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Benjamin
Brafman
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Clients and Judges
Respect Him
By
Tim
Boxer
ENJAMIN BRAFMAN,
an Orthodox Jew from the Five Towns on Long Island with a remarkably
successful law firm in Midtown Manhattan, lists such high-profile
clients as Carmine Agnello, ex-mob boss John Gotti’s
son-in-law; pop star Sean “Puff Daddy” Combs, allegedly
involved in a shooting at Club New York, and nightclub impresario Peter
Gatien, acquitted of charges that he turned the Limelight and
Tunnel into virtual drug supermarkets.
No wonder the 51-year-old
wunderkind has become New York’s most famous criminal defense
lawyer.
Due to the enormous
publicity generated by these and other celebrated cases, it has
become a lot easier for Brafman to remain shomer Shabbat
(Sabbath observant) in a high-pressure arena. “The court treats me
with deference and respect and I have no problems in this area,”
he says.
Nevertheless, Brafman, whom
New York magazine named as best defense lawyer, is overjoyed
with the prospect of Joseph Lieberman as vice president.
“With Lieberman observing
religious holidays,” Brafman says, “it will make life easier for
younger Orthodox professionals and businessmen.”
(As my wife Nina
puts it, “Lieberman would be the second Jew in the Oval Office
since Monica.”)
In his travels, he
encounters an extraordinary degree of ignorance about Orthodox
practice, especially pertaining to the holidays. “We think the
whole world knows about Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, but they are
in fact not known or understood in small towns around the
country.”
That is changing now that
Lieberman has sparked universal discussion about his religious
practice.
Being an observant Jew,
says Brafman, can at times impact on his professional obligations.
Then he’ll make compromises.
When a trial is in critical
posture during a religious holiday, it might be impossible for him
to be at Beth Sholom Synagogue in Lawrence, Long Island, where he is
a trustee. He’ll stay in a hotel and walk to court so that his
client not suffer from his absence.
“This year,” he notes,
“when the High Holidays come out on weekends, we get a break. When
the holidays were in the middle of the week, they’ve been
nightmares for me.”
In his Midtown office on
the 26th floor of a Third Ave. skyscraper, he told me
about the clients he represents – actors, Hasidim, professional
killers, Wall St. types, doctors, private investigators, all of whom
are under investigation or indicted.
He says he’s never lost a
client due to his religious observance. “On the contrary, being
able to debate with a Talmudic background, listen to both sides, has
been a great benefit. People respect me for that.”
Brafman occasionally finds
himself in a situation where he is threatened, but not so much as to
cause concern.
A sense of humor, he’s
found, can make all the difference in the world. When Mafia chief
John Gotti, now serving a life sentence, faced his last trial where
other lawyers represented him, he consulted Brafman as a tape expert
to review certain revealing tapes the government had.
Gotti asked what kind of
jurors might be best for the trial.
“Try to find deaf people
for the jury,” the Brafman advised.
The humor broke the tension
in the room.
The son of Holocaust
survivors, Brafman grew up in an Orthodox home in Williamsburg,
Brooklyn, and attended Yeshiva Torah V’Daas. His older brother
Aaron is an Orthodox rabbi in nearby Far Rockaway. His wife Lynda
is the librarian at Hebrew Academy of Five Towns and Rockaway (HAFTR).
Their daughter Jennifer is a Stern College graduate; son David
went to HAFTR.
Jennifer is married to
Mordecai Lent, a ceo of an Internet car leasing company,
EZLeasing.com. David, a rabbinical student at Yeshiva University,
married Jasmine Sohacheski Sept. 10 in Beverly Hills.
The
next day Brafman was back in court in Brooklyn to represent Chris
Paciello, owner of the Miami club Liquid and former Madonna
boyfriend, accused of racketeering and murder. Stay tuned.
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