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About the Firm

Ability to Advocate for Clients

The trial lawyers, paralegals, nurses, and support personal at the Finz firm are highly trained and experienced in all phases of personal injury and wrongful death matters. The firm has concentrated in these practice areas for over twenty years. You can depend on the ability of the lawyers and staff at Finz & Finz, P.C. to understand the federal and state laws, rules, and regulations that impact upon a personal injury case and affect its outcome. With the in-depth experience and legal ability that the Finz firm can offer, clients have access to a firm dedicated to upholding the rights of victims and maximizing results.

Committed to Building Trust

The clients of the Finz firm are always a priority. It is firmly believed that trust is the first step in every attorney client relationship. Although medical care is the first priority for those who have been affected by someone else's negligence, clients of the firm can feel at ease knowing that they can work closely with a lawyer, and place their full trust in a firm that is dedicated to fighting on their behalf.

A Reputation Clients Can Rely On

The firm's reputation has been earned over the past several decades. Judges, defense attorneys, and insurance companies have come to know that when the Finz firm is representing a client the battle will be hard fought and the firm will not back down until the fullest measure of justice is achieved.

Driven by Results

Over the years, the Finz firm has scored record verdicts and settlements well in excess of 100 million dollars. It takes an enormous drive, a continuous and unrelenting commitment to attain excellence together with inherent skill to obtain the results that the firm has achieved for the clients that it proudly represents.

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About the Staff

Judge Leonard L. Finz, Founder of the Firm
Stuart L. Finz, Senior Trial Attorney and CEO
Jay L. Feigenbaum, Partner and Managing Attorney
Cheri Einbinder, Law Office Administrator - Attorney admitted in California
Judge Joseph F. Lisa, Of Counsel To The Firm
John S. Kanzler, Senior Trial Attorney
Todd M. Rubin, Associate Attorney
Lisa Van Essendelft, Legal Nurse Consultant
Melissa Bell, Paralegal
Kimberly Gittens, Paralegal
David E. Silverman, Paralegal - Law Student
Yvette Linares-Krivi, Senior Paralegal
Jeannette Totter-Genet, Paralegal
Jerome Lane, Administrative Assistant
William Van Roten, Personal Assistant
Chelsea Elguera, Receptionist/Webmaster

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Judge Leonard L. Finz
Founder of the firm

Honorable Leonard L. Finz is a former New York State Supreme Court Justice, and a preeminent trial lawyer who has earned the reputation as a master trial advocate in the courtroom. He is a true product of New York City, having been born in the Lower East Side of Manhattan, and moving to Brooklyn at an early age. With a unique talent and formal training in music, Judge Finz was accepted into the High school of Music and Art, a special public school for the gifted. Entering the Army during WWII, he was selected to attend Officer Candidate School at Ft. Sill, Oklahoma, and commissioned a Second Lieutenant in the Field Artillery. He served in the Philippine Islands, and following Japan's surrender was sent home a First Lieutenant. In all, he served 44 months on active duty with the U.S. Army during the war.

Judge Finz graduated from NYU with a B.A. Degree and thereafter, he attended and received his law degree from NYU School of Law. As a lawyer, Judge Finz gravitated to the personal injury field where his unique trial talents were quickly recognized. Elected a Judge of the Civil Court of the City of New York was the next step in a brilliant career that led 8 years later to his election as a New York State Supreme Court Justice. Throughout his years as a judge, he authored opinions that were so highly regarded as to have them specifically selected for publication in the Official Reports of the State of New York, with many being featured on the front page of the New York Law Journal. In all, more than 100 opinions were published during his almost 13 years of judicial tenure - a rare accomplishment at the time.

Judge Finz voluntarily left the bench in 1978 to become a partner and trial lawyer in a prominent personal injury firm where, in one of his first trials upon leaving the bench, he scored a verdict in the sum of 1.5 million dollars which was reported in the New York Times and described as the highest medical malpractice verdict at the time. Since then, he has had verdicts in the millions of dollars, combined with settlements in excess of 100 million dollars, and is recognized by the Bar as one of the nation's pre-eminent lawyers.

A prolific writer, Judge Finz has written many articles which have been published in a host of publications. He has written on such subjects as Aiming for the Million Dollar Verdict; Justice for DES Victims; The Expert Witness in Medical Malpractice Litigation; Accident Reconstruction - An Art and Challenge; AArt of the Opening Statement; A Trial Where Both Sides Win; Summation - The Fire Power of Words, and more.

Judge Finz is a skilled teacher of the law having taught trial advocacy, trial techniques, and medical practice as an Adjunct Professor of Law, in addition to teaching judges throughout the nation at the National Judicial College in Reno, Nevada. Throughout his career, he has chaired many legal seminars and has been a feature lecturer before many Bar groups covering almost every subject dealing with trial advocacy, and courtroom strategy.

