Dan's Papers - May 30, 2008 - Barry Slotnick

Barry Slotnick's favorite t-shirt reads, "Liberty's Last Champion." And that's the truth. If there was ever a man who lived his day-to-day life devoted to liberty and justice, it's Slotnick. He is a recipient of the American Lawyers AMMY award as the best defense lawyer in America, and has been honored by the New York State Bar Association as the finest defense practitioner in the state - no other defense attorney has received both praises.

For more than two decades, Slotnick has been regarded as one of America's foremost defenders for the wealthy, elite and the indicted. Arguably, one of his most famous cases was his defense of Bernie Goetz, the "Subway Vigilante." In People vs. Goetz, Slotnick successfully defended the subway gunman on charges of attempted murder and assault relating to the 1984 shooting of assailant Darrell Cabey. But although much of his career has been attached to seriousness, Slotnick admits his favorite client by far is Winnie the Pooh, whom he represents for DisneyLand.

As the Chairman of Litigation in the New York office of Buchanan Ingersoll & Rooney PC, where he focuses his practice on civil and white-collar litigation, Slotnick travels the globe. Before joining Buchanan, his trips were mostly New York-California jaunts. Now he makes frequnt trips to London, and goes to Las Vegas regularly - he represents developer Steve Wynn of the Wynn Resort along with other major hotels and casinos. He's been flying for a very long time and prefers private flights or something close to it. Just recently, returning from Las Vegas, an airport employee expressed his admiration and respect to Slotnick and added, "When you're done with the metal detector, I'll have some of my people escort you to the plane. My treat." Slotnick responded by saying, "Oh, no. You don't have to do that. Well, do I still have to take my shoes off?"

The man said, "Yes." Slotnick laughed.

This was one of the few interactions where Slotnick didn't come out on top. He doesn't lose. He's gone on 12-year winning streaks and has been victorious before the Supreme Court of the United States on more than one occasion, a feat accomplished by few attorneys - less than 2 of the 1% of attorneys who have won a case before the Supreme Court of the United States, to be exact. Before joining Buchanan, Slotnick was a founding partner with a leading boutique litigation firm in New York City. For the last 3 years since the new merge, the firm hasn't lost a case. Slotnick added that "good lawyers have the ability to put their total sense into what they are doing. In a big way, law is all about preparation, preparation, preparation. With enough preparation and a little talent, you can practically win everything."

With this caliber of experience, Slotnick has many stories to tell and one of his favorites has to do with art. While representing Steve Wynn, who in many ways brought art to Las Vegas, a little elbow of an accident occurred. Wynn bought "Le Rêve," Picasso's 1932 portrait of his mistress, Marie-Thérese Walter, in 2001 for $48.4 million. However, in 2006 he decided to sell it along with other museum-quality works to friend and hedge-fund tycoon, Steven Cohen, who agreed to pay $149 million, which at the time was the highest known price ever paid for a work of art. But things didn't go as planned and the night before the sale Wynn accidentally put his elbow through the canvas. Wynn ultimately resolved the lawsuit with the insurance company and ended up keeping the painting.

Slotnick has been coming out to the East End for 15 years. He first spent weekends in Westhampton Beach but then decided to move his outings further east to Amagansett where he and his family have lived for 10 years. But in the summertime, Slotnick rarely has to take off his shoes, since a normal trip to the Hamptons consists of a cool, 35-minute helicopter ride from Manhattan. "I've got no fear. It's a very convenient way to live," he said. He plans to stay at least a month in Amagansett but finds that sometimes he's in and out of the East Hampton Airport more often than not. While out here, Slotnick explained that he's most excited about being able to barbeque - something he's rarely able to do in New York City. If he's not barbequing, he's dining with friends at the Meeting House in Amagansett or Nick & Toni's and Babette's in East Hampton. "I can't imagine eating in jeans at some of the restaurants we dine at in Manhattan, but here in the Hamptons, it's casual, comfortable, and the food is pretty good."

Slotnick, a Bronx native, realized early on that he could help underprivileged people through the system. He went to school, opened his own practice and watched the great trial lawyers, such as Edward Bennett Williams, one of his heroes. He observed what the lawyers did in the courtroom and took notice of how important it is to reach out and touch juries. In terms of today's courtrooms, Slotnick said, "The law is changing drastically from year to year. We've become a litigious society." Also on that note, Slotnick made the point that "the framers of the constitution never thought about television cameras or the Internet. They had no clue what an apple was besides something to eat. They didn't know what Microsoft would do to the world either. The law must adjust, and it will."

Lawyers, judges and all those involved in the justice system help to shape and move our society forward. Sociologically speaking, People vs. Geotz was a very important case - it changed the entire law and concept of self-defense. Should somebody who shot another person still have rights? Did society have the right to protect itself? Yes. And that's exactly the type of forward, logical thinking that Slotnick helped present to the jury - he calls it "defending the republic."

Slotnick is an author, lecturer, and instructor for CLE (continuing legal education) courses and frequently appears on national television and radio, Court TV and Fox Network commentary programs. He is married with four children - one became a lawyer and married a lawyer, and another is married to a lawyer. He said, "I've got the best and brightest of children. I've been blessed. I love what I do and hope to do it for a very long time."