, the New York Litigator, and the Record of the Association of the Bar of the City of New York, as well as a number of articles on criminal justice issues.
Jim Beha has served as the chair of the Association of the Bar of the City of New York's Committee on Legal Education and Admission to the Bar and served as a member of the New York State Bar Association's Committee on that topic for more than a dozen years. Jim also serves as a professionally certified instructor for the Adaptive Sports Foundation at Ski Windham and is a member of the Board of the ASF.
Jim Schiffer's law practice draws on his many years of pharmacy and business experience. Jim has been named by American Druggist trade magazine as one of the nation's most influential pharmacy leaders for his work concerning the activities of Pharmacy Benefit Managers in the pharmacy marketplace, and he has received several national awards from pharmacy organizations for his work on behalf of the pharmacy profession.
Some 25 years after he became a pharmacist, Jim enrolled in law school; having completed his law degree in 2003, his practice has focused on representing businesses, trade associations and individuals (many of which are health care providers) in a variety of health care related matters, including government administrative investigations, professional disciplinary matters and administrative law proceedings, contract and business negotiations, and litigation matters.
Jim's experience includes representing clients in audits, investigations and proceedings before the U.S. Food and Drug Administration; the Drug Enforcement Administration; the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services; the New York State Attorney General's Office Medicaid Fraud Control Unit; various agencies within the New York State Department of Health, including the Office of Health Insurance Programs, the Bureau of Narcotic Enforcement, and the New York Office of the Medicaid Inspector General; the New York Board of Pharmacy's Office of Professional Discipline; the New Jersey Board of Pharmacy; the New Jersey Department of Banking and Insurance; and the New Jersey Office of the Medicaid Fraud Control Unit. Jim similarly represents pharmacy clients with respect to audits and investigations conducted by and on behalf of commercial insurers and their associated pharmacy benefit managers. Jim is frequently called upon to serve as adjunct counsel in criminal health care matters for those parties so charged. He also regularly advises clients in connection with negotiating and drafting stockholders' agreements, stock purchase agreements, and asset purchase agreements.
Since 1987, Jim has served as an Adjunct Professor of Pharmacy Administration at Long Island University's Arnold & Marie Schwartz College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences. He regularly presents pharmacy continuing education programs through the Arnold & Marie Schwartz College of Pharmacy, the Pharmacists Society of the State of New York, the Garden State Pharmacy Owners, and the National Community Pharmacists Association.
Jim was awarded the 2022 John W. Dargavel Medal by the National Community Pharmacists Association Foundation for his leadership and accomplishment on behalf of independent pharmacies, and he is the recipient of the 2013 Bowl of Hygeia Award in New York, in recognition of his outstanding civic leadership as a pharmacist and has received awards from the National Community Pharmacists Association for his efforts on behalf of the community pharmacy profession.
John Craig has litigated a broad range of matters, both in court and before administrative agencies. He has also been active in internal corporate investigations, trials, and in advising clients on mitigating litigation risk. John strives to provide clients with sound, practical and cost-effective solutions to their legal problems.
John has represented corporate, institutional and individual clients both as plaintiffs and defendants in challenging and complex matters, involving such areas of the law as contract, fraud, corporate governance, unfair trade practices, securities, the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, employment, partnership disputes, the Freedom of Information Act, and civil rights.
Before joining the firm as an associate, John was an associate in the litigation department of Debevoise & Plimpton LLP. In 2009, John also served as an Assistant District Attorney in the Kings County District Attorney's Office through the Partners in Prosecution program, where he tried both jury and non-jury cases and argued numerous motions.
Judy Gelb headed the Trusts and Estates practice at ABV from 2007 until her retirement in 2022. Judy's practice concentrated on estate planning, trust and estate administration, estate, gift and generation-skipping taxation, and income taxation of estates and trusts, as well as advising on litigated matters relating to her field.
Judy was a revered figure at the Firm and among her clients and peers; unpretentious, kind, and supportive. Judy possessed not only a keen intellect but superlative judgment and stellar values. She was a mentor and inspiration to many.
Before joining ABV, Judy practiced at Winston & Strawn LLP. She was the first woman to be promoted to partner at her first law firm (Whitman & Ransom, a successor of which later merged with Winston & Strawn), and one of the first women to become a member of any major New York law firm. Previously, she served as Confidential Assistant to the United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York.
Job Titles:
- Associate
- Firm As an Associate
Katherine Mueller joined the Firm as an associate in 2020. Katherine's practice focuses primarily on commercial litigation in federal and state courts. Katherine has represented clients across a number of industries in matters involving securities, transfer agent services, commercial contracts, bankruptcy, employment, and intellectual property law. Her practice includes extensive work on investigations, pleadings, discovery, motion practice, and appeals. Katherine remains active in corporate transactional matters.
Before joining the Firm, Katherine was an associate in the banking department of Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP, where she represented corporate, banking and private equity fund clients in connection with domestic and international financing transactions.
Job Titles:
- Partner
- Partner of the Firm
Kevin MacMillan is a partner of the Firm. His versatility as a counselor and advocate has enabled him to achieve excellent results for clients in a range of sensitive and substantial corporate, commercial and transactional matters, as well as in commercial litigation.
