Members of the Firm

Richard J.J. Scarola is a graduate of Yale University (B.A., cum laude, 1979) and the University of Michigan Law School (J.D., cum laude, 1982).  Mr. Scarola founded the Firm’s earliest predecessor in 1991.  Mr. Scarola is a litigator admitted to practice before the United States Supreme Court, the United States Court of Appeals for the Second, Fourth, Fifth and Ninth Circuits and numerous Federal District Courts, and has successfully litigated a wide array of cases in trials and appeals.  He also has served two terms as a Member of the Council on Judicial Administration of the Association of the Bar of the City of New York and the Chair of its Court Reform Sub-Committee, on the Association’s Committee on State Courts of Superior Jurisdiction (on which he currently serves), and on numerous other Bar committees dedicated to the improvement of the courts and the profession.  Mr. Scarola practiced with Reboul, MacMurray, Hewitt, Maynard & Kristol (now a part of Ropes & Gray) after law school.  In addition to his practice in litigation and pre-dispute counseling in corporate and commercial matters, Mr. Scarola also serves as general outside counsel to the Estate of Duke Ellington in its ongoing business affairs, and as the Firm’s Managing Partner.

Rachel E. Deming is a graduate of the University of Michigan (A.B. with honors, 1977) and the University of Michigan Law School (J.D., 1982).  Ms. Deming also studied law at Moscow State University with a fellowship from the International Research and Exchanges Board.  In 2005, Ms. Deming was appointed to the Environmental Financial Advisory Board of the United States Environmental Protection Agency.  She currently serves as a member of the Financial Assurance and CO2 Workgroups of the Board.  She is also a co-chair of the advisory committee to the Kheel Center for the Resolution of Environmental Interest Disputes at Pace Law School and will be teaching a course at Pace in the fall of 2009 on environmental dispute resolution.  Ms. Deming is the liaison to the New York State Bar Dispute Resolution Section for the State Bar’s Environmental Section and vice-chair of the Dispute Resolution Committee of ABA’s Section of Environment, Energy and Resources, as well a serving on the Environmental Law Committee of the New York City Bar, the Environmental Disclosure Committee of the Section of Environment, Energy and Resources and the Environmental Law Committee of ABA’s Litigation Section.  Ms. Deming has participated in many alternative dispute resolution proceedings, both as an advisor to clients and as a third-party neutral.  She is on the roster of mediators for the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, the bankruptcy courts for both the Southern and Eastern Districts of New York, the Commercial Division of the Supreme Court of the State of New York, New York County, and the Civil Mediation Program for the state courts of New Jersey.  She is a frequent speaker on a wide range of environmental issues, including dispute resolution and financial disclosure.  Before joining Scarola Ellis, Ms. Deming was Associate General Counsel at Ciba Specialty Chemicals Corporation.  Ms. Deming’s practice includes general commercial counseling and litigation, with a specialization in environmental and toxic tort legal matters, as well as related insurance, banking, real estate and construction issues.

Paul S. Ellis is a graduate of Harvard University (B.A., magna cum laude, 1988) and the Georgetown University Law Center (J.D., 1994).  He has held several positions in state and federal government, including serving as a staff member for the United States Senate Committee on Governmental Affairs (1990-93) and as Public Affairs Director/Congressional Affairs Officer for the United States Office of Special Counsel (1993-95).  Mr. Ellis is a founding Board member of the New York Technology Council (NYTC), an association dedicated to promoting and supporting the technology industry, and is a member of the American Bar Association’s Committee on Venture Capital and Private Equity.  He has chaired and spoken on panels presented by organizations including the New York Academy of Sciences, Columbia University, the MIT Enterprise Forum, the National Science Foundation and the New York Software Industry Association (NYSIA), on structuring and negotiating venture capital and other forms of financing.  In addition, Mr. Ellis leads a bi-monthly panel for NYTC dedicated to educating executives of small to mid-sized companies about the critical legal issues they face.  After law school, Mr. Ellis practiced at Donovan, Leisure, Newton & Irvine and also at Winston & Strawn.  Mr. Ellis practices in the areas of corporate and securities law, mergers and acquisitions, venture capital and the representation of emerging growth companies.

