Lecturer Bios
Joseph J. Bambara, Esq.
Joseph J. Bambara is currently In House Counsel and a VP of technology architecture at UCNY, Inc. His e-mail address is jbambara@ucny.com. For the last 15 years, he has been acting as Counsel for small to mid-size technology firms in the metro area. Most recently, he has worked on cloud computing, social networking, mobile media and outsourcing contracts. He has done work with intellectual property especially as it pertains to mobile and enterprise software, SMS mobile marketing issues as well as trade/service marks. In addition to presentations at Lawline, he has done CLE’s on law and technology for New York County, the New York City Bar Association and National Constitution Center. Prior entrepreneurial career includes developing applications for the financial, brokerage, manufacturing, medical, and entertainment industries on the mobile and enterprise platforms.
Mr. Bambara has a Bachelor's and a Master's degree in Computer Science. He holds a Juris Doctorate in Law and is admitted to the New York State Bar. He has taught various computer courses for CCNY's School of Engineering. He is member of the New York County Lawyers Association Cyberspace Committee and an active member in the International Technology Law Association. He has authored the following books: Sun Certified Enterprise Architect for J2EE Study Guide (Exam 310-051) (McGraw-Hill, 2007), J2EE Unleashed (SAMS 2001), PowerBuilder: A Guide To Developing Client/Server Applications (McGraw-Hill, 1995), Informix: Client/Server Application Development (McGraw-Hill, 1997), Informix: Universal Data Option (McGraw-Hill, 1998), SQL Server Developer's Guide (IDG, 2000). He has taught numerous courses and given many presentations on all aspects of the law and enterprise and mobile development in cities worldwide, including Los Angeles, Vienna, Paris, Berlin, Orlando, Nashville, New York, Copenhagen, Oslo, and Stockholm.
Gordon Eng, Esq.
Gordon Eng is General Counsel and Chief Compliance Officer of SKY Harbor Capital
Management, LLC. The Firm, based in Greenwich, Connecticut, is an independent SEC-registered
investment adviser focusing on broad high yield and short duration high yield strategies for institutional
investors and global wealth advisers. In addition to its separately managed account mandates and
management of private Delaware limited partnerships, the Firm sub-advises the Westwood Short
Duration High Yield Fund and the Westwood Opportunistic High Yield Fund, two mutual funds
established under the Investment Company Act of 1940. The Firm is also the Investment Manager for
SKY Harbor Global Funds, an open end investment company established in April 2012 under the laws of
Luxembourg (a UCITS SICAV) and registered for public distribution in a number of jurisdictions in the
EU, Norway, and Switzerland.
Before joining SKY Harbor Capital Management at its founding in August 2011, Mr. Eng was a
litigator associated with the law firms of Debevoise & Plimpton LLP and Fried Frank Harris Shriver &
Jacobson LLP where his practice focused on matters in white collar, internal investigations, and litigation
of complex financial instrument concerning derivatives, subprime structured finance products, and breach
of fiduciary duty under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (“ERISA”).
Mr. Eng began his career
in banking first as an international commercial lending officer and then as a foreign currency trader,
market-maker, chief dealer, and proprietary trader with a number of money center banks.
A graduate of Fordham University School of Law, Mr. Eng received his J.D. in 2005, magna
cum laude, and was elected to membership in the Order of the Coif. He received his M.B.A. from New
York University Stern School of Business with Distinction and is a graduate of the Wharton School of the
University of Pennsylvania, B.S. Economics. In 2003-2004, Mr. Eng was a student intern at the US
Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York, criminal division. He is a recipient of the New
York Legal Aid Society 2010 Pro Bono Publico Award for his pro bono representation of indigent
defendants in arraignment proceedings, bail hearings, plea negotiations, and trial in Manhattan criminal
court. He has also appeared before the Supreme Court of New York Appellate Division Second
Department as a Special Assistant District Attorney, on behalf of the District Attorney of Kings County.
Mr. Eng is a member of the bars in New York and Connecticut and is also admitted to the U.S.
Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit and the U.S. District Courts for the Southern and Eastern
Districts of New York.
His professional affiliations include the International Bar Association; American
Bar Association; New York State Bar Association (where he serves as a member of the House of
Delegates and the Committee on Standards of Attorney Conduct); New York County Lawyers’
Association (a member of the Board of Directors and Chair of the Audit Committee); and the Asian
American Bar Association of New York. As a faculty member of the Practising Law Institute (PLI), he
regularly speaks at PLI Continuing Legal Education programs for newly admitted attorneys on the
subjects of attorney ethics and financial regulatory reform concerning developments in Dodd Frank Act
and securities enforcement and litigation.
