Steve graduated Boston College Law School with a Juris Doctor degree in 1988, and Yale (where he was a Directed Studies honors program student) with a B.S. in Biology in 1976. He worked for several years in New York City, Hartford, Connecticut and Morristown, New Jersey, in firms ranging in size from six to forty attorneys and in areas such as Customs Law, Corporate Law, Taxation, and Trusts and Estates. He opened his own practice in 1990, handling entertainment law, and general business agreements.
He apprenticed in immigration law with Reverend Robert ("Father Bob") Vitaglione, the Brooklyn-based priest considered by many to be a legendary advocate for immigrants of all nationalities, races and religions. Steve impressed his mentor with his ability to win cases and appeals in such areas as political asylum and certain types of relief from deportation. This apprenticeship enabled Steve to begin handling immigration and naturalization matters, now a major part of his practice.
Before becoming a lawyer, Steve worked in many aspects of film and video production, on feature films, TV commercials and industrials. His roles have included producer, director, cameraman and editor (industrials), special effects computer animator (commercials), and production assistant (features). He has published articles on film business and computer-generated special effects in Variety and has written on entertainment law in the New York Law Journal
Steve is an avid amateur soccer player and youth soccer coach. His love of the world's most popular sport and his enjoyment of other cultures, both through travel and through his having worked on film outside the U.S. (in Mexico City), all contribute to his commitment to the immigrant community. Steve speaks and writes some French and speaks some Spanish. He employs interpreters on legal matters where warranted.
Steve attempts to civilize and humanize the lawyer-client relationship by clarifying what his services on a given matter will be, what prospects for success and risks are involved in a given client's legal position, and what his own fees for legal services are likely to be.
Nikki graduated Boston College Law School magna cum laude with a Juris Doctor degree in 1988, and Yale cum laude with distinction and a B.A. in Literature, in 1976. She was senior articles editor on the Boston College International and Comparative Law Review from 1987 to 1988. After law school, she served as law clerk to the Hon. Ruth I Abrams, Associate Justice of the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts, a court generally highly regarded for the quality of its decisionmaking.
Nikki worked as an associate attorney at the law firm of Starr, Gern, Davison and Rubin (formerly Gern, Dunetz, Davison and Weinstein) in Roseland, New Jersey, from 1989 through 1996, on a wide variety of commercial litigation and family law matters. Her commercial litigation experience includes real estate, zoning, trusts and estates, condominiums, landlord-tenant, mortgage foreclosure, construction, trade secrets, employee restrictive covenants, students' rights, securities, contracts, insurance, legal fees, attorney malpractice and collections. Her family law experience includes divorce (equitable distribution, spousal support, child support, custody/visitation), post-judgment modification, prenuptial agreements, "palimony," termination of parental rights, adoption, petition for guardianship of an incompetent and domestic violence.
Her appearances have been in New Jersey state court, including Law Division, Chancery Division, Appellate Division and Supreme Court, and in federal district court, bankruptcy court, municipal court, municipal planning boards and American Arbitration Association hearings.
Nikki is fluent in Hebrew (and English) and speaks and writes some French. Before becoming an attorney, she worked in book publishing, as an editorial assistant at Little Brown and Company and as an associate book editor at David R. Godine, Inc. She has studied painting and graphic design, and continues to create visual art from time to time.