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Law Firm Overview

Barrie L. Goldstein spent the first five years of her career at the Civil Division, United States Department of Justice, through its Honors Program. She defended complex regulatory schemes, including, housing, renegotiation of government contracts, civil rights and two-tier price controls on domestic and imported oil. Ms. Goldstein successfully defended the National Flood Insurance Program against a constitutional challenge brought under the taking clause.

After litigating commericial litigation cases in the private sector with a New York City law firm, Ms. Goldstein joined the Office of the New York Attorney General as Special Litigation Counsel where she served for thirteen years. In this capacity, she handled unique and complex matters involving many diverse issues such as the regulation of prescription drug prices under Medicaid, civil rights, bankruptcy, and intergovernmental disputes. Finally, Ms. Goldstein represented New York in the well-known Farmland Dairy litigation where New York barred this New Jersey milk dealer from the New York market.

Ms. Goldstein re-entered private practice in 1995. She handled a $20 million lawsuit involving control of a Connecticut office building. The matter was first arbitrated, then litigated in New York state court, and finally was resolved before the federal district and bankruptcy court in Connecticut.

For close to five years, Ms. Goldstein served as a Director of Special Litigation at The Legal Aid Society. She acted as lead counsel in the landmark decision involving the constitutionality of removing children from their mothers when the mothers, themselves, were victims of domestic violence. The matter was litigated in the federal trial and appellate court and, ultimately, in the New York State Court of Appeals.

In addition to her admission in the New York and Connecticut bar, Ms. Goldstein is a member of the bar of the United States Supreme Court and several federal district and federal courts of appeals. She has over thirty reported decisions that reflect the depth of her experience.

Ms. Goldstein graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Syracuse University in 1971 and graduated with honors from George Washington Law School in 1974. She has been honored on many occasions throughout her career. She received the Distinguished Service Award from the National Association of Attorneys General, on two occasions, in 1989 and in 1992, for representing 30 states in asbestos litigation. In 1995, she received the "Chairperson Extraordinaire" award, again for her work in asbestos litigation. The New York County Lawyers' Association recognized her exemplary pro bono contributions when it awarded her its "CLE Program Chair Award."

She is an active participant in The Federal Bar Council, as a former co-chair of the organization and a member of its Program Committee. She belongs to the Connecticut Bar Association and the Litchfield County Bar Association. Ms. Goldstein has written on the subject of the inequities in the financing of public education.

Areas of Practice

• Administrative Law
• Bankruptcy Law
• Business & Commercial Law
• Business Organizations
• Family Law
• Custody & Visitation
• Divorce
• Government Agencies & Programs
• Government Contracts
• Litigation & Appeals
• Mergers & Acquisitions
• Real Estate Law
• Land Use & Zoning

Honors and Awards

• Phi Beta Kappa
• Distinguished Service Awarded Presented by National Association of Attorneys General, 1989
• President's Distinguished Service Award Presented by National Association of Attorneys General, 1992
• Recipient "Chairperson Extraordinaire" State Asbestos Committee, 1995
• Recipient for Special Effort and Outstanding Professionalism," New York State Board of Pilots, 1995
• Recipient NYCLA CLE Program Chair Award, 2001

Published Works

• State Constitutional Provisions And Related Legal Matters Dealing With, U.S. Department of Education, 1973
• Toward Abolition of Local Funding in Public Education, Journal Law and Education, 3, 1974
• School Finance, Last Words in Title of First Publication

