Attorneys

Jeremy Heisler

Sanford Wittels & Heisler, LLP
950 Third Avenue
10th Floor
New York, NY 10022

Phone: (646) 723-2947
Fax: (646) 723-2948
E-mail: jheisler@nydclaw.com
Web site: http://www.nydclaw.com

Jeremy Heisler is a founding partner of the New York City office of Sanford Wittels & Heisler, LLP. Throughout the twenty-five year span of his legal career, Mr. Heisler has had notable success in class actions and complex multi-party and multi-state litigation, producing nearly $100 million in benefits to class members. In addition, Mr. Heisler has established leading employment-law precedents, including the expansion of the rights of wrongfully discharged employees. Mr. Heisler has also prevailed in novel and groundbreaking litigation against the largest defense law firms in the nation. Mr. Heisler’s participation and guidance assure class members and clients of first rate representation and aggressive advocacy in the finest traditions of the law.

Mr. Heisler is a magna cum laude graduate of Brooklyn Law School. He finished fifth in a class of 314 and served as senior editor of the law review. Following graduation from law school, Mr. Heisler served as an appellate law assistant for the Appellate Term in Manhattan, where he drafted bench memoranda and judicial opinions for the justices on appeals ranging from constitutional law actions and criminal prosecutions to multi-million dollar real estate litigation.

After completing his tenure at the Appellate Term, Mr. Heisler joined Milberg, Weiss, Bershad, Specthrie & Lerach, the nation's preeminent class action law firm. At Milberg, Weiss, Mr. Heisler handled and obtained excellent results for a wide variety of class actions and derivative suits.

In 1991, Mr. Heisler formed his own law firm and litigated a number of landmark cases on behalf of plaintiffs, including Graham v. City of New York , 2 A.D.3d 678 (2d Dept. 2003), a police brutality case which produced a judgment of nearly $500,000 after two trials and five appeals.

Mr. Heisler has worked with Steven L. Wittels from 1997 to 2003 and has successfully prosecuted many significant class actions, including:

  • Nasoff v. G.E. Capital, et al. , Supreme Court, New York County, Index No. 97/605609: settlement approved in 2000 by Judge Ira Gammerman obtaining benefits totaling $19.2 million for over 400,000 consumers who leased vehicles from G.E. Capital and were overcharged on late fees;
  • Greenberger v. Citicorp Vendor Finance, Inc., Superior Court Bergen County, Dkt. No. BER-L-3107-98: settlement approved in 2002 by Judge Jonathan N. Harris obtaining benefits totaling $14.2 million for a class of nearly 500,000 lessees who were subjected to the leasing company’s unfair business practices;
  • Northern Valley E.N.T. v Marlin Leasing, Superior Court Burlington County, Dkt. No. BUR-L-000287-01: settlement approved in May 2003 by Presiding Judge Cynthia E. Covie-Leese obtaining benefits of $2.1 million for a class of approximately 45,000 equipment lessees who had been charged non-disclosed late fees and document fees;
  • The Matthews Group, Inc. v. Studebaker-Worthington , Supreme Court, Nassau County, Index No. 98/024516: settlement approved in 2000 by Honorable Kenneth A. Davis obtaining a $675,000 recovery for approximately 4000 lessees of defendants’ office equipment who were victimized by defendants’ excessive late fees;
  • Targovnik v. First Union Auto Finance, Superior Court Bergen County, Dkt No. BER-L-6465-98: class-wide settlement approved in June 2003 by Presiding Judge Sybil R. Moses obtaining a $4.5 million recovery for approximately 150,000 automobile lessees who had been double-billed on lease payments and charged excessive late fees; and
  • Zukowsky v. Bank of America Auto Finance Corp., United States District Court for the Southern District of New York Court, Civil Action No. 01 Civ. 6313 (CLB): class-wide settlement approved in June 2003 by the Hon. Charles L. Brieant obtaining $400,000 for approximately 3500 automobile lessees charged unjustified fees.

Mr. Heisler’s recent successes build upon a twenty-year history of achieving excellent results in a variety of class actions and derivative suits.

