Bruce A. Barket is a founding partner at Barket Epstein Kearon Aldea & LoTurco, a boutique litigation firm with locations in Garden City, Huntington and Manhattan. He graduated from the University of Connecticut School of Law in 1986 and has been a trial attorney ever since, first as a prosecutor for 5 years and then as a defense lawyer for nearly 30 years. He specializes in criminal defense matters representing individuals charged with serious crimes in both Federal and State court and representing individuals who have been wrongly arrested or convicted or who suffered injuries as a result of police misconduct or the use of excessive force.
Mr. Barket is past president of the Nassau County Criminal Courts Bar Association and past board member of the New York State Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (NYSACDL). He is also a past president of the Nassau County Legal Aid Society and has been a board member since 2000. He was twice given the “Gideon Award” by the NYSACDL in 2003 and 2008. He was recognized in 2005 as the “Practitioner of The Year” in Nassau County by the Criminal Courts Bar Association.
Bruce Barket has been selected as the 2020 recipient of the Charles F. Crimi Memorial Award by the New York State Bar Association’s Criminal Justice Section. The award is presented in recognition of the professional career of a defense lawyer in private practice that embodies the highest ideals of the Criminal Justice Section.
Mr. Barket’s experience in handling high profile cases is extensive. He successfully led the team which exonerated Cal Harris of killing his wife, after Mr. Harris was twice convicted of the crime. Mr. Barket was one of the lead lawyers who worked to overturn the double murder conviction and secured the release from prison of Martin Tankleff, who was wrongfully convicted of killing his parents. Mr. Tankleff, who is now awaiting admission to the bar, spent 18 years in prison before being exonerated. Mr. Barket and the Tankleff legal team then secured a $3.4 million dollar settlement against New York State on Mr. Tankleff’s behalf and a $10 million dollar settlement in federal court against the police department who arrested him. Mr. Barket’s long list of successes also includes securing the release of Amy Fisher, the Long Island teenager convicted of shooting the wife of her lover.
More recently, Mr. Barket represented Christopher Loeb who was beaten by the chief of police in Suffolk County following Mr. Loeb’s arrest for breaking into cars. Through the efforts of Mr. Barket and his firm, Mr. Loeb’s conviction was vacated and the charges against him were dismissed and he was then awarded in excess of $1.5m dollars in federal court. The chief of police was indicted, convicted and sent to prison. Further, the county's District Attorney was convicted of obstruction of justice for trying to cover up the assault.
Mr. Barket is equally as proud of the work he has done on behalf of clients who did not garner national media attention. Over the past 30 years, Mr. Barket has secured acquittals in a long list of cases for clients charged with everything from securities and mail fraud to murder and racketeering in both the state and federal courts.
