Undergraduate
Hofstra University, 1974

Law School
Columbia University, 1977

Shelly Finkelstein is a litigator with more than thirty years of experience. He regularly publishes articles on current legal issues (see listing below of publications). Shelly received his undergraduate degree from Hofstra University, graduating Phi Beta Kappa and magna cum laude, with highest departmental honors. He received his law degree from Columbia University, where he was awarded the Jerome Michael Prize for Excellence in Trial Advocacy. Shelly served as an Assistant District Attorney in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in 1978-1979.

Shelly has served as an arbitrator for the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey since 1985 and for the National Association of Securities Dealers (now part of FINRA) since 1983. He is admitted to the state and federal bars in New Jersey and Pennsylvania, the United States District Courts for the Southern and Eastern Districts of New York and the United States District Court for the Western District of Michigan. In addition, he is admitted to the United States Courts of Appeal for the Third and Ninth Circuits and the United States Supreme Court.

Shelly has performed in various leadership positions as an active member of the American Bar Association's Sections on Litigation, Criminal Justice, and Business Law. Shelly was a Member of Council, Litigation Section, for a three-year term from 2008-2011. He served as Co-Chair of the Section Annual Conference for 2010 (New York). Shelly now serves as Co-Chair of the Section’s Continuing Legal Education Coordination Committee. Shelly was a member of the Litigation Section's Advisory Committee in Fall 2005. In 2007-2008, he served as Co-Director of Substantive Committees, Division V, Litigation Section. Previously he served as Co-Director of Task Forces, Division VII, Litigation Section in 2004-2007; Co-Director of Procedural Committees, Division IV, Litigation Section, in 2003-2004; Co-Chair of the Trial Practice Committee in 2000-2003; Co-Chair of the Pretrial Practice and Discovery Committee in 1997-2000; Co-Editor of the Newsletter of the Pretrial Practice and Discovery Committee in 1996-1997 and Co-Editor of the Newsletter of Bankruptcy and Insolvency Committee in 1993-1996. Shelly appears regularly on program panels at ABA Section and Annual Meetings. He is a member of the ABA's White Collar Crime Committee.

Notable Publications
New Jersey Federal Civil Procedure
Chapter on Civil RICO Statute, 1993-2012 (original chapter and annual supplements)
November, 2011

American Bar Association - Litigation
A Tale of Two Witnesses: The Constitution's Two-Witness Rule and the Talmud Sanhedrin
January, 2010

American Bar Association - Litigation
Admissibility of Electronically Stored Information: It's Still the Same Old Story
May, 2008

American Bar Association - Litigation
Verga v. Mascagni and Sonzogno: An Operatic Litigation in Ten Acts
February, 2008

American Bar Association - Litigation
Spoliation, or Please Don't Leave the Cake Out in the Rain
July, 2006

American Bar Association - Litigation
Shattered Glass: Theodore Roosevelt, Louis Tiffany and Unneighborly Litigation
July, 2006

American Bar Association - Litigation
A Primer on E-vide-n.c.e.
January, 2002

American Bar Association - Litigation
The 'In' Place to Be: Getting That Document Into Evidence
January, 1999

American Bar Association
The