Clexton, Gary M.

Rick Ostrove is principal trial counsel for the law offices of Leeds Morelli and Brown, P.C. Rick has won unprecedented jury verdicts including a $15M verdict in a sexual harassment case, the highest award to an individual plaintiff in an employment discrimination case in the history of New York State and one of the highest in the Country. During the same year, he obtained a $5.25M award for a client in a workplace retaliation claim. These two verdicts are listed in Verdict Search's Top New York Verdicts of 2009 and he was also listed in that publication in 2008. Rick was honored in 2010 and 2011 by the New York Times Magazine as a "Super Lawyer" which includes "a small percentage of the lawyers in the state who are selected by peer recognition and professional achievement things like experience, verdicts and settlements, transactions, clients, honors and awards."

After a recent trial, United States District Judge Arthur D. Spatt commented that "[t]he lawyers in the case are outstanding professionals. Mr. Ostrove is one of the premiere trial lawyers in the field [of employment law and] has tried many cases before me. Mr. Ostrove is outstanding." Similarly, United States District Judge Joanna Seybert, while describing one of Rick's cases said, "... and that is with all due respect to Mr. Ostrove and his marvelous way with juries and fantastic results."

Although his primary practice areas are employment and civil rights law, Rick has extensive experience handling complex civil litigation, including commercial, estate, and matrimonial litigations. As lead trial counsel in a federal trademark dispute, he guided more than a dozen lawyers from four separate law firms; the action involved over fifty deposed witnesses and approximately twenty expert reports. After closing statements, United States District Judge Leonard D. Wexler stated that Rick's trial performance was "fantastic," "superb," and "excellent." Judge Wexler added in his published post-trial decision, "[t]his case was highly contested and well tried by all counsel. Indeed, the court is hard pressed to recall a trial in which the claims of the parties was so competently and clearly presented by counsel to a jury. The jury was presented with compelling factual and capable expert evidence by both sides."

Rick was lead trial counsel in Quinn v. Nassau County, the first case where a court held that workplace harassment of a municipal employee based on sexual orientation violates the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. In a separate case, Manning v. Nassau County, he used this theory to obtain a $1.5M emotional damage verdict.

Because of his knowledge and expertise, Rick frequently appears as a speaker on issues involving civil rights. He has appeared on The O'Reilly Factor, Court TV, and other media outlets. One of his trial victories that garnered national attention was featured on ABC's 20/20. He has lectured about employment law and trial advocacy at continuing legal education classes hosted by the New York City, Nassau County, and the Suffolk County Bar Associations. He has also lectured at the annual convention of Gender Pac, as well as at the American Conference Institutes' annual conference for Employment Practices Liability Insurance, Eastern-Suffolk BOCES, Chubb Insurance Company, and The Greens' Men's Club.

Rick is the current Chairperson of the Nassau County Bar Association's Labor and Employment Law committee and is a member of the National Employment Lawyers Association ("NELA"). He is admitted to practice in all New York State and Federal Courts as well as the United States Supreme Court, and he has successfully argued a number of appeals to the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit.

Rick joined Leeds Morelli & Brown in 1996 and became a partner in 2000. Rick graduated seventh in his class from Hofstra University School of Law, where he was a member of the Hofstra Law Review. Rick holds a Bachelor's Degree of Science in Business Administration from the University at Albany, where he graduated cum laude.