September 2016 Bridge the Gap

Scott Aurnou, Esq., CISSP is an attorney and founder of The Security Advocate, which helps organizations with information security and data privacy issues. This includes privacy and security awareness training, security consulting, compliance with cyber security and privacy laws and related legal concerns.

Scott spent over a decade as a litigation attorney in the NYC area, and served as lead counsel for a private client services group at Smith Barney. He uses his legal, security, and business background to make complex information security concepts easy to understand (and even entertaining on occasion) for non-technical audiences. He has published security related articles in national publications ranging from the New York Law Journal to SC Magazine. In addition, he has created and delivered numerous presentations on information security and data privacy issues for executives, managers, and professionals.

Scott is a Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP), Certified Information Privacy Technologist (CIPT), Certified Information Privacy Professional (CIPP/US) and a Fellow of Information Privacy (FIP). He is admitted to practice law in New York, Colorado, the U.S. District Courts for the Eastern and Southern Districts of New York; as well as the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. He is also the author of the Introduction to Information Security LiveLessons video training series for Pearson Publishing. 

Daniel L. Abrams’ practice focuses on legal malpractice, and business litigation. Mr. Abrams has helped many corporations and individuals complaining of inadequate legal services or overbilling obtain relief and settlements from their former attorneys.  He represents mostly plaintiffs but occasionally defendants in legal malpractice cases and other disputes related to legal ethics, including legal fee disputes, breach of fiduciary duty cases, cases alleging conflicts of interest, and other professional responsibility issues.  Lawyers and law firms frequently hire Mr. Abrams to serve as lawyer, expert or consultant on issues related to legal ethics or the law governing lawyers.  He has taught legal ethics to other lawyers for the Practicing Law Institute, the New York State Bar Association, Lawline.com and Access MCLE. He has also appeared as a guest lecturer at Suffolk Law School.

In addition to his legal malpractice and ethics practice, Mr. Abrams has an active business litigation practice. Mr. Abrams’ clients include business owners, general counsel, and individuals in a full range of business litigation and arbitration matters.  His cases have included business dealings arising out of oil & gas contracts, licensing agreements, business mergers, employment agreements, financing arrangements, business fraud, trade secrets, and corporate whistleblower allegations.  His litigation cases include a successful multi-million dollar reversal of an arbitration award, a defense victory after a bench trial in a breach of contract case, and many favorable settlements of commercial disputes and legal malpractice cases.

Mr. Abrams received his J.D. from Yale Law School in 1995 where he was an Olin Fellow of Law and Economics. He is a member of The Association of Professional Responsibility Lawyers and the Association of the Bar of the City of New York, where he served on the Professional Responsibility Committee and the Subcommittee on Lawyer Promotion and Advertising from 2004-2007.  He is a member of the bar of the United States Supreme Court, Southern District of New York, Eastern District of New York, Second Circuit United States Court of Appeals, Sixth Circuit United States Court of Appeals, and Tenth Circuit United States Court of Appeals. 

Justin Blitz, Esq. is a partner at Schulman Blitz, LLP. He focuses on litigating all types of civil cases from inception to resolution. An experienced trial lawyer and skillful negotiator, Mr. Blitz is a tenacious adversary who consistently gets great results for his clients regardless of the case or the challenges presented.

Mr. Blitz has tried cases throughout the state of New York and obtained many substantial jury verdicts. He believes that the best results are achieved when every case is meticulously prepared for trial and this philosophy has enabled him to obtain scores of favorable settlements in all kinds of actions. Mr. Blitz has recovered hundreds of millions of dollars in compensation for people who have been injured due to the negligence of others.

Mr. Blitz has over a decade of experience of successfully managing a large caseload of complex and high-profile negligence actions. He became known as an able trial lawyer and expert negotiator who successfully resolved hundreds of cases in arbitration, mediation, courtroom negotiation, and trial. 

Mr. Blitz has established himself as one of the "go to" trial attorneys for other New York lawyers in the State that seek trial counsel on their most severe injury cases. Many law firms throughout the State hire Mr. Blitz to try to verdict their most catastrophic injured clients' law suits. This is due to his superb track record and prior verdict results.

Mr. Blitz is a member of the Board of Directors of the New York State Trial Lawyers Association (NYSTLA). He is a past chairman of NYSTLA’s Young Lawyers Committee. In addition to NYSTLA, Mr. Blitz is a member of several other bar associations, including the American Association for Justice.

