About Beldock Levine & Hoffman LLP
In New York City's vast sea of BigLaw, mid-sized firms, and solo practitioners, Beldock Levine & Hoffman has made a name for itself as a boutique firm that meets its clients’ various needs with a personalized touch. The firm handles everything from general corporate law, litigation matters, intellectual property, real estate, criminal defense, and more. The firm is best known for being at the forefront of numerous notable civil rights cases.
NYC Trio
In 1964 Myron Beldock, a solo practitioner, joined forces with Lawrence S. Levine and Elliot L. Hoffman, two former Assistant U.S. Attorneys, to form Beldock, Levine & Hoffman. The trio sought to launch a successful practice that also focused on public service. Today the firm is home to just under 20 attorneys, and its Big Apple headquarters remain its one and only location.
Small Firm, Big Headlines
While BLH has fewer than 20 attorneys among its ranks, it is a force, especially when it comes to civil rights. Among the areas it covers include discrimination, governmental misconduct, First Amendment, police misconduct, wrongful convictions, and wrongful death
The firm has been involved in some of the biggest civil rights cases in recent decades, such as:
- The firm represented the family and Estate of Eric Garner, negotiating a settlement for $5.9 million.
- In the renowned Exonerated Five case (formally known as the “Central Park Jogger” case), the five named defendants were convicted of brutally beating and raping a female jogger in Central Park in 1989. Myron Beldock and Karen Dippold participated in defending and vacating the conviction of Yusef Salaam in the criminal case. After the convictions of the five were overturned, Mr. Beldock, Ms. Dippold, and Jonathan Moore represented four of the five defendants in their civil rights action against New York City and the police personnel and prosecutors involved in securing the convictions by eliciting false confessions. The City agreed to pay a $41 million settlement.
- Lawyers from BLH teamed up with the Center for Constitutional Rights and Covington & Burling to challenge New York City's controversial stop-and-frisk policy in the now infamous Floyd v. City of New York (“Stop & Frisk”) case. The federal court found that the NYPD's practices violated the Fourth Amendment and the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. Lawyers from BLH then assisted with a negotiation in which Mayor Bill De Blasio decided to withdraw the City's appeal.
- The firm also defended the rights of many of those involved in the mass arrests—over 1,800—following the Republican National Convention held in New York City in 2004. BLH filed a federal class action lawsuit on behalf of 24 individuals and others unconstitutionally arrested and detained. After 10 years of litigation, BLH negotiated a settlement of $6,600,000 for class members and their attorneys.
Grooming Civil Rights Advocates
Leading the charge in civil rights isn’t the firm’s only mission—it’s also committed to training a new generation of civil rights attorneys. Students in the firm’s summer associate program work solely in the Civil Rights practice group. And the firm has recently rolled out the Myron Beldock Civil Rights Fellowship, a one-year civil rights law fellowship for law school graduates.
99 Park Avenue
Penthouse Suite
New York, NY 10016
Phone: (212) (212) 490-0400
Managing Partner: Jonathan Pollack
Hiring Partners: Luna Droubi, Jonathan Pollack, Jonathan Moore, David B. Rankin
Total No. Attorneys (2021):
1 - 50
Salary not disclosed.
Abigail Robinson
Senior Paralegal
(212) 490-0400
info@blhny.com
No. of U.S. Offices: 1
No. of International Offices: 0
New York, NY
Art Law
Civil Rights
Corporate & Commercial
Criminal Defense
Employment
Entertainment & Intellectual Property
Estate Planning & Administration
International Human Rights
Matrimonial & Family Law
Mental Health
Professional Responsibility & Legal Ethics
Real Estate