Brian brings nearly twenty-five years of experience as a commercial litigator, regulatory lawyer, and in-house counsel to his role as an attorney and strategic advisor to businesses and individuals in the private fund space and beyond. Clients call on him when the stakes extend well beyond the courtroom, knowing Brian will respond with uncommon energy and a deep commitment to helping them navigate the legal exposure, regulatory scrutiny, reputational risks, and business challenges they face.
Brian spent two decades litigating at leading law firms before co-founding Kohn Dumain LLP. Today, he represents investment managers, fund sponsors, hedge funds, private equity funds, and institutional investors, as well as public and privately held companies and individuals, on a wide range of legal and business matters, including complex commercial disputes and regulatory matters. He litigates cases involving private placements, registered direct offerings, and other financing transactions; partnership disputes and other business divorces; financial services and products; securities fraud; corporate governance and control contests; fraudulent transfers and other insolvency-related claims; complex contractual disputes; and common law fraud, breach of fiduciary duty, and other business torts. He regularly helps clients navigate government inquiries, including SEC and DOJ investigations.
Brian also advises clients on the legal aspects of significant business issues, helping them evaluate their options, exercise informed judgment, and structure and document transactions to achieve their commercial objectives while avoiding future disputes and unanticipated consequences.
Brian stepped away from private practice to serve for three years as the senior legal officer of a registered investment adviser with more than $2 billion in assets under management across multiple hedge funds. In that role, he advised the firm’s leadership on litigation, regulatory, transactional, and compliance matters; directed the resolution of significant disputes; and negotiated the terms of complex debt and equity investment transactions. Brian’s time in-house deepened his understanding of how clients approach consequential decisions and the role outside counsel should play in helping them chart the best available path forward.
While always prepared to enforce a client’s rights in court, Brian sees the bigger picture. He approaches matters holistically, developing creative and pragmatic strategies designed to achieve his clients’ business objectives while minimizing the cost, stress, and disruption that significant legal matters often create. He stays attuned to how individual decisions fit within a client’s broader objectives, how they may affect other aspects of the business, and how a matter is likely to unfold. Brian helps clients identify and address risks before they develop into problems.
Brian gets to know his clients. He builds lasting relationships with them, allowing him to understand their broader motivations and objectives, and tailor his advice and strategy to what they are ultimately seeking to accomplish. Brian is always candid, even when that means delivering bad news or advising against a client’s planned course of action.
Brian’s approach to the practice of law has been shaped by the path he took to get there. Before law school, Brian was an award-winning print journalist and a professional actor. Journalism taught him the importance of earning trust, asking the right questions, and communicating with clarity and precision. Acting taught him how to command a room, connect with an audience, and remain calm under pressure. Those skills remain central to his practice today as a litigator and advisor.
Prior Associations
Cyrulnik Fattaruso LLP
Partner
Armistice Capital, LLC
General Counsel and Chief Compliance Officer
Schulte Roth & Zabel LLP
Special Counsel
Boies Schiller Flexner LLP
Associate
Education
Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law, J.D., cum laude
• Cardozo Law Review, Managing Editor
• New York State Bar Association Law Student Legal Ethics Award
• Jacob Burns Medal
• Innocence Project, Legal Intern
Ithaca College, B.A.
Admissions
New York
U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York
U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit
