Cordrey, Michael E.

Born and raised in Brooklyn, NY, Howard S. Finkelstein earned his BA at Brooklyn College. After serving in the Korean War, he attended Brooklyn Law School with the help of the GI Bill. A graduate of Brooklyn Law School’s class of 1959, Mr. Finkelstein founded his law firm just two years later. What began as one office in the City of Newburgh, NY has grown to more than 16 offices throughout New York and New Jersey and now employs approximately 300 attorneys and legal support professionals.

An innovative business strategist, Mr. Finkelstein attributes his firm's success, in part, to the early integration of technology. In 1983, at the dawn of the digital age for law practice management, he developed a comprehensive computer case management system. Today, this has grown to be an online case management program which allows clients ready access 24 hours a day to their case information through a secure, web-based client resource center.

Howard S. Finkelstein founded his firm on the principles of treating each client with respect and dignity and giving back to the community it serves. Guided by that commitment to service, Finkelstein & Partners takes on extensive pro-bono work. The firm represented several families of victims of the September 11 terrorist attacks and more recently has provided legal assistance to veterans of the armed services.

Finkelstein has served as President of the Greater Newburgh Bar Association, President of the Orange County Bar Association, President of B’nai B’rith, and Governor of the New York State Association of Plaintiffs Trial Lawyers. He has also been on the Board of Directors of the New York State Trial Lawyers Association, the Advisory Board of the Bank of New York, and he served as an arbitrator for the American Arbitration Association.

He has endowed Brooklyn Law School with two scholarships, and has also endowed a scholarship at the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, NY.

In 2010 Mr. Finkelstein received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Orange County Bar Association. That same year he was also named Alumnus of the Year by Brooklyn Law School.

Most recently Mr. Finkelstein was named to Brooklyn Law School’s President’s Advisory Council. As a member of the advisory council, he joins a select group of attorneys who will work for the school’s future growth and development.