Daniel C. Malone is a graduate of Yale University (B.A., 1980, cum laude and with honors in Intensive English program) and Columbia Law School (J.D., 1996, Harlan Fiske Stone Scholar, 1993-96).  He holds an M.F.A. from the Tisch School of the Arts at New York University.  Mr. Malone has practiced at Debevoise & Plimpton and at Dechert LLP, where he was a partner for five years. He is admitted to practice before the United States Supreme Court, the Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, and several Federal District Courts.  He has litigated disputes before federal and state courts, and arbitral and appellate tribunals, in such areas of law as securities; commercial contracts (including investment, lending, supply, and licensing); employment discrimination; bankruptcy; antitrust; environmental; and treaty.  These matters have arisen in an array of industries, including pharmaceutical; medical device; origination, servicing, and securitization of mortgages and investment in mortgage-backed securities and residuals; manufacture of industrial materials; book publishing; magazine distribution; consumer products; and internet-based technology.  Mr. Malone participated in the representation of the Republic of Paraguay before both the United States Supreme Court, on petition for certiorari and motion for leave to file an original action, and the International Court of Justice, by application instituting proceedings and request for provisional measures.  He acted as lead counsel in the Supreme Court on behalf of American citizens and service organizations as amici curiae interested in the reciprocal enforcement of the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations.  He has helped lead an ongoing representation of sixteen Afghan nationals imprisoned at the Guantanamo Bay Naval Station, as petitioners for the writ of habeas corpus.

Rachel G. Balaban is a graduate of Cornell University (B.S., 1996) and New York University School of Law (J.D., 1999).  After law school, Ms. Balaban practiced at Sonnenschein Nath & Rosenthal LLP where she became a partner in 2006.  While at Sonnenschein, Ms. Balaban’s representations included the defense of Dominick Dunne in a defamation action brought by former U.S. Congressman Gary Condit and the defense of Prudential Insurance Company of America in a two-month jury trial recognized by The National Law Journal as “Defense Win of the Month.”  Ms. Balaban is a member of the Federal Legislation Committee of the Association of the Bar of the City of New York and previously served as Secretary of its Task Force on Town & Village Courts.  She serves on the board of the New York Chapter of the American Jewish Committee and the council of Children’s Rights, a national advocacy organization.  Ms. Balaban’s practice consists of counseling companies and individuals in a broad range of substantive areas and on complex procedural issues, including in the context of multi-party and multi-district litigation and class actions.  She has litigated cases involving business torts and contract disputes, fraud, constitutional law, media and advertising, Internet regulation, intellectual property, estate and trust law controversies, labor and employment law, insurance, securities, and real estate transactions in state and federal courts nationwide, at both the trial and appellate levels, as well as in alternative dispute resolution proceedings.

Alex Zubatov is a graduate of Yale University (B.A., summa cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa, 1997), where he received the E. Francis Riggs Prize for Excellence in the Humanities, and Harvard Law School (J.D., cum laude, 2000).  Mr. Zubatov was Law Clerk to Hon. David G. Trager of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York. Mr. Zubatov practiced at Debevoise & Plimpton after his clerkship.  Mr. Zubatov is a commercial litigator.

Associates

Brian A. Turetsky is a graduate of the University of Wisconsin (B.A., 1995) and the Georgetown University Law Center (J.D., 2002), where he was the Editor-in-Chief of the Georgetown Journal of Legal Ethics.  During the Clinton Administration, Mr. Turetsky served as an appointee at the United States Department of Housing & Urban Development as a policy aide and liaison to the White House.  He has also held numerous positions in national and statewide political campaigns.  After law school, Mr. Turetsky practiced at Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP with a focus on complex commercial and securities litigation and audit committee investigations.  Mr. Turetsky is a member of the Housing & Urban Development Committee of the Association of the Bar of the City of New York. Mr. Turetsky is a commercial litigator and is admitted to practice in the State of New York and U.S District Courts for the Southern and Eastern Districts of New York.