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Stuart L. Finz
Senior Trial Attorney and CEO

Stuart L. Finz is the senior trial lawyer and CEO of the firm. He has earned his success with his unique skill in the courtroom scoring multi-million dollar verdicts and complicated multi-million dollar case settlements for the firms clients. Mr. Finz oversees all of the litigation departments of the firm, including the Products Liability Department, the General Tort Department, the Medical Malpractice Department, the Appeals and Law Department, and is the Director of the firms Tobacco Litigation Group.

Mr. Finz attended Long Island University and graduated Cum Laude with a Bachelor of Arts degree. He obtained a Juris Doctor Degree from Thomas Jefferson School of Law, where he was elected President of the law school student body and listed in Who=s Who in American Colleges and Universities.

He was born in Queens New York and is admitted to practice law in New York Sate, the U.S. District Courts, Northern, Southern, and Eastern Districts. Mr. Finz is a member of the New York State Trial Lawyers Association, the Association of Trial Lawyers of America, the American Bar Association, and the Queens County and Nassau County Bar Associations. He is Vice-Chair of the Queens County Medical Malpractice Committee, and has lectured for the New York County Lawyers Association.

Mr. Finz has been named by New York Super Lawyers as one of the top attorneys in New York for 2007, 2008 and 2009. He has been selected as member of the Multi-Million Dollar Advocates Forum, was listed in the New York Law Journal report of Largest Verdicts, and was selected by the leaders of the Democratic party to run for United States Congressas in the 3rd Congressional district.

He was appointed to the New York State Plaintiffs DES Liaison Committee where he fought for women against the major manufactures of DES, a drug that caused cancer in the offspring of women who were exposed to the drug in-utero. He co-authored AProblems of a DES-Exposed Woman in Her Childbearing Years - Legal Implications@, and has been actively involved in numerous significant legal issues that affect the health and safety of the public, always seeking to advance the rights of individuals, including his ongoing battle against the tobacco industry on behalf of victims who have contracted smoking induced lung cancer.

Mr. Finz obtained the first jury verdict in New York State against Philip Morris USA Inc. on behalf of a smoker that contracted lung cancer. The landmark verdict held Philip Morris USA Inc. and American Tobacco accountable for designing cigarettes to addict smokers. The record $20,520,000.00 jury verdict was published by Verdict Search as one of the top verdicts in the nation in 2005.

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Jay L. Feigenbaum
Partner and Managing Attorney

Jay L. Feigenbaum was born and educated in Brooklyn, New York. He graduated from Brooklyn Law School in 1976, and began his legal career as an Assistant District Attorney in Kings County, successfully prosecuting major offenses and career criminals as a Senior Trial Assistant. In 1980, he became the Principal Law Secretary to Judge Leonard Silverman in the New York State Court of Claims where he earned the respect of the attorneys practicing in that court for his efficient administrative work and insightful approach to the law. During the 15 years that he served the court he developed an expertise in civil procedure and the laws pertaining to personal injury which include Negligence, Product Liability, Premises Liability and Medical Malpractice.

After 20 years of government service, Mr. Feigenbaum joined the Finz firm where he heads the firm's Law Department and is responsible for the firm's appellate work. Thereafter, he became the managing attorney and then was named a partner in 2001.

During his tenure with the firm he has enjoyed many achievements in both the trial and appellate courts. In a case involving tragic and crippling injuries due to the negligent design of a snow tube course at a ski facility, Mr. Feigenbaum obtained summary judgment against the State of New York, which decided the issue of liability against the state, and in favor of the firm=s client. As a result of many conferences held in Albany with the Court of Claims, together with senior representatives of the State Attorney General's office, and after a hard negotiating effort that spanned months, the case was settled by Judge Leonard L. Finz, Stuart L. Finz, and Jay L. Feigenbaum for 8 million dollars.

Mr. Feigenbaum also successfully appealed a Federal District Court dismissal of a case arising from the misbranding of a Rust?Oleum aerosol paint can which resulted in a client sustaining severe burns when the paint vapors erupted in flames. The news story reporting on the decision rendered by the United States Circuit Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit in reversing the lower court, appeared on the front page of the New York Law Journal.

Mr. Feigenbaum is a uniquely skilled attorney who has demonstrated his dedication to the firm's clients and has displayed the high professional standards which are the hallmarks of the Finz firm.

Mr. Feigenbaum is married with three children and resides in Woodbury, New York.

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Cheri Einbinder
Law Office Administrator
Attorney admitted in California

Cheri Einbinder was born in Washington D.C. She graduated from The University of Maryland in 1981 with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Business with an emphasis in marketing.