  • Weinreich v. State-Wide Insurance Co., New York Supreme Court (class action on behalf of more than 10,000 claimants which resulted in settlement of over $15 million);
  • Goldman v. Belden , Western District of New York (leading decision on Rule 10b-5 pleading standards in securities fraud action);
  • Michaels v. Ambassador Group, Inc., Eastern District of New York (major case on securities class certification with settlement of $3.5 million);
  • Traub v. Barber , New York Supreme Court (complex class action and shareholders derivative lawsuit with settlement of $5.6 million);
  • Laughlin and Chezar v. The Dime Savings Bank of New York, Supreme Court Kings County (class action on behalf of thousands of plaintiff-home owners and co-op and condominium owners based on illegal mortgage interest overcharges with settlement with a benefit to the class of more than $10 million); and
  • Hasan v. Clevetrust Realty, District Court for the Northern District of Ohio (leading decision on special committee's determination to terminate a derivative suit with settlement in excess of $5 million).

Mr. Heisler has also been involved in breakthrough precedents on employment law and complex civil litigation matters:

  • Murphy v. American Home Products, Inc., New York Court of Appeals (groundbreaking employment litigation with leading national decisions on the employment-at-will doctrine, right to jury-trial and statutes of limitations in age discrimination suits);
  • Metropolitan Transportation Authority v. Bruken Realty Corp., New York Court of Appeals (major decision on the application of the rule against perpetuities in commercial transactions); and
  • American Re-Insurance Co. v. SGB Universal Builders Supply, Inc., New York Supreme Court, New York County (major precedent on "drop-down" principles applicable to excess-insurance disputes).

Mr. Heisler is admitted to the New York State Bar (1980); the Eastern District of New York (1980); the Southern District of New York (1981); and the Second Circuit (1984). He is a member of the American Bar Association and the New York County Lawyers Association. He actively litigates in both New York state and federal courts.

Current Employment Position(s):

  • Founding Partner

Areas Of Practice:

  • Administrative Law
  • Business & Commercial Law
  • Civil Rights
  • Insurance Law
  • Litigation & Appeals
  • Personal Injury -- Plaintiffs
  • Administrative Hearings & Adjudication
  • Consumer Protection
  • Age Discrimination
  • Race Discrimination

Litigation Percentage:

  • 95% of Practice Devoted to Litigation

Bar Admissions:

  • New York, 1980
  • U.S. District Court Eastern District of New York, 1980
  • U.S. District Court Southern District of New York, 1981
  • U.S. Court of Appeals 2nd Circuit, 1984

Education:

  • Brooklyn Law School, Brooklyn, New York
    J.D.
  • Honors: Magna Cum Laude
  • Honors: Fifth in Class of 314
  • Law Review: Senior Editor, Brooklyn Law Review, 1977 - 1979
  • Brooklyn College, Brooklyn, NY
    B.A.
  • Honors: Cum Laude
  • Major: History

Representative Cases:

  • Velez v. Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation (United States District Court, Southern District of New York)
  • Kings Choice v. DHL Airways, Inc., 2003WL 222 P.3d 814 (S.D.N.Y. 2003)
  • Graham v. City of New York, 2 A.D.3d 678 (2d Dept. 2003)
  • Nasoff v. G.E. Capital, et al. (Supreme Court, New York County)
  • Greenberger v. Citicorp Vendor Finance, Inc. (Superior Court Bergen County)
  • Northern Valley E.N.T. v Marlin Leasing (Superior Court Burlington County)
  • The Matthews Group, Inc. v. Studebaker-Worthington (Supreme Court, Nassau County)
  • Targovnik v. First Union Auto Finance (Superior Court Bergen County)
  • Zukowsky v. Bank of America Auto Finance Corp. (United States District Court, Southern District of New York Court)
  • Weinreich v. State-Wide Insurance Co. (New York Supreme Court)
  • Goldman v. Belden (Western District of New York)
  • Michaels v. Ambassador Group, Inc. (Eastern District of New York)
  • Traub v. Barber (New York Supreme Court)
  • Laughlin and Chezar v. The Dime Savings Bank of New York (Supreme Court Kings County)
  • Hasan v. Clevetrust Realty (District Court for the Northern District of Ohio)
  • Murphy v. American Home Products Corp., 58 NY2d 293 (NY Cty. App. 1983)
  • Metropolitan Transportation Authority v. Bruken Realty Corp. (New York Court of Appeals)
  • American Re-Insurance Co. v. SGB Universal Builders Supply, Inc. (New York Supreme Court, New York County)

Professional Associations and Memberships:

  • American Bar Association
    Member
  • New York County Lawyers Association
    Member

Past Employment Positions:

  • Milberg, Weiss, Bershad, Specthrie & Lerach, Associate, 1981 - 1987
  • Killarney, Rein, Brody & Fabiani, 1987 - 1991
  • Appellate Term in Manhattan,Appellate Law Assistant

Birth Information:

  • 1952, New York, New York, United States of America