Representative Cases

• Alexander A. ex rel. Barr v. Novello, 210 F.R.D. 27 (E.D.N.Y. 2002)
• Algonquin SNG v. FEA, 518 F.2d 2d 1051, rev'd, 426 U.S. 548 (D.C. Cir. 1976)
• Ahrens v. Bowen, 646 F. Supp. 1041 (E.D.N.Y. 1986)
• Amoco Oil Co. v. Zarb, 402 F. Supp. 1001 (D.C.C. 1975)
• Battanta v. Bunzl, 239 A.D.2d 167, 657 N.Y.S.2d 637 (1st Dep't 1997)
• Barrett v. U.S., 668 F. Supp. 1201 (S.D.N.Y. 1988)
• Barrett v. U.S., aff'd, 853 F.2d 124 (2nd Cir. 1988)
• City of Boston v. Harris, 461 F. Supp. 1201 (D. Mass. 1978)
• City of Boston v. Harris, 619 F.2d 87 (1st Cir. 1980)
• Farmland Diaries v. Commissioner of New York State Dep't of Agriculture and Markets, 650 F. Supp. 939 (E.D.N.Y. 1987)
• Farmland Diaries v. Commissioner of New York State Dep't of Agriculture and Markets, 847 F.2d 1038 (2nd Cir. 1988)
• Farmland Dairies v. McGuire, 771 F. Supp. 80 (S.D.N.Y. 1991)
• Fields v. Axelrod, 134 A.D.2d 589 (2nd Dep't 1987)
• Glasco v. Hills, 558 F.2d 179 (3rd Cir. 1977)
• Gramercy Spire Tenant's Ass'n v. Harris, 446 F. Supp. 814 (S.D.N.Y. 1997)
• In re ""Baby Girl'' Q., 14 A.D.3d 392, 787 N.Y.S.2d 328 (1st Dep't 2005)
• In re Cosmopolitan Aviation Corp., 763 F.2d 507 (2nd Cir. 1985)
• In re East Coast Airways, Ltd., 146 B.R. 325 (Bank, E.D.N.Y. 1992)
• Interport Pilots Agency, Inc. v. Sammis, 774 F. Supp. 734 (E.D.N.Y. 1991)
• Interport Pilots Agency, Inc. v. Sammis, 14 F.3d 133 (2nd Cir. 1993)
• In re East Coast Airways, Ltd, 146 M.2d 619 (Sup. Ct. N.Y. Co. 1990)
• Interport Pilots Agency, Inc. V. Sammis, 173 A.D.2d 387 (E.D.N.Y. 1991)
• Lawson v. Abrams, 1988 WL 49244 (E.D.N.Y. 1988)
• Krauskopf v. Perales, 863 F.2d 260 (Sup. Ct. N.Y. Co. 1990)
• Lawson v. Abrams, Supp.2d. (E.D.N.Y. 1997)
• Lawson v. Barrett, 166 F.3d 1200 (2d Cir. 1998)
• Lawson v. Abrams, 528 U.S. 823 (1999)
• New York Public Interest Research Group, Inc. V. Governor's Advisory Comm'n To Make Findings and Recommendations About Problems Relating to Liability Ins., 133 M.2d 613 (Sup. Ct. N.Y. 1986)
• New York Public Interest Research Group, Inc. V. Governor's Advisory Comm'n To Make Findings and Recommendations About Problems Relating to Liability Ins., 135 A.D.2d 1149 (1st Dep't 1987)
• New York Public Interest Research Group, Inc. V. Governor's Advisory Comm'n To Make Findings and Recommendations About Problems Relating to Liability Ins., 71 N.Y.2d 964 (1988)
• Nicholson v. Williams, 181 F. Supp.2d 182 (E.D.N.Y. 2001)
• Nicholson v. Williams, 203 F. Supp.2d 153 (1988)
• Nicholson v. Williams, 344 F.3d 154 (2d Cir. 2003)
• Petition of Rosenman & Colin, 752 F. Supp. 178 (S.D.N.Y. 1990)
• National Foods, Inc. V. Rubin, 936 F.2d 656 (2nd Cir. 1991)
• Pharmaceutical Soc. of the State of New York, Inc. v. Cuomo, 774 F. Supp. 826 (S.D.N.Y. 1991)
• Pharmaceutical Soc. of the State of New York, Inc. v. Cuomo, 981 F.2d 632 (2nd Cir. 1992)
• Rodeway Inns of America v. Frank, 541 F.2d 759 (8th Cir. 1976)
• Rodeway Inns of America v. Frank, 430 U.S. 946 (1977)
• Silva v. East Providence Housing Authority, 423 F. Supp. 453 (D.R.I. 1976)
• Silva v. East Providence Housing Authority, 565 F.2d 1217 (1st Cir. 1977)
• State of New York v. FAA, 712 F.2d 806 (2nd Cir. 1983)
• Tasty Baking Co. v. CLC, 529 F.2d 1005 (T.E.C.A. 1975)
• Texas Landowners Rights Ass'n v. Harris, 453 F. Supp. 1025 (D.D.C. 1978)
• Texas Landowners Rights Ass'n v. Harris, 598 F.2d 311 (D.C. Cir. 1977)
• Texas Landowners Rights Ass'n v. Harris, 431 U.S. 915 (1979)
• United States v. Empire Gas Corp., 547 F.2d 1147, 430 U.S. 915 (T.E.C.A. 1977)
• United States v. Fredeman, 547 F.2d 1156, 431 U.S. 915 (1977)
• United States v. State of New York, 522 F. Supp. 255 (N.D.N.Y. 1932)
• United States v. State of New York, 708 F.2d 92 (2d Cir. 1983)
• United States v. State of New York, 466 U.S. 1907 (1984)
• Vann v. Housing Authority of Kansas City, Mo., 87 F.R.D. 642 (W.D. Mo. 1980)
• Walston v. Axelrod, 103 A.D.2d 769 (2nd Dep't 1984)

West Practice Categories

Administrative Law, Bankruptcy Law, Business & Commercial Law, Business Organizations, Family Law, Custody & Visitation, Divorce, Government Agencies & Programs, Government Contracts, Litigation & Appeals, Mergers & Acquisitions, Real Estate Law, Land Use & Zoning