Upon graduation she was licenced as a real estate agent in both Maryland and California and was thereafter hired as Vice President and head of advertizing at Amerland Development Company, a San Diego based firm that built commercial properties.

While working full time Ms. Einbinder attended Thomas Jefferson School of Law where she received her Juris Doctor Degree. During law school she was active in the Student Bar Association; wrote the Moot Court bench brief; was registered in Who's Who in American Collages and Universities; and achieved top honors as the recipient of the American Jurisprudence Award for excellence in Trusts.

Ms. Einbinder is a member of The State Bar of California since 1984. She is a highly talented law office administrator who is responsible for the day to day operations of the firm and supervises the entire staff of the firm.

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Judge Joseph F. Lisa
Of Counsel To The Firm

Honorable Joseph F. Lisa is a former New York State Supreme Court Justice. He received his early education in the New York City Public Schools and holds 3 degrees, having received a Bachelor of Business Administration from St. John's University in 1958, a Juris Doctor Degree from St. John's School of Law in 1960 and a LLM Degree from Brooklyn Law School in 1967.

He served in the United States Marine Corps Reserve from 1955 through 1961 and received an honorable discharge.

Judge Lisa was admitted to practice law in the State of New York in 1961. He served as Law Secretary to the late Justices William G. Giaccio and J. Irwin Shapiro.

In 1967, Judge Lisa was appointed Acting?Chief of the Appeals Bureau of the Queens District Attorneys Office, and shortly thereafter, was elected a Delegate to the 1967 Constitutional Convention.

He subsequently served as a member of the New York State Assembly from 1969 through 1976, and as a member of the New York City Counsel from 1982 through 1991.

In 1992, Judge Lisa was elected to the New York City Civil Court and in 1993 he was appointed an Acting Justice of the New York State Supreme Court, a position he held until his election as a New York State Justice of the Supreme Court in 1996.

Judge Lisa was appointed Adjunct Professor of Political Science at City University of New York from 1993 through 1994 and has lectured and written extensively in both Europe and the United States on the social, legal, and ethical implications of the law in time of epidemics and pandemics. He is a permanent member of the scientific community of the San Marino Scientific Conference in the Republic of San Marino.

Judge Lisa is a member of the Association of Justices of the Supreme Court of the State of New York; Board of Judges of the Civil Court of the City of New York; American Justinan Society of Jurists; American Judges Association; Queens County Bar Association; Columbia Lawyers of Queens County; Catholic Lawyers of Queens County; and the Marine Corps League.

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John S. Kanzler
Senior Trial Attorney

John S. Kanzler was born on November 5, 1954 in Mineola, New York. Mr. Kanzler grew up in Long Island and Connecticut. Drawn to the law early in his career, he attended John Jay College of Criminal Justice, City University of New York, where he received a Bachelor of Science Degree in Criminal Justice. Thereafter, Mr. Kanzler served in the United States Army as a Military Policeman and as a CID Special Agent in the Criminal Investigation Command.

Returning to the New York metropolitan area in 1980, he called upon the vast experience he gained as a Special Agent with the United States military and embarked as a private investigator. With a desire to pursue the law as his chosen profession, Mr. Kanzler enrolled at New York Law School, where through achievement, he was appointed the Notes and Comments Editor for the Journal of International and Comparative Law, while working full time as a Legal Assistant at the United States Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York. He received his Juris Doctor Degree from the New York Law School in 1988.

Since his admission to the Bar, Mr. Kanzler has dedicated the major part of his legal career to litigation, specializing in the trial of complex medical malpractice cases. He has obtained numerous million dollar verdicts and settlements. Having been a trial lawyer for over 15 years, he believes firmly that "you must be passionate about your case if you expect the jury to appreciate the merits of your client's claims".

Mr. Kanzler is a member of the New York Bar Association. He is currently the Chairman of the Parish Council at St. Philip Roman Catholic Church, and is a graduate of the FBI Citizens= Academy program at FBI New Haven.

Mr. Kanzler is married, has three children and resides in Norwalk, Connecticut.

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Todd M. Rubin
Associate Attorney

Todd M. Rubin was born in Suffolk County, New York on July 17, 1970. He graduated from Colgate University in 1992 and obtained his law degree from New York Law School in 1995.

He began his legal career in major Manhattan law firms handling sophisticated products liability cases and patent litigations. In 1998, Mr. Rubin returned to Long Island to concentrate on personal injury law where he has litigated hundreds of matters.

Mr. Rubin is dedicated to fighting for the rights of the firm=s clients and is recognized by his peers as being an aggressive and skilled litigator. Mr. Rubin has worked to obtain millions of dollars of verdicts and settlements for the clients of the firm, and many of these verdicts and settlements have been published in the Jury Verdict Reporter.