Charles S. Kolstad, Esq.
Charles is a partner in the private client, tax and corporate teams at the international law firm,
Withersworldwide. Based in the firm’s New York office, he focuses his practice on international tax,
corporate and partnership matters. He assists clients in tax and corporate planning relating to the
acquisition, disposition and restructuring of businesses, corporations and partnerships both domestically
and internationally. Charles frequently advises foreign individuals moving to the U.S. on pre-immigration,
income, gift and estate tax planning opportunities. Charles also focuses his practice on the cannabis
industry/cannabusiness, crypto assets and block chain technology, and tax issues related to initial coin
offerings (ICOs), initial DEX offerings (IDOs) and initial exchange offerings (IEOs).
In addition, he advises DJs, actors and actresses, musicians, songwriters, producers, directors and
financers, both domestic and foreign, on a wide range of individual and corporate tax issues, specific to
the entertainment industry. Charles has written several articles and given many presentations on
entertainment tax issues.
He has advised over 200 clients with unreported foreign financial accounts, foreign trusts, and other
foreign investments, on the filing of FBARs and other information returns, and whether participating in the
IRS's various offshore voluntary disclosure programs is appropriate. Charles has written and lectured on
the extensive information reporting requirements for U.S. taxpayers with international business
operations.
Charles has extensive experience in representing clients during audits by the IRS or the California
Franchise Tax Board, as well as in front of the IRS Appeals Office or IRS Collection.
Charles is recognized as a “key lawyer” by The Legal 500 US in 2021 and 2020 in the area of international
tax.
Felicity Kohn, Esq.
Felicity Kohn is a member of Pryor Cashman’s Litigation, Intellectual Property, and
Media + Entertainment Groups, where she handles a wide range of intellectual property,
First Amendment, and complex commercial matters for clients in the creative, lifestyle,
and entertainment industries.
Felicity’s clients rely on her shrewd and tireless advocacy to safeguard their valuable
intellectual property assets. She brings extensive experience litigating copyright,
trademark, and unfair competition actions, as well as defamation actions, at both the
state and federal levels.
Beyond litigation, Felicity assists her clients by conducting pre-publication reviews of
manuscripts, articles, podcasts, and films. She also helps her clients grow and facilitate
their businesses by drafting and negotiating strategic commercial agreements, including
licensing, agency, branding, and partnership deals.
She earned a BA, Phi Beta Kappa, from Wesleyan University, an MA from the university
of Chicago and a JD, cum laude, from New York University School of Law. She is
admitted in New York, U.S. District Courts for the Southern and Eastern Districts of New
York and the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals.
Mark Berman, Esq.
Mark Berman is a member of Bond, Schoeneck & King PLLC. He represents both plaintiffs
and defendants in a wide range of complex commercial disputes as well as real estate,
employment and e-discovery conflicts. Mark is a seasoned appellate attorney. He has been
a court-appointed discovery master in a significant business litigation. His extensive
experience allows him to assess his clients’ matters, develop sound solutions and position
his clients for successful outcomes.
Mark’s practice largely focuses on business, real estate and complex title litigations. He
represents public and private companies, partnerships, lenders, real estate developers,
property owners, condominiums, cooperatives and their sponsors, as well as individuals, in
disputes related to breach of contract, fraud, breach of fiduciary duty, forgery, insurance,
construction, licensing and trespassing. He also resolves conflicts between shareholders,
boards and managing agents.
Prior to joining Bond, Mark was a litigation partner with Ganfer Shore Leeds & Zauderer
and before that was a commercial litigation associate with Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher
& Flom in New York City. Mark also previously served as a Judicial Law Clerk for the Hon.
Michael L. Orenstein, United States Magistrate Judge for the Eastern District of New York.
He has authored a regular column on e-discovery in The New York Law Journal since
2005 and now is the author of The Virtual Lawyer column. His articles have been quoted in
both appellate and trial court decisions. Mark was awarded an Innovation Award in 2021
by The New York Law Journal. He is a Commissioner and co-chair of Technology on the
Chief Judge’s Commission to Reimagine the Future of the New York Courts. Mark also
served on the Executive Committee of the New York State Bar Association (NYSBA) as a
Member-At-Large and was the founding chair of its Committee on Technology and the
Legal Profession. He is a former Chair of NYSBA’s Commercial and Federal Litigation
Section and co-chairs its Commercial Division Committee.
He earned an A.B. from Columbia College, Columbia University and a JD, magna cum
laude. From Benjamin Cardozo School of Law. He is admitted in New York, Eastern
and Southern Districts of New York, Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, and the
U.S. Supreme Court.
