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Michael P. Beys, a partner of Beys Liston & Mobargha LLP, is an experienced trial attorney focusing his practice primarily on federal criminal defense, complex commercial litigation and real estate litigation. From 2000 to 2005, he served as a federal prosecutor in the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York where he was the lead counsel in over 100 federal prosecutions and investigations involving racketeering, fraud, tax evasion, money laundering, narcotics trafficking, violent crimes and terrorism. In his career there, he tried 15 federal jury trials to verdict, including a complex multi-defendant racketeering case, a capital murder trial and the ensuing sentencing phase. He conducted countless evidentiary hearings and argued several appeals before the Second Circuit Court of Appeals.
Prior to serving as an Assistant U.S. Attorney, Mr. Beys worked as a law clerk to the Honorable Naomi Reice Buchwald of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York. During law school, he held short-term clerkships for two other judges on that Court, the Honorable Barbara S. Jones and the Honorable Sidney H. Stein.
Aside from the law, Mr. Beys also has an extensive background as a small business entrepreneur in multiple industries, giving him a unique perspective on a client’s needs and expectations. He began his business career as a co-owner and manager of Eastern Technical Enterprises, his family’s ship repair business, which had shipyards in Brooklyn, New York and Norfolk, Virginia. In 1999 he founded Cobblestone Ventures, Inc., a real-estate development business which has since invested in, or actively managed, over 200,000 square feet of conversion and new construction projects in downtown Manhattan. In 2005, he co-founded Aristone Capital, a real estate investment firm which provided over $35MM in mezzanine financing to New York area real estate developers. He has served as in-house counsel to these businesses and their affiliates, supervising or actively handling litigation on a wide variety of commercial disputes and real estate matters.
He is currently a director of Secure Property Development & Investment, PLC, a publicly-listed (London’s AIM) owner and operator of commercial and industrial properties in Eastern Europe. He currently serves and has served on the boards of several private companies, in a variety of industries.
Mr. Beys received a B.A. with honors from Harvard College, where he served as president of the student government, and received a J.D. with honors from Columbia Law School. From 2007 through 2012 he served as a Trustee and Legal Counsel for the Greek Orthodox Cathedral of the Holy Trinity. From 2012 to 2014 he served as President of the Columbia Law School Alumni Association, having served as a Director since 2008. He is currently a Trustee of the Browning School in New York City and was previously the President of the school’s Alumni Association.