Bruce Barket is a founding partner at Barket, Marion, Epstein & Kearon LLP. He specializes in criminal defense cases representing individuals charged with serious offenses in federal and state courts. Mr. Barket has won numerous acquittals in high-profile cases involving such crimes as securities/mail fraud, murder and racketeering. Through grit, tenacity, and the use of his courtroom skills, he has put together an impressive string of both criminal and civil trial victories that span more than two decades. He is also known for obtaining uncanny results in the appellate and post-judgment process for clients previously convicted. Based upon his energetic and highly skilled re-investigation of these “cold cases,” Mr. Barket has won motions and hearings resulting in the overturning of criminal convictions where prior attorneys had failed and the clients were serving a prison sentence.
In 1995, when New York State enacted the death penalty, Mr. Barket was certified as one of only a handful criminal defense lawyers in the state to represent individuals charged with capital offenses. Since then, he successfully filed a post judgment motion on behalf of Amy Fisher, the Long Island teenager convicted of shooting Mary Jo Buttafuco, and won her release from prison. Mr. Barket successfully defended Antowine Butts who had been charged with first degree murder. Not only did Mr. Barket gain an acquittal for Mr. Butts in his criminal trial, he also won a civil rights suit winning a large financial settlement for Mr. Butts from New York City. In 2002, Mr. Barket joined a team of lawyers representing Martin Tankleff, a Long Island teenager who was wrongfully convicted of killing his parents. Five years later, Mr. Barket and three of his colleagues walked Mr. Tankleff out of prison. Mr. Barket and the rest of “Team Tankleff” convinced then New York State Attorney General Andrew Cuomo to dismiss all of the charges against Mr. Tankleff. After serving more than 18 years in prison on a wrongful conviction, Martin Tankleff was finally exonerated.
The New York State Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers presented Mr. Barket with the prestigious Gideon Award in 2003 and again in 2008 for his outstanding work on behalf of his clients. He was also named Practitioner of the Year in 2005 by the Nassau County Criminal Courts Bar Association. Mr. Barket is a sought-after lecturer at Continuing Legal Education seminars where he teaches various aspects of trial practice and criminal defense to other lawyers. He has spoken at bar associations and law schools on such topics as delivering effective summations, the art of cross examining government witnesses, cross examining law enforcement agents, and confronting and defeating eyewitness testimony. He is also well known for his work and lectures regarding how to attack confessions taken by law enforcement personnel.
Mr. Barket earned his law degree from the University of Connecticut in 1986 and began his career as an Assistant District Attorney in Nassau County that same year. He left government service in 1992 and entered private practice in a firm he helped found. Mr. Barket has worked on behalf of individuals and businesses targeted by the government for criminal investigations or prosecution. Mr. Barket is currently on the Board of Directors for the New York State Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers and is an active member of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers. Mr. Barket was the President of the Nassau County Criminal Courts Bar Association from 2002 to 2003 and the president of the Nassau County Legal Aid Society from 2005 to 2006. He remains a member of the Legal Aid Society’s Board of Directors.
Mr. Barket has been frequently interviewed by the national media, including CNN, USA Today, Court TV, Fox News, The New York Times and PBS’ Frontline.
