Lecturer Bios
Jay G. Safer, Esq.
Jay G. Safer is a partner at the law firm of Wollmuth Maher & Deutsch LLP in New York City. Jay is both a litigator and an arbitrator,
Jay has for many years handled complex litigation in the United States and abroad. Jay represents clients in matters concerning contracts, antitrust, securities, RICO, qui tam, FCPA, international litigation and arbitration, including application of the New York Convention and enforcement of foreign judgments and arbitration awards, banking, financial institutions, corporate governance, technology, privacy, insurance, construction, real estate, labor and employment, product liability, health care, professional ethics, financial, constitutional, and regulatory issues, mediation, class actions, defamation, and media. Jay also counsels clients on commercial matters including, protection and preventative measures and pre-litigation analysis. He has represented clients in international litigation, including domestic and foreign clients in courts outside the United States and foreign clients in the U.S. courts.
Jay has extensive ADR experience both as an arbitrator and as an advocate. He has engaged in numerous arbitrations and mediations and in teaching and speaking at ADR programs. As an arbitrator, he has served in numerous arbitrations involving complex commercial and business matters in various industry areas both as a single arbitrator and as Chair and member of a Tribunal panel. These have included arbitrations administered by various ADR organizations, ad hoc arbitration, and under various rules and laws. He is on the Roster of Neutrals of the AAA for U.S. arbitrations and on the Roster of the AAA’s ICDR for international arbitrations. He is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrations (CIArb) and teaches and trains international arbitrators. As an advocate, Jay has represented clients from the United States and around the world in arbitrations.
His ADR experience has involved a wide range of U.S. and international arbitrations, mediations, and enforcements of arbitration awards including disputes involving contracts, mergers and acquisitions, sales of businesses, investments, energy, healthcare, sales of equipment from U.S. companies to governmental entities abroad, telecommunications, corporate governance, dispute among shareholders, real estate, construction claims, oil and gas leases, insurance, labor and employment, fraud, and entertainment agreements. Jay is both a speaker and teacher on U.S. and international arbitration.
Jay is a Lecturer at Law and Adjunct Professor at Columbia Law School and Fordham Law Schools teaching foreign lawyers and LLM candidates American litigation practice and the management of U.S. Litigation, and the role of arbitration and mediation in U.S. proceedings. Jay was appointed to the Advisory Group to the New York State Federal Judicial Council consisting of federal and state judges appointed by the Chief Judge of the State of New York and the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. Jay was appointed by the Chief Judge of the State of New York to the Commercial Division Advisory Council that advises the Chief Judge and the Judiciary on matters involving the Commercial Division of the State of New York. He was also appointed by the New York State Chief Administrative Judge to serve on the New York State Advisory Committee on Civil Practice.
Jay has served on panels, bench-bar forums, and is a member of committees with judges and attorneys discussing and speaking on a wide range of civil litigation and dispute resolution issues, litigation and arbitration skills, and U.S. and international arbitration and international litigation practice. He has for many years presented numerous programs and seminars in the U. S. and around the world on U.S.and international litigation and arbitration to U.S. and foreign judges and lawyers. He frequently presents webinars and CLE programs to national audiences.
Jay is involved in leadership positions in numerous bar associations, including as past chair and present member of many bar association sections, executive committees, and committees.
Jay has made appearances on television and authored numerous articles and publications.
Contact Information:
Jay G. Safer
Wollmuth Maher & Deutsch LLP
500 Fifth Avenue
New York, New York 1010
Direct tel: 212-556-0379
JSafer@wmd-law.com
John Halebian
John Halebian, a named partner with the firm, graduated from Georgetown University
(undergraduate) and Villanova Law School where he served on the Law Review as a Case and
Comments Editor and as Editor-in-Chief of The Docket, the law school newspaper.
Since graduating from law school, he has specialized in federal and state corporate and
commercial litigation with an emphasis on class actions and securities litigation. Earlier in his legal
career, Mr. Halebian had primary responsibility for handling numerous complex commercial
litigations and federal securities class actions that involved the defense of lawyers and accountants, and
officers and directors of public companies. Several of these litigations involved jury and bench trials.
Subsequently, Mr. Halebian’s practice concentrated on representing shareholders in securities class
action and shareholder derivative litigation and he has continued to handle numerous large complex
corporate and commercial litigations. Mr. Halebian has served as lead or co-lead counsel or as a member
of an executive or steering committee in numerous class action shareholder litigations around the country
that were successfully prosecuted to conclusion. In 2002, Mr. Halebian was appointed to the Executive
Committee of the Global Crossing Securities Litigation in the Southern District of New York, which
was settled for approximately $450 million. More recently, Mr. Halebian has been appointed as lead
counsel or a member of an executive committee in several nationwide wage and hour class actions
that have led to significant settlements or are still pending.
Mr. Halebian has also prosecuted, defended and tried to conclusion numerous complex
commercial and securities fraud litigations on behalf of individual claimants and companies before the
New York Stock Exchange the National Association of Securities Dealers and the American
Arbitration Association. These actions generally involved brokerage customer claims of churning or
unsuitable investments.
Admitted: 1978, New York; United States Supreme Court; U.S. Court of Appeals, Second,
Third, Eighth and Ninth Circuits and U.S. District Court, Southern and Eastern Districts of New York.
Member: The Association of the Bar of the City of New York; American Bar Association; Federal Bar
Council; and the American Association for Justice.
Ronald Burke
Graduate of New York Law School – 1983
Admitted to the New York State Bar, the United States District Courts for the Southern
and Eastern Districts – 1984
Mr. Burke has over 20 years experience as a personal injury and medical malpractice
trial lawyer, with a record of many multi-million dollar verdicts and settlements. As
counsel to Kelner and Kelner, Mr. Burke represents victims in personal injury, wrongful
death and medical malpractice cases.
Douglas R. Halstrom, Esq.
Mr. Halstrom has been with the Firm since his admission to the Bar in 1991. His practice concentrates in the defense of architects and engineers professional liability claims, as well as lawyers and accountants malpractice claims.
He has also handled various commercial matters and contractual disputes on behalf of owners, general contractors, construction managers and design professionals on both the plaintiff’s and the defendant’s side.
Mr. Halstrom’s background includes extensive litigation experience in the Courts of New York and New Jersey on both the trial and appellate levels. He received his Juris Doctorate from St. Louis University School of Law in 1990.
He is admitted to practice before the Courts of the States of New York and New Jersey, the United States District Courts for the Southern and Eastern Districts of New York and the District of New Jersey, and the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit.
