Alfred Polizzotto III

I started at this firm in the basement when I was fifteen. 

My father had founded the practice in 1962 on 18th Avenue in Bensonhurst, the same block we’re on today. My first job was clearing out old files and alphabetizing what was left. From there I graduated to the first floor, updating his legal reference books, and on to many other responsibilities for the firm. By the time I got to law school, I was drafting documents back when “cut and paste” meant scissors and glue. So, when I tell clients I know this firm from the ground up, I mean it literally.

I became an attorney in 1990 and had the rare privilege of practicing beside my father for eleven years, until he passed in 2001. He left me one instruction that still runs everything here: always do right by your client. 

I keep my practice skills up to date to make sure I can help my clients with most of their legal needs. When I saw how many people were heading toward retirement, I became an early practitioner of what we now call elder law. This covers things like Medicaid planning, trusts, guardianships, and the more sophisticated estate work that protects a lifetime of savings. 

I also began practicing immigration law, from family-based petitions to defending people against removal. Real estate, estate planning, elder law, and immigration are the heart of what we do, with family law, business law, and civil litigation rounding it out.

The wide range of my experience has become my edge. In the same week I might be across the table from some of the largest law firms in the world on a major commercial deal and then be sitting with a client, helping them with a will, power of attorney, and a health-care proxy. You can drop me into either situation and I’ll be at home in it.

I won’t take a case just to take it. I’ve told many people not to hire me and to go home. Maybe there is nothing worth pursuing, or perhaps what they are hoping for simply can’t be done. I’d rather give you the right advice today than take your fee and disappoint you tomorrow. My name is on the door, and when this firm appears on a case, I want the other side to know it isn’t a bluff.

Today I proudly practice alongside my daughter, Jensen. My father built something worth carrying, I’ve spent my life adding to it, and now the next generation is picking it up. That continuity, the same family, the same block, the same values, for more than sixty years, is exactly what I want every client to feel the moment they walk through the door.

• St. John’s University School of Law
  • J.D. – 1990
  • Honors: cum laude
• Georgetown University, Washington, D.C.
  • B.S. – 1987
  • Major: Accounting

• New York, 1990
• New Jersey, 1990
• U.S. District Court Eastern District of New York, 1991
• U.S. District Court Southern District of New York, 1992
• U.S. District Court District of New Jersey, 1990

• Co-Author: Representing Consumers in New York Real Estate Transactions: Leading Lawyers on Negotiating Property Deals and Overcoming Legal Challenges (Inside the Minds)

• Kersner v. First Federal Savings & Loans, 695 N.Y.S.2d 369, 1999, N.Y.A.D. 2 Dept., 1999211885
• 527 Smith Street Brooklyn Corporation v. Bayside Fuel Oil Depot Corporation, 262 A.D.2d 278, 1999, N.Y.A.D. 2 Dept., 1999136889
• Ferrara Bakery & Cafe, Inc. v. Colavita Pasta & Olive Corp., 1999 WL 135234, 1999, S.D.N.Y., 1999078651
• Genovese v. Genovese, 243 A.D.2d 679, 663 N.Y.S.2d 294, 1997, N.Y.A.D. 2 Dept., 1997220874
• Mottola v. Mottola, 242 A.D.2d 264, 661 N.Y.S.2d 537, 1997, N.Y.A.D. 2 Dept., 1997166804

• Bayside Fuel Oil Depot Corporation
• Colavita Pasta & Olive Oil Corporation
• Plaza Auto Mall
• Independence Community Bank

• American Bar Association, Litigation Section, 1990 to Present
• National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys, 1991 to Present
• New York State Bar Association, Elder Law Section, 1990 to Present
• New York State Bar Association, Trusts & Estates Section, 1990 to Present
• New York State Bar Association, Real Property Section, 1990 to Present
• Brooklyn Bar Association, Elder Law Committee, 1990 to Present
• New Jersey State Bar Association, 1990 to Present

• Financial Planner, Financial Planners Board of Standards in Denver, Colorado, 1997
• Life Insurance Broker, New York
• NASD Series 7, 63

• Attorney