East Meadow, NY John Gionis, Allan Hyman, Jason Kurland, Jaspreet Mayall, Thomas McNamara, Douglas Rowe, Howard Stein, Paul Sweeney, and Brian  Ziegler, all 10 partners at Certilman Balin and based in the firm’s East Meadow office, have been named to the 2015 New York Super Lawyers List. The honor recognizes top lawyers in their respective areas of practice. The Super Lawyers review and selection process includes a statewide nomination process, peer review by practice area and independent candidate research. Due to the highly rigorous nature of the nomination and review process, only five percent of lawyers in the New York metro area are named to the list. In addition, Lisa Hunter, also a partner, has been named to the 2015 Top Women Super Lawyers list and Douglas Menikheim and Erin O’Brien, both associates, have been named to the 2015 New York Metro Rising Stars List. John Gionis: Practices in the areas of personal and catastrophic injuries, medical malpractice, real estate, commercial litigation, trusts and estates, and criminal law including white collar crime cases involving fraud. A seasoned litigator, Gionis has successfully tried to verdict cases in both the state and federal courts in the New York metropolitan area. A former Nassau County District Attorney from 1983 until 1986, Gionis earned his Bachelor of Arts in English from the State University of New York at Albany in 1977; and his Juris Doctor from California Western School of Law at San Diego in 1982.   Lisa Hunter: Practices in the Trusts and Estates and Elder Law Practice Groups, and has concentrated in all aspects of trusts, estates, tax, and succession planning, primarily for high net worth individuals, for more than 30 years. A member of the Estate Planning Council of Nassau County and the New York State and Nassau County Bar Associations, Hunter serves on the Tax Law and Surrogate’s Court, Estates and Trusts Committees of the Nassau County Bar Association. She has also attained the highest professional rating by Martindale Hubbell. Hunter received her Bachelor of Arts from Vassar College and her Juris Doctor from Villanova University, where she served as an editor of the Law Review. She also holds the degree of Master of Laws in Taxation from New York University.   Allan Hyman: (Resident of Sands Point) practices in the Litigation, Real Estate Tax Certiorari, and Condemnation Law Departments at Certilman Balin. Recently, New York State Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos appointed Hyman to Governor Cuomo’s Judicial Screening Committee for the Second Department. He earned his undergraduate degree from Syracuse University and his Juris Doctorate from St. John’s University Law School.     Jason Kurland: Practices in our Real Estate Group, and he also practices with the Estate & Tax Planning Group. Known as “the lottery lawyer,” Kurland has represented the largest Powerball jackpot winner in the state of Connecticut and the largest Powerball jackpot winner in Rhode Island. Kurland earned his Bachelor of Arts Degree in Business/Government from Skidmore College in 1996 and a Juris Doctor from The Hofstra University School of Law in 2000.     Jaspreet Mayall: Practices in the Telecommunications Group and the Debtor/Creditor Rights and Bankruptcy Group. Mayall is serving a second term as a member of the Committee on Character and Fitness for the Second, Tenth and Eleventh Judicial Districts. He earned his Bachelor of Business Administration from Hofstra University in 1988 and his Juris Doctorate from the Hofstra University School of Law in 1991. Mayall was also named to the 2010 New York Super Lawyers List.     Thomas McNamara: Focuses his practice on a broad range of commercial litigation, including issues related to banking, creditors’ rights, contracts, real estate, employment, trade secrets, trust and estates, and insurance, as well as corporate, shareholder, partnership, and antitrust matters. The former chair of the Committee on Creditors’ Rights of the New York State Bar Association’s Commercial and Federal Litigation Section.At present, he is the Vice Chair of the Commercial Litigation Committee of the Nassau County Bar Association. His articles have appeared in several legal publications and he has served as an adjunct instructor at New York Law School and Molloy College. He graduated with honors from the University of Chicago, where he majored in economics, and earned his law degree from New York University School of Law in 1980.   Douglas Rowe: Practices in the Labor and Employment Practice Group. A seasoned litigator at the state and federal level, Rowe has significant appellate experience. He earned his Juris Doctor from Brooklyn Law School in 1981 and his Bachelor of Science in Accounting from the University of Maryland.       Howard Stein: Heads the Real Estate Practice Group where he concentrates on matters related to real property acquisitions, sales, leasing, real estate finance and loan workouts. He is an Adjunct Professor of Real Estate Law at Touro Law Center, and also Chairman of the School’s Board of Governors. In 2011, Stein was appointed by the Suffolk County Executive to serve on the Suffolk County Judicial Facilities Agency, a New York State authority which oversees the construction of the new Suffolk County jail. Mr. Stein is a 1975 graduate of the University of Rochester where he now serves as a member of their George Eastman Circle and earned his law degree from Case Western Reserve University in 1978. Stein also made the Super Lawyer list in 2012.   Paul Sweeney: Practices in the Litigation Practice Group and represents clients in a broad range of commercial litigation matters before state, federal and appellate courts. He earned his Juris Doctor, cum laude, from Fordham University School of Law in 1992 and his Bachelor of Arts from the University of Vermont in 1987.         Brian Ziegler: Heads the Corporate/Securities Law Practice. He represents clients in the areas of mergers and acquisitions, joint venture transactions, finance, private placements, license agreements, executive compensation and employment agreements, taxation and general business counseling. Ziegler serves as outside general counsel to a variety of different businesses and is regularly called upon to advise corporations of all sizes, family owned businesses, limited liability companies and partnerships. A cum laude graduate of the Wharton School of Business of the University of Pennsylvania, he holds both a Juris Doctor and a Master of Laws degree in taxation from the University of Miami School of Law. Ziegler is the Village Justice for the Village of Woodsburgh, NY. This is the third year in-a-row that Ziegler has made the Super Lawyers list.   Erin O’Brien: An Associate in the Banking Litigation and Commercial Lending Practice. Ms. O’Brien earned her Master of Laws (LL.M.) in Immigration Law and Policy, with a concentration in Administrative Law and Regulatory Policy, from the American University, Washington College of Law, in 2012. She was a Dean’s Fellow. In 2009, O’Brien earned her Juris Doctor from the Hofstra University School of Law. Also at Hofstra, she graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science in 2005. She is Co-Chair of the New Members Division of the New York City Chapter of the American Immigration Lawyers Association.     Douglas Menikheim: An associate in the Corporate/Securities Law Practice Group where his practice is focused on mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures, securities and general corporate matters. He regularly advises both public and private companies in a wide range of industries.Douglas also has experience advising companies in commercial arrangements such as manufacturing, supply and distribution agreements and licensing agreements. Douglas earned his Juris Doctor, cum laude, from the Hofstra University School of Law in May 2005. In 2001, he graduated from Lehigh University’s College of Business and Economics.     Certilman Balin Adler & Hyman, LLP has grown into Long Island’s second largest full-service law firm with offices in Nassau and Suffolk Counties. Its 14 practice areas include: real estate, real property tax certiorari and condemnation, cooperative and condominium, land use, environmental law, corporate/securities, litigation, commercial lending, labor relations/employment law, bankruptcy and debtor/creditor rights, trusts and estates, elder law, telecommunications law, and criminal law. Tags: