Blaine Bortnick

Position
Partner
Office

New York

Awards
  • “Super Lawyers” New York metro area 2007-present
  • Martindale–Hubbell AV rating 2001-present
Bar Admissions

New York, District of Columbia, Virginia

Court Admissions
  • U.S. District Court, Southern, Eastern and Northern Districts of New York
  • U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Virginia
  • U.S. District Court, District of Columbia
  • U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Michigan
  • U.S. Courts of Appeals, Second and Fourth Circuits
  • United States Supreme Court
Telephone Number

(646) 970-4770

Education
  • B.A. Duke University, 1986
  • J.D. Emory University School of Law, 1989
  • LL.M. New York University School of Law, 1990
Email

bbortnick@rascoklock.com

Fax

305-675-7944

Practice Areas
  • Employment
  • Commercial Litigation, Arbitration
  • Securities Brokerage Disputes
  • FINRA Regulatory Investigations (Individuals)
  • Business Counseling
Awards

Rated by Super Lawyers

BLAINE H. BORTNICK is the managing partner of Rasco Klock’s New York City office.  He represents both individuals and companies in a wide range of employment, securities and complex commercial litigation matters in federal and state courts, as well as before arbitration tribunals throughout the United States and abroad. Mr. Bortnick has counseled senior executives and companies in a variety of industries, including financial services, medical, hospitality, recruitment, advertising, agriculture, and oil and gas. In the financial services industry, his expertise and in-depth knowledge of the intricacies of non- competition issues and compensation arrangements unique to that field and has made him a highly sought after counsel in negotiating contracts and exit packages, as well as related litigation.

Mr. Bortnick also has an active and diverse commercial litigation practice. His clients have included both public and private companies in matters ranging from complex contract disputes to international bank and securities fraud cases.

Additionally, Mr. Bortnick advises companies and partnerships, including broker-dealers, on issues of governance, employment and compensation, intellectual property, investigatory and general business matters. Mr. Bortnick also advises clients in internal investigations.

As a former adjunct Professor of Law at Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law, where he taught for 12 years, Mr. Bortnick’s expertise is often sought by out–of–state attorneys.

 

REPRESENTATIVE EXPERIENCE

  • Successfully represented hundreds of clients nationally and abroad in federal and state courts, as well as arbitration.
  • Negotiated hundreds of employment contracts and exit agreements, including complex partnership and LLC employment arrangements.
  • Obtained a FINRA arbitration award of $2.5 million and expungement of the Form U-5 on behalf of a financial advisor.
  • Won a jury verdict of over $6 million in an age in discrimination employment case.
  • Obtained a very substantial arbitration award for a client in a commercial dispute against a private credit fund.
  • Obtained an award in excess of $4.5 million in a landmark California case on behalf of a securities industry trader for breach of contract and wrongful termination, including the expungement of the trader’s Form U-5.
  • Obtained a FINRA arbitration award of over $2.4 million and expungement of the Form U-5 on behalf of a derivatives trader.
  • Obtained seven figure international arbitration award for a London-based trader with respect to forfeited deferred compensation.
  • Successfully represented dozens of clients in disputes concerning brokerage accounts.
  • Regularly represents clients in FINRA regulatory investigations.
  • Obtained many monetarily significant FINRA arbitration awards and expungements of Forms U-5.
  • Represents a foreign defendant in an alleged $3 billion international securities fraud litigation.
  • Obtained both a significant judgment for sex discrimination as well as the second highest award for emotional distress damages in an employment case in New York on behalf of an airline employee.
  • Obtained an international arbitration award of $4.7 million on behalf of the largest privately owned oil wholesaling company in the United States against a foreign supplier.
  • Part of an international team of lawyers who obtained a $79 million judgment on behalf of a foreign bank in an international fraud case. The matter was litigated in the Dominican Republic, Florida, Colorado and New York. Mr. Bortnick was in charge of all aspects of the New York cases, including successfully restraining in excess of $10 million of the defendants’ assets prior to judgment.
  • Co-represented a foreign government consultant in an international arbitration in the security and defense industry.
  • Part of a trial team that successfully defended a Maryland bank against a multi–million dollar fee claim related to the sale and 20–year leaseback of a Boeing 747.

Activities

  • New York State Bar Association, Committee on Civil Practice Law and Rules, 2007–present
  • Adjunct Professor of Law (New York State procedural law), Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law, 2002–2013
  • Keynote Speaker, Legal Risk Management Conference, Skopje, Macedonia: Managing Legal Risks in Labor Matters in the United States, October 2013
  • Active member of the Alliance of Business Lawyers, an organization with attorneys in North and South America, Europe, and Asia.

 

 

Skip to content