We are proud to be the largest full-service law firm with a significant presence on Long Island, working side-by-side with companies and organizations. Many of our attorneys were drawn to the Long Island office because they grew up on “The Island,” and continue to invest in the community where they live and raise their families today.
Tell us about the culture in the Long Island office. What makes NP Long Island special?
Like other NP offices, we are a close-knit group that genuinely enjoys one another’s company and takes a personal and professional interest in our colleagues. Visitors typically remark that we’re a warm and friendly office.
Are there any recent projects/successes out of NP Long Island that you would like to share?
Working late into the night, a team led by Tim Sini successfully stopped a request for a permanent injunction by Nassau County officials looking to halt the annual Summer Jam hip-hop festival, just days before the festival was scheduled to begin. The County had filed to stop the outdoor portion of the festival, citing security concerns in past years. As a result of the hard work of Tim, Bryan Lewis and Neil Diskin, the 29th annual Summer Jam festival commenced as planned on June 4, with no significant security issues.
Tell us about the impact NP Long Island is making across your community?
The Long Island office has a long history of community service—from food, coat, and toy drives, to bake sales for charitable organizations, to cleaning beaches on the Long Island Sound, and planting trees. We also have worked closely with local veterans’ organizations, food banks, and racial equity organizations in our community.
What do you see on the horizon for the Long Island market?
The market for legal services remains uncertain in 2023, but we are seeing signs of improvement as inflation eases and supply chain issues loosen. Industries that have been successful despite headwinds like COVID—food and beverage, healthcare, and life sciences for example—will continue to thrive and produce a steady diet of work for law firms. Local emerging companies will likely see improvement raising money. It may not be the overheated market for legal services that we saw in 2020 and 2021, but I expect a return to business as we enter the fall.
NP Long Island has a few new attorneys. Can you share some information about them and their practices?
Brian Lewis is a general business litigation attorney, capable of handling a wide variety of disputes for clients in equally varied industries. He has secured successful verdicts in jury and bench trials, and at arbitration, and that experience has given him a great perspective on what is important in litigation. He uses this experience—and his willingness to try cases—to his clients’ advantage as he represents them through discovery, motion practice, and trial preparation.
Sami Groff represents a range of clients in the environmental aspects of transactions, regulatory, finance, and litigation matters. Her transactional experience ranges from representing lenders in the environmental aspects of commercial mortgage-backed securities transactions to representing sellers and buyers in transactions involving contaminated properties and the use of environmental insurance as a risk management tool. The litigation side of her practice focuses on representing clients in private disputes regarding environmental liability and in regulatory enforcement action under federal, state, and local laws.
When you’re not at work, where would we find you? Interests outside of the office? Book you’re readying/podcast you’re listening to? Tell us about your favorite place/spot/restaurant in Long Island.
When I’m not at work, you’re likely to find me at one of my son’s soccer games, or in the kitchen or my garden. I’ve tried to develop interests that keep me around the house given how much time I spend away at work. My favorite spot on Long Island is Long Island Sound, either having a bite or drink on the water, or sailing or fishing.