Clem G. Turner is a graduate of Princeton University (B.A., 1991) and the Georgetown University Law Center (J.D., 1996), where he was the Executive Editor of the American Criminal Law Review.  Mr. Turner is admitted to practice in New York, and his admission is pending in California.  Mr. Turner has also practiced at Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP and Brobeck, Pheleger & Harrison LLP where he provided counsel to clients undergoing business combinations and corporate financings.  His clients have ranged from emerging growth companies to Fortune 500 conglomerates in industries as diverse as technology and information services, financial services and entertainment.  Mr. Turner's practice areas include mergers and acquisitions, private equity and venture capital finance, public corporate finance, securities law, Internet law, intellectual property and general business and corporate counseling.

Of Counsel

Edmund A. Schaffzin is a graduate of Brown University (B.A., 1961) and Yale Law School (L.L.B., 1964).  Mr. Schaffzin’s practice includes corporate and securities law, real estate and international commercial transactions.

Mark Thoman is a graduate of Yale University (B.A., 1956) and Harvard Law School (J.D., 1959).  Before joining the firm, Mr. Thoman had been a partner at Lord, Day & Lord where he practiced for 34 years, and later was Special Counsel to Heller Ehrman LLP.  Mr. Thoman has served on the Board of Directors of Stokely-Van Camp and of Cadbury Schweppes U.S.A.  At the onset of New York City’s 1975 fiscal crisis, Mr. Thoman began assisting the City in the development of a disclosure program and an Official Statement for the sale of its bonds and notes.  He also advised the City on its reentry into the public securities market in 1978, and continued in his role as disclosure counsel for the City throughout the 1980s.  In another aspect of his practice, Mr. Thoman served as counsel to the American Association of Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine ("AAAOM") for a number of years, continues to advise the AAAOM on the impact of federal regulatory measures and actively supports the practice of traditional Chinese medicine in the United States.  Mr. Thoman's practice consists of general corporate law, mergers and acquisitions (most recently, with a special focus on private equity transactions), and advising clients on the securities laws and regulations.

Theodore M. Weitz is a graduate of Pace University (B.A. History) and the Columbia University Law School (J.D. 1971) where he was a Harlan Fiske Stone Scholar, Teaching Fellow and research assistant to Professor Willis L.M. Reese.  Formerly, he was in house for many years at technology and telecommunications companies and served as general counsel of Dialogic Corp., Tachion Networks, Inc., ITXC Corp. and Teleglobe International.  He has also held senior legal positions at AT&T, UNIX System Laboratories, Lucent and Intel, and practiced for seven years at Winthrop Stimson Putnam & Roberts.  He has chaired the Computer Law Committee of the Association of the Bar of the City of New York, is a member of their Information Technology committee, was Vice Chair of the UCC Task Force of the American Bar Association Section on Science and Technology and has participated in many other bar activities.  He has been a speaker at numerous public and bar programs, primarily in areas of computer law and professional conduct.  His practice focuses on general corporate and transactional representation of emerging technology companies and entrepreneurial entities and on providing counsel to larger companies on both specific transactions and on management of the legal function.  He is admitted to practice in the States of New York and New Jersey and to numerous federal courts.

Thomas D. Halket is a graduate of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (S.B. and S.M. (Physics), Sigma Xi) and the Columbia University Law School (Harlan Fiske Stone Scholar; Writing and Research Editor at The Columbia Journal of Environmental Law).  In addition to his law practice, he is an Adjunct Professor at Fordham Law School where he teaches a course on representing technology start-ups.  Formerly, he was the partner in charge of the commercial technology practice at Bingham McCutchen LLP’s New York office.  Mr. Halket’s practice includes technology and intellectual property transactions and corporate and commercial matters.  A Chartered Arbitrator and Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators, Mr. Halket also has acted for over 20 years as a neutral in complex domestic and international mediations and arbitrations.  Among his professional activities, he has served as Chairman of the Section of Science and Technology of the American Bar Association, of the Technology Advisory Committee of the American Arbitration Association and of the Subcommittee on Software and the Uniform Commercial Code of the Association of the Bar of the City of New York.  He is admitted to practice in the State of New York and the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.

