Attorney Profile

Nationally and internationally, as a New York attorney, my clients and potential clients often present me with their personal stories of social conflicts, which are increasingly involving social media incidents, various forms of online abuses, and both general and targeted harassment. Many such individuals often feel that they are/were a victim of one or more crimes (both state and federal; both felony and misdemeanor), and/or an eyewitness to various forms of cybercrime, cyberbullying, online threats and threatening conduct, domestic violence and spousal abuses, issues related to children at risk, animal and pet abuses, email abuses, “doxing”, telephone /telephonic harassment, and other and unrelated forms of Internet-based abuses and negative incidents.

            Cyber law is a relatively new area of the law, which primarily focuses on questions of constitutional and civil laws that are implicated by the Internet. Two of the core areas of cyber law are: (i) intellectual property and/or copyright laws; and (ii) cyber-crimes, cyber-investigation, cyber-stalking, “doxing” and online-based, targeted harassment. Even a cursory study of the cases addressed by United States federal and state courts, from January 2000 to present, as well as state and federal law enforcement statistics nationwide, demonstrate that the frequency and seriousness of these types of Internet-based and cyber-related crimes and incidents are increasing, and reaching into civil, criminal, governmental/quasi-governmental, and administrative matters, worldwide, like never before in history.

            Throughout my New York law practice, I have primarily focused on the litigation and appeals of cases and matters involving both civil and criminal investigations, trials of cases, and the appeals that follow. Increasingly, and in relation to recent social media expansion, I have successfully litigated cyberlaw and Internet-based cases and conducted civil investigations, whereupon I have worked to develop and build professional relationships with high-quality and reputable private investigation teams that actively assist me in matters related to the Internet and cybercrimes, including but not limited to the “real-time” investigation and collection of evidence; more specifically, electronic and computerized evidence in various types of potential legal matters involving social media and the Internet, with the goal of gathering, collecting and preserving all evidentiary materials and various data collection points in cases related to and involving, for example, cyberbullying, cyber-stalking, “doxing”, email abuses, telephone/telephonic harassment, “unmasking" anonymous Google telephone numbers used for purposes of harassment, and uncovering the identity of anonymous persons who seek to utilize the Internet to target and victimize others.

            It is estimated that more than 40,000 Google search queries occur every second. Simply stated, Americans are increasingly dependent on the Internet for their main source of information, news, entertainment and social lives. For both individuals and businesses, alike, their online reputation is imperative as customers, future customers, prospective employers, family members, acquaintances, and even one’s “friends” regularly rely on social media and various websites to gather truthful and accurate information. Unfortunately, and far too often, whether a particular social media platform or website ultimately provides true or false information to the consumer, numerous and significant forms of irreparable harms are occurring by and through websites and social media platforms.

The huge expansion in social media usage, as well as online privacy & data security issues, across the nation and globally has led to a significant need for both law enforcement officials and attorneys, separately and independently, together and apart, to be proficient in the cutting-edge uses and related legal and protection issues in this era of ever-growing technologies. As recent experiences demonstrate, data security breaches create dynamic business and personal crises and potential legal liability for individuals and businesses of all sizes, by exposing trade secrets, revealing confidential information, generating various forms of damages and loss of profits, loss or diminishment of professional and personal reputation, and increasing costs for businesses, individuals and consumers.