Job Titles:
- Partner
- Firm As an Associate
- Member of the New York City Bar Association
Lauren Pincus joined the Firm as an associate in 2011 and became a partner in 2016. A commercial litigator, with a background in transactional law, Lauren's practice focuses on the representation of clients in high-stakes litigation arising out of complex financial and securities transactions, from initial investigation through trial and appeal.
Lauren's practice also has experience on a broad range of other matters, involving contract, corporate, cross-border, real estate, labor and employment, and bankruptcy matters. Lauren draws on her diverse legal experience, including in banking and other transactional matters, to advise clients and craft creative solutions to their problems.
Proficient in French and Spanish, Lauren has a particular interest in international matters. She has worked with human rights NGOs in Argentina, Hungary and New York on issues of judicial reform, discrimination and freedom of expression.
Before joining the Firm, Lauren was an associate in the banking department of Allen & Overy LLP.
Lauren is a member of the New York City Bar Association and served as the Secretary of the In-House/Outside Litigation Counsel Working Group.
Job Titles:
- of Counsel ( Retired )
- Retired Partner
Larry Gottesman is a retired partner of ABV. He was formerly in charge of the firm's Restructuring and Bankruptcy Litigation Practice. He has regularly represented debt opportunity funds, special servicers of securitized commercial mortgages and secured and unsecured lenders. He has also represented officers of distressed entities, as well as parties to a wide range of bankruptcy and insolvency related litigation. Larry has extensive experience in a wide variety of chapter 11 bankruptcy cases and out-of-court workouts and restructurings, including those involving hotels and other hospitality assets, shopping centers and malls, office buildings, professional partnerships and retailers, as well as single asset real estate and real estate investment trusts. He also has broad bankruptcy litigation experience, including litigation of issues relating to fraudulent transfers, preferential transfers, use of cash collateral, automatic stay relief, plan exclusivity and chapter 11 plan confirmation. Although Larry is retired from active practice, he remains available to the firm to consult on commercial bankruptcy and restructuring matters.
Mark Bauman's practice focuses on business transactions, commercial real estate, and corporate matters. Mark is a trusted counselor and deal maker for numerous long-term clients across a wide range of businesses and industries.
Mark represents clients in such matters as stock and asset purchases, the purchase, sale, leasing and ground leasing of commercial real estate, secured and unsecured loan transactions, the purchase and sale of notes and mortgages, corporate governance matters, negotiation and drafting of shareholder, limited liability company and partnership agreements, partner and member buy-outs, and defaulted loan and mortgage workouts. He regularly provides strategic advice to corporate and individual clients in situations involving diverse substantive areas of the law, and has coordinated and led litigation teams in connection with substantial real estate and corporate disputes.
Mark's clients have included national, regional and local real estate owners and developers, the largest chain of retail laundromats in the United States, a New York City hospitality and restaurant chain, a national title insurance company, hotel operators with franchises throughout the Northeast, a major carpet manufacturer and distributor, and numerous mid to large sized companies engaged in a wide array of businesses.
Prior to joining the Firm in 2011, Mark was a founding partner of Bauman Katz & Grill LLP.
Job Titles:
- Partner
- Founding Partner of the Firm
- Professor at the University of Illinois College of Law
A founding partner of the Firm, Michael Vogel is an experienced litigator and trial lawyer who has conducted trials and argued appeals involving numerous substantive areas of law. He has litigated matters in a broad range of subject areas, including structured finance, commodities and derivatives, securities, commercial transactions, negotiable instruments, telecommunications, toxic torts, contracts, accountants' malpractice and professional obligations, employment, insurance, civil rights, criminal law and sentencing, defamation, and internet speech. Michael has extensive experience dealing with experts in numerous technical and scientific disciplines, including financial industry practices, genetics and dysmorphology, industrial hygiene, entymology, derivatives pricing, and accounting.
In addition, Michael has served as a professor at the University of Illinois College of Law, where he has taught subjects including Advocacy, Civil Procedure, Commercial Disputes, Commercial Law, Evidence, Professional Responsibility, and Remedies. He also previously taught at Brooklyn Law School.
He has been an invited lecturer on many subjects, including civil litigation and contract law in the United States, electronic discovery and related privacy issues, electronic surveillance and national security, and statistical methods. He has also acted as an expert in proceedings in the United Kingdom concerning the commercial law of the United States.
Partha Chattoraj has extensive experience litigating business and intellectual property cases in courts, including trials and appeals, as well as in mediation and arbitration. These matters have involved securities disputes, SEC investigations, mergers and acquisitions, entertainment, copyright, trademark, trade secret and non-competition agreements, as well as fraud and contract matters arising out of debt and equity transactions.
Partha also regularly counsels and advises individuals and companies on litigation exposure, litigation and collection strategy, non-competition covenants, and a range of intellectual property issues. His clients have included international retailers; investment banks; hedge funds and private equity firms; directors and audit committees of publicly-traded and private companies; software companies and software creative executives; music and book publishers; toy distributors; airlines; Internet start-ups; journalists and authors; hedge fund managers; investment bankers and traders; world-famous musicians; and individual entrepreneurs and shareholders in closely held companies, partnerships and LLCs.
After clerking at the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, Partha was associated with Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz, of counsel to Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan LLP, and a founding partner of Markowitz & Chattoraj LLP.