When not in the courtroom, Mr. Blitz lectures at Continuing Legal Education seminars throughout the country. He has lectured on a variety of topics including courtroom technology, trial tips and techniques, and strategies for maximizing the value of personal injury lawsuits. Mr. Blitz's lectures have over 20,000 views from Attorneys who have taken his courses for continuing legal education credit. The reviews of his lectures have made him a renowned speaker across the State in regards to personal injury legal topics. 

Mr. Blitz has been selected to the “Super Lawyers” list of “Rising Stars” for the years 2014 and 2015 and 2016 and has been selected as a "Super Lawyer" for 2017 and 2018.

Many of Mr. Blitz's cases have been chronicled in the New York media including articles and stories in The New York Post, The New York Times, CBS News, Telemundo and Noticero.

Mr. Blitz is a native of New York City and a graduate of Columbia Prep High School and the Elliott School of International Affairs at George Washington University. He received his legal training at New York Law School. He is admitted to practice law in the courts of the State of New York and in the United States District Court for the Southern and Eastern Districts of New York.

At Schulman Blitz, LLP, Mr. Blitz litigates a wide variety of civil suits with an emphasis on motor vehicle collisions, negligent security, municipal liability, medical malpractice, labor law, negligent supervision and all types of premises liability.

Cory Morris is admitted to practice in New York State, the Florida State Bar, the Eastern District of New York and the Southern District of New York. Mr. Morris is an advocate for equality, civil rights and social justice. In recognition of this, Mr. Morris became the recipient of an Equality Award at the Suffolk County New York Civil Liberties Union 50th Anniversary Gala and the New York State Bar Empire Justice Award for Pro Bono work. He is focused on working with people who are charged with a crime, substance abuse issues and helping people vindicate their constitutional rights.

Cory Morris currently maintains a practice in Suffolk County, New York. He is the current Secretary of the Suffolk County Bar Association Academy of Law, is the co-chair of the Suffolk County Bar Association's Newly Admitted Attorneys Section and regularly publishes articles in the Suffolk Lawyer as well as other journals and newsletters. Mr. Morris is part of the Assigned Counsel Defender Plan of Suffolk County and serves as an adjunct professor at Adelphi University, teaching courses such as Negotiations, Business Law and Psychology and the Law. 

Mr. Morris attended college on Long Island, starting at Nassau Community College, obtaining his Bachelor’s Degree in Criminal Justice from Adelphi University and his Master’s Degree from Adelphi’s Derner Institute of Advanced Psychological Studies. While pursuing his graduate degree, his concentration was on forensic psychology, substance abuse, and impulsive disorders. He obtained an assistantship with Dr. Larry Josephs, was published in the Encyclopedia of the History of Psychological Theories and contributed to Adelphi’s scholarship, working with a doctoral student and post-doctoral professor in developing his thesis entitled “Impulsivity in the form of Suicidality in Borderline Personality Disorder.” Mr. Morris graduated Touro College at the top of his class, was a Dean’s List recipient and received both the David A. Berg Public Interest Fellowship and the Howard Glickstein Public Interest Fellowship. He is also the recipient of the Brian Lord Memorial Award for his demonstrated commitment to public interest.

Mr. Morris regularly does pro bono work and volunteers with the New York Civil Liberties Union, Nassau County Bar Association, Suffolk County Bar Association and other non-profit organizations dedicated to helping the community. He also serves as a Advisory Board Member for Nassau Suffolk Law Services, one of the largest providers of free civil legal assistance in New York.

Clifford Tucker represents people and their families who have been hurt or experienced a death by negligence or wrongdoing. He researches the law, gathers evidence, collaborates with experts, and goes to court. He builds cases showing how the law was broken and how much damage was suffered. He works closely with clients and their families to build trust and guide them through their cases.

Clifford Tucker is licensed to practice law in New York and New Jersey State Courts and in the Eastern District of New York. He was born, raised, and educated in New York. He graduated cum laude and with honors from Brooklyn Law School. He has lectured to law students on representing injured people and has led discussions on civil rights at the National Association of Social Workers. He is a member of the New York State Bar Association and the New York State Trial Lawyers Association. Clifford Tucker was selected to the Super Lawyers 2016 New York Metro Rising Stars list.

As an undergraduate at Binghamton University, Clifford Tucker earned several awards in policy debate and helped his college to a First Place Ranking for both the National Debate Tournament and Cross Examination Debate Association. After college, Clifford Tucker became an investigator for the New York City Civilian Complaint Review Board where he investigated allegations of police misconduct. In that position, he interviewed approximately 200 police officers of various rank and approximately 100 civilians, conducted field investigations, and provided reports as to his findings.