Egan & Golden helps client go GREEN

Egan & Golden, LLP partner Brian T. Egan, Esq. was pleased to join firm client John Tortorella, CEO of the J. Tortorella Group (JTG), in the inauguration of the largest solar electric system on the East End of Long Island. In total, JTG's planned 150kW solar arrays will produce 165,000kWh of electricity annually, saving $36,300 in electricity bills, 950lbs of SO2; 320 lbs of NoX; 200,500lbs of Co2; and 10,911 gallons of gasoline. These savings are equal to taking 403 cars off the road and planting 175 acres of trees annually - the visual equivalent of driving past seven miles of preserved Long Island Pine Barrens along Sunrise Highway -- and lighting the Montauk Lighthouse for 100 years. The solar array was installed by Sun Stream USA, LLC, the leading renewable energy company on Long Island. For more coverage of the event, click HERE.

Golden, Wishod named “Long Island’s Top Legal Eagles”

Egan & Golden, LLP partner Karen Golden, Esq. and senior counsel Eugene L. Wishod, Esq. were both named by Long Island Pulse magazine as “Long Island’s 2010 Top Legal Eagles”. The ratings are driven by the confidential opinions of lawyers and members of the judiciary. Golden was named in the Litigation category. Wishod was named in the Real Estate category. Egan & Golden, LLP, with offices in Patchogue and Wainscott, NY is a full service law firm that represents corporations and individuals throughout the Long Island and metropolitan area.

Firm hosts artist for 3rd Annual Walking Art Tour

Egan & Golden, LLP is once again pleased to support and host a featured artist in the 3rd Annual Patchogue Arts Council Walking Art Tour. The hosted artist this year is Dana Flaherty who has her photography displayed before the historic iron gates in the firm's reception lobby. The tour will run throughout the Fall and is hosted by businesses in Patchogue, Blue Point-Bayport and Sayville.Click here for a map of the walking tour

Egan Testifies in Support of Small Business at NYS Assembly Hearing

Egan & Golden, LLP partner Brian T. Egan, Esq. testified at a hearing of the New York State Assembly Minority Task Force on Small Business in New York State. The Task Force hearing was organized by Assemblyman Dean Murray (R-East Patchogue) and members of the Assembly Minority. The Task Force seeks to ensure a thriving small business community of Long island by cutting bureaucratic “red tape” and easing the hefty tax burden on small business that destroys economic growth. Mr. Egan testified about the experiences business clients have had with regulatory and agency inefficiencies and its effect on business. “Without real and substantial reforms, New York will continue to force businesses to close or relocate and jobs will evaporate from Long Island”, Egan testified. “New York State and it regulatory and taxing burdens is strangling business owners and making Long Island non-competitive”.

Egan & Golden partner appointed to Grievance Committee

Egan & Golden, LLP partner Brian T. Egan, Esq. has been appointed by the Board of Directors of the Suffolk County Bar Association to serve as a member of the Association's Grievance Committee for the 2010-2011 term.  The Grievance Committee hears and resolves complaints about attorneys' conduct and professionalism. Egan stated, "It is an honor to have been appointed by the Board to this important committee. The integrity of our profession must be maintained to preserve the trust our citizens have reposed in the rule of law."

Egan & Golden attorneys judge 2010 Youth Court Mock Trial Competition

Egan & Golden attorneys, Erin B. Kowtna and Michael P. Gippetti, served as judges of the 8th Annual Mock Trial Competition held on March 4, 2010. The competition judged high school students representing five area Youth Court teams: Brookhaven, East Hampton, Southampton, Huntington and Riverhead towns in two separate Mock Trials.

Ms. Kowtna and Mr. Gippetti judged the students on Opening Statements, Direct Examination and Cross Examination presented by the students in two separate mock trials Ms. Kowtna has been actively involved in the Southampton Youth Court program since September 2008. Ms. Kowtna along with the program director, Ms. Karen Hurst, and fellow attorney, Mr. Kevin Gilvary, instruct the students on the skills necessary for a trial attorney: developing an overall theme stated clearly in opening and closing statements, the art of direct and cross examination of witnesses and recommending a suitable disposition to the jury.

Youth Court is a voluntary alternative to the criminal justice system for young people who have committed a non-violent crime or offense. The youth pleads guilty and appears for a sentence hearing before a jury of his or her peers. The goal of the Youth Court program is Restorative Justice, to remedy the harm caused by the youth’s actions and to provide dispositions aimed at providing the youth community based involvement to reduce further incidence and prevent the escalation of such behavior. The ultimate goal is to have the offender become a viable member of the community.

Ms. Kowtna, who did not judge the Southampton Youth Court members due to her involvement in the program, is pleased to announce that the Southampton Youth Court received 1st Place in the Competition for the Second Year in a row. Ms. Kowtna stated, “The students’ victory is the direct result of their hard work and dedication each week to this important program and the efforts and guidance of the program director, Ms. Karen Hurst.”

Firm Scores Double Header Legal Fee Victory for Client

 Egan & Golden, LLP scored two winning decisions in the same action in two different courts within two days of each other.


In post-judgment proceedings in Rubio v. Rubio (Suffolk County, Supreme Court), firm partner Karen Golden and associate Erin Kowtna represented the defendant-wife in her appeal in the Appellate Division, Second Department to reverse a lower court’s denial of an award of attorney’s fees incurred during rigorous enforcement of her equitable distribution and maintenance awards. In a victorious opinion for the firm's client, on February 9, 2010, the Appellate Division ruled that the parties’ settlement agreement expressly provided for the award of attorneys’ fees in the event of default, and that the plaintiff failed to challenge defendant-wife’s claim for fees. The lower court had denied the award, claiming that defendant-wife had not submitted adequate proof of fees incurred. The appellate court disagreed and reversed, granting defendant-wife a money judgment in the amount of $13,921.00. A link to the decision is here.

Two days later, February 11, 2010, in separate, further post-judgment enforcement proceedings, Justice Marion McNulty (Supreme Court, Suffolk County) granted defendant-wife a new money judgment in the amount of $154,269.30, this time including attorneys’ fees of $18,698.66 for such enforcement.