Mr. Rubin also practices in the firm=s tobacco litigation group and together with Stuart L. Finz tried the landmark trial of Rose v. American Tobacco et al., which resulted in a jury verdict against Philip Morris USA Inc. and American Tobacco in the amount of $20,520,000.

Mr. Rubin is admitted to the New York State Bar, the United States District Courts for the Eastern and Southern Districts of New York, and the District of New Jersey.

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Lisa VanEssendelft
Legal Nurse Consultant

Lisa VanEssendelft has been a Registered Professional Nurse since 1989. She has over twenty years experience in various aspects of the Nursing Profession. She began her career at St. Charles Hospital as a nurse's aide. After passing her licensing exam, she worked on various units in the hospital setting including medical-surgical, labor and delivery, pediatrics, and newborn ICU . Her varied experience has been quite helpful in the medical malpractice field.

As a legal nurse consultant at Finz & Finz Lisa plays a significant role in reviewing all medical malpractice cases presented to the firm. Her involvement in cases from inception through trial is an asset to the medical malpractice team.

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Melissa Bell
 Paralegal

As a graduate of Nassau Community College where she earned an associates degree in criminal justice, she attended New York Paralegal school where she earned her advanced paralegal certificate. Fresh out of college, began to climb the corporate ladder, first, as a receptionist (with the chance to gain exposure to and learn paralegal work). Gaining knowledge, over the course of three years, she earned the title of paralegal, and began working for plaintiff's personal injury and medical malpractice firms for the past fourteen years.

In her spare time, she loves to spend time with her fiancé, and work-out.

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Kimberley Gittens
Paralegal

Kimberly was Born and raised in Baldwin, Long Island, she moved to Queens to attend college at St. John's University. Prior to graduating Magna Cum Laude, she was inducted into the Criminal Justice Honor Society, Sigma Gamma Rho. She received her Bachelors of Science with a major in Criminal Justice and a minor in Legal Studies. She was the first in her family to attend and graduate from college.

Kimberley prides herself on being a "Jane of all trades". She has completed a 600-hour program at the Culinary Academy of Long Island in Syosset, specializing in Professional Cooking and Professional Pastry & Baking. She spends her summers taking classes at Long Island Beauty School in Hauppauge and is two courses away from completion.

She is currently pursuing her Paralegal Certificate at York College. She aspires to be an attorney one day and ultimately retire as a judge.

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David E. Silverman
Paralegal - Law Student (Juris Doctorate candidate 2010)

David is an evening law student who is originally from Philadelphia.  He graduate from Temple University with Honors in Philosophy, writing his thesis on ethics.  He is a member of the JLSA, Suffolk County Bar Assoc. (student-member), the Emerald Law Society, American Alternative Dispute Resolution Society; has been both a representative and general council solicitor to his law school's student bar association; was President of the Environmental Law Society from 2008 through 2010; and, has been designated "Best Oral Advocate" at the National Environmental Law Moot Court Competition, held every year at Pace University law school.

His passion for the advocacy of victims of personal injury can be seen in everything he does, and he intends to apply that passion for zealous advocacy to practice after sitting for the bar exam in 2010.  He has worked for many years assisting in pursuing plaintiff's rights; and, is an asset to the firm assisting with medical malpractice, personal injury and wrongful death cases from inception through trial.

David currently lives in Suffolk County with his wife Shauna, and new son Noah-Elijah.

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Yvette Linares-Krivi
Senior Paralegal/Juris Doctorate

Yvette Linares-Krivi is married and currently lives on Long Island. She graduated from St. John's University School of Law in December 2008 receiving her Juris Doctorate and is awaiting results from the New York State Bar Examiners. She received her Bachelor's of Science in paralegal studies in the evening program from St. John's University where she graduated summa cum laude. She previously attended Nassau Community College receiving her Associates of Applied Science in legal studies where she graduated magna cum laude.

Prior to receiving her degrees, she owned a delicatessen with her husband. Thereafter, she was employed for over ten years as the senior paralegal in a law firm on Long Island in the area of personal injury where she was involved in all aspects of the client's files, including conducting legal research and preparing discovery documents.

Yvette fulfills an important role at the Finz firm. She is the firm's senior paralegal. She brings her extensive experience, knowledge and vast skills to the firm. Yvette handles personal injury and wrongful death cases from inception through trial preparation.

Yvette is fluent in Spanish and has frequent communication with the firm's Spanish speaking clientele.

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Jeannette Totter-Genet
Paralegal

Jeannette resides in Nassau County. She is a life long resident of New York and is the mother of three children and has two cocker spaniels. She graduated from Katharine Gibbs Secretarial School and has twenty-two years experience as a legal assistant for plaintiff's negligence and medical malpractice law firms.

Jeannette is well versed in the area of no-fault insurance and works closely with the