Janet G. Lazar is a graduate of Princeton University (B.A., 1976) and the University of Michigan Law School (J.D., 1979).  She also attended the LL.M. program in taxation at New York University School of Law.  Ms. Lazar is a former Law Clerk to Hon. Renee R. Roth of the New York County Surrogate's Court.  She is a member of the New Jersey State Bar Association (Real Property, Probate and Trust Law Section; Taxation Law Section — Committee on Estate Planning); the New York State Bar Association (Trusts and Estates Law Section — Committee on Estates and Trusts Administration, Committee on Estate Litigation, and Committee on Surrogate's Court); and the Essex County Bar Association (Committee on Tax, Trusts and Estates).  She is a former member of the Association of the Bar of the City of New York (Committee on Estate and Gift Tax; Committee on Trusts, Estates and Surrogates' Courts).  Ms. Lazar practiced at Patterson Belknapp Webb & Tyler after law school.  Ms. Lazar is admitted to the Bar in New York and New Jersey, and her practice includes estate planning, the preparation of wills and trusts, and estate administration, with a concentration in Surrogate's Court matters.  Additional information about Ms. Lazar and her practice can be found at her personal web site, http://www.janetlazar.com/.

Gregory F.W. Todd is a graduate of Yale University (B.A., cum laude, 1976) and the University of Michigan Law School (J.D., magna cum laude, 1982), where he was a Contributing Editor of the Michigan Law Review and a member of Order of the Coif.  He spent four years in Tokyo, Japan with the law firm of Nishimura & Sanada, before joining Sullivan & Cromwell in New York (1987-1991).  He concentrates on financial and corporate law matters, and in particular the areas of venture capital, private equity, and investment partnerships.  Mr. Todd is admitted to the Bar in the States of New York and California.

Jessica R. Friedman is a graduate of Princeton University (B.A., summa cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa, 1981) and Yale Law School (1984).  Ms. Friedman practices copyright, trademark, publishing, licensing and marketing law.  A member of the New York City Bar Association, she has served on its Copyright and Literary Property Committee (1993-96; 2002-05; 2006-2009), Information Technology Law Committee (1999-2002), Entertainment Law Committee (1996-99), and Ad Hoc Information Superhighway Working Group (1993-94).  Ms. Friedman is also a member of the Entertainment, Arts and Sports Law Section of the New York State Bar Association.  While a member of the American Bar Association, she belonged to the Section on Intellectual Property Law and its Subcommittee on Joint Works and Works for Hire, which she chaired in 1998, and its Subcommittee on [Copyright] Formalities (1997-98).  Ms. Friedman is a member of the Copyright Society of the U.S.A. and the American Business Media Legal Committee.  She is the author of the copyright, trademark, and defamation sections of "A Lawyer's Ramble Down the Information Superhighway," 54 Fordham L. Rev. 700 (1995), and numerous other articles on copyright, trademark and publishing law.  She has lectured and chaired panels on those subjects in various venues, including the Practicing Law Institute, the New York City Bar Association and NYU Law School.  After law school, Ms. Friedman practiced at Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson.

Counsel

Karen L. Kushkin is a graduate of the University of Michigan Business School (B.B.A., 2002), Northwestern University School of Law (J.D., 2006) and New York University School of Law (LL.M., 2008).  She was Editor of the New York University School of Law Tax Law Review.  Ms. Kushkin's practice focuses on estate planning, the preparation of wills and trusts, and estate administration.  She is admitted to the Bar in New York and in Michigan. 

Interns

Esther Summerson (Not admitted to the Bar) was educated in the legal system of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and brings her experience in the handling of complex legal matters to our firm as a valued intern and advisor.