Robert L. Begleiter

Robert L. Begleiter is a founding partner of Constantine Cannon and the former Chief of the Civil Division of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York. Mr. Begleiter received a B.A. with honors from the College of the City of New York in 1968, and a J.D. from New York University Law School in 1972. After graduating from law school, Mr. Begleiter worked as an attorney for five years with Brooklyn Legal Services.

Mr. Begleiter specializes in commercial civil litigation. His representations have included:

• Serving as lead counsel for plaintiff in antitrust case arising out of the cable T.V. industry, which settled successfully the day of trial;
• Serving as trial counsel in a matter representing the more than five million merchants who accepted Visa and MasterCard credit and debit cards. After seven years of pre-trial discovery and motions and the impaneling of a jury, the case settled for a record-breaking amount in payments from Visa and MasterCard, along with injunctive relief valued in the tens of billions of dollars;
• Serving as lead counsel for the plaintiff in a case alleging bid-rigging at the United Nations;
• Serving as lead counsel for the plaintiff in an action alleging bribery of a foreign official to secure a government contract;
• Serving as counsel to a former partner of a law firm in a suit against that firm for breaching the covenant of good faith and fair dealing.

In 1977, Mr. Begleiter joined the United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York, becoming Chief of the Civil Division in 1985. During Mr. Begleiter’s nine-year tenure as Chief of the Civil Division, he was the first-line supervisor responsible for management of the Division’s 42 attorneys and all of its litigation — in excess of 1,000 cases a year. As Chief of the Division, he guided its growth and direction from an Office that primarily defended the United States to one in the forefront of affirmative civil law enforcement. The Civil Division became a leader in such areas as asset forfeiture, Civil RICO, and False Claims Act litigation. Mr. Begleiter led the government’s efforts to reform the Long Island carting industry, to remove corruption from several labor locals (including locals at Kennedy Airport), and to oversee the collection of more than $300,000,000 in forfeited assets, False Claims Act recoveries and other types of monetary relief for the United States. Mr. Begleiter defended the United States in the class action brought by Haitian immigrants detained at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. He also received the Department of Justice’s Director’s Award.

From 1996 to 1998, Mr. Begleiter was a pro tem Administrative Law Judge hearing cases arising from the Fulton Fish Market. He has taught as an Adjunct Professor and Instructor at Brooklyn Law School and has lectured before law enforcement agencies and Bar Associations on diverse topics. Mr. Begleiter has been an active member of the Federal Bar Council, served as a director of the Federal Bar Foundation, he has chaired the Magistrate Judge Merit Selection Panel for the Eastern District of New York. Mr. Begleiter has sat on the board of the N.Y. Federal Defenders and is currently on the Board of Brooklyn Legal Services Corporation A.

From 2011-2014, he was a senior partner at Schlam Stone and Dolan. Since October 2014, he is again a partner at Constantine Cannon.

Mr. Begleiter is admitted to practice in:

• New York, 1973
• U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, 1975
• U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York, 1975
• U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, 1975
• U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, 1981
• U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, 2005
• U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin, 2006

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