Ronald W. Meister

Cases

Mr. Meister has successfully litigated cases ranging from a federal criminal antitrust case in Montana to a multi-million-dollar state tax case in New York. He has represented manufacturers, publishers, cable television companies, housing cooperatives, copyright and trademark owners, theater producers, religious organizations, civil liberties organizations, a former Prime Minister of Israel, a former Vice President of the United States, and individuals in the milk, concrete, electrical contracting, news, entertainment, and kosher food industries.

Mr. Meister served as a special counsel to the New York City Bar Association prosecuting the disbarment of President Nixon, and argued a successful challenge to the constitutionality of the military death penalty. As a former Navy JAG officer and judge, he is experienced with the military justice system and has represented clients, prepared Supreme Court briefs, and lectured with respect to military law matters.

He also has extensive experience in alternative dispute resolution, and has served frequently as a court-appointed arbitrator or mediator.

Prior Experience

Meister Leventhal & Slade, Partner

Kornstein Meister & Veisz, Partner

Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison, Associate

United States Navy, Lieutenant, Judge Advocate General's Corps

Articles & Speeches

Professional

'A Visit to Guantanamo Bay, November 2009' (NIMJ Reports from Guantanamo, vol. 2 2009)

'Recent Developments in New York State Tax Law' (Broadband Tax Institute, Annual Reports 2007-2009)

'The Military and the Commander in Chief,' Moderator, Guantanamo Bay Teach-in, Seton Hall Law School, October 2006

'ORPS and VOIP: Substance and Procedure in New York State Communications Tax' (Broadband Tax Institute, November 2005)

'The Supreme Court, Guantanamo Bay and Justice Fix-It,' Berger International Law Speaker Series, Cornell Law School (October 2004)

Contributor to National Institute of Military Justice, 'Military Commission Instructions Sourcebook' (2003) and 'Annotated Guide - Procedures for Trials by Military Commissions of Certain Non-United States Citizens in the War Against Terrorism' (LexisNexis 2002)

'Dead Man's Statute in Copyright Actions: Dead Men Sell No Tales' (with Robert W. Clarida) (Intellectual Property Strategist, December 2001)

Book Reviews

'The Mauthausen Trial' (Washington Independent Review of Books, January, 2012)

'The Guantanamo Lawyers' (New York Law Journal, March 2010)

'A Rumpole Christmas' (New York Law Journal, December 2009)

'Extraordinary Justice: Military Tribunals in Historical and International Context' (New York Law Journal, October 2007)

'Copperheads: The Rise and Fall of Lincoln's Opponents in the North' (New York Law Journal, June 2007)

'Rumpole and the Reign of Terror' (New York Law Journal, February 2007)

'A Godly Life: The Life of William Jennings Bryan' (New York Law Journal, May 2006)

'In Time of War: Hitler's Terrorist Attack on America' (New York Law Journal, October 2005) 

Humorous

'Backward Ran the Sentences - 'til 1600' (Federal Bar Council Quarterly, September/October/November 2011)

'An Ensign for the Coffin' (Yale Law Report, Winter 2007)

'I Saw Shaft Seven Times' (Military Justice Gazette #84, September 2000)

'Danger - Signals Ahead' (New York Law Journal, November 1994)

'The Day the Common Law Stopped' (A.B.A. Journal, January 1985)

'Justice Tempered with Murphy' (New York Law Journal, November 1980)

Nautical
 
'Hornblower's Unlucky Proteges' (C.S. Forester Society Journal 2000)

'Who Was Hornblower's First First Lieutenant?' (The Naval Gazette, October 1996)

'Forester's Lord Nelson' (The Naval Gazette, July 1996)

Honors & Awards

Selected for 'Best Lawyers in New York' and 'Best Lawyers in America' (Current)

Selected for 'New York Super Lawyers' (Current)

Thurgood Marshall Award of the New York City Bar Association for pro bono representation of death row defendants

Beacon of Justice Award of the National Legal Aid and Defender Association (awarded to firm for pro bono litigation on behalf of Guantanamo Bay prisoners)

Human Rights Award of the Southern Center for Human Rights (awarded to firm for pro bono litigation on behalf of Guantanamo Bay prisoners)

Secretary of the Navy Medal for Achievement

Affiliations

Television and radio commentator - National Public Radio, NBC Nightly News, Fox News, Court TV, CBS Radio News

Member, American Law Institute

Executive Committee, Yale Law School Association

Chairman of the Board,  National Institute of Military Justice

Practising Law Institute - Co-Chair, 'Serving Clients Well' symposium

Certified Judge Advocate and Military Judge