Beth A. Bourassa

Brian Goldstein focuses his practice in the areas of executive compensation, employee benefits, and ERISA fiduciary counseling. He is a founding member of the firm’s ESOP class action practice. For over 30 years, Brian has assisted clients with the design and implementation of all types of pension, profit sharing, 401(k), employee stock ownership, stock-based compensation, nonqualified deferred compensation and tax-sheltered annuity plans. His practice has a particular concentration on ...

Javid Afzali, based in Albany, New York at Harris Beach Murtha, provides comprehensive legal guidance in Commercial Litigation to both domestic and international businesses. His practice covers a wide range of business, real estate, land use, and environmental matters. Javid collaborates directly with company leaders and in-house counsel to navigate corporate governance, project development, and dispute resolution related to corporate and commercial matters, as well as business separations. E...

Myles Fischer, a dedicated member of the Trusts and Estates practice group at Harris Beach Murtha, brings a depth of knowledge in estate planning, administration, and tax matters across New York and Florida. His services include estate, gift, and generation-skipping transfer tax planning, asset protection, vacation home planning, and complex strategies such as grantor-retained interest trusts and split-interest charitable trusts. Myles collaborates with high net-worth families, ensuring effec...

David Ross is a top attorney recognized by Best Lawyers in the practice area(s) of Health Care Law. David, who practices law in Albany, New York, has been recognized since 2025. This recognition is based on an exhaustive peer-review survey, reflecting the high esteem in which David is held by other top lawyers in the same geographic and legal practice area.

Mathew serves as the managing partner for Harris Beach Murtha's offices located in Albany and Saratoga in New York's Capital Region. As a co-leader of the Financial Institutions Industry Team, Mathew assists clients in navigating complicated matters related to commercial real estate and lending. Collaborating with a diverse range of financial institutions, he contributes valuable insights into commercial lending and related real estate transactions. In addition to advising on transactions rel...

Benjamin Friedman is a top attorney recognized by Best Lawyers in the practice area(s) of Nonprofit / Charities Law. Benjamin, who practices law in Albany, New York, has been recognized since 2026. This recognition is based on an exhaustive peer-review survey, reflecting the high esteem in which Benjamin is held by other top lawyers in the same geographic and legal practice area.

Michael J. Grygiel focuses his practice on national media law, with an emphasis on defending news and entertainment organizations from news-gathering and publication-related claims, including defamation, copyright infringement and invasion of privacy matters. He also represents media companies and other clients in complex Lanham Act, trade secret and Internet-related litigation and counseling. Michael has served as lead trial counsel to media and other clients in bet-the-company litigation, i...

Elliot Hallak brings extensive experience in handling a diverse array of legal matters, with a focus on commercial and insurance litigation. Based in Albany, New York, Elliot is part of the Harris Beach Murtha team, where he works on significant cases that cover areas such as banking disputes, life insurance issues, interpleader actions, and class-action lawsuits. His practice also involves resolving complex business conflicts, shareholder oppression cases, and property valuation disputes. In...

Jeffrey M. Pohl is a top attorney recognized by Best Lawyers in the practice area(s) of Municipal Law and Public Finance Law. Jeffrey M., who practices law in Albany, New York, has been recognized since 2025. This recognition is based on an exhaustive peer-review survey, reflecting the high esteem in which Jeffrey M. is held by other top lawyers in the same geographic and legal practice area.

Peter is a partner in our Business Law department, concentrating on corporate bankruptcy cases, commercial law and banking law. With over 40 years of experience representing banks and secured lenders, Peter regularly appears in bankruptcy court for the Northern District of New York. In addition to his creditors’ rights practice, he has represented several Chapter 11 debtors and has successfully confirmed a number of Chapter 11 reorganization cases. Peter’s clients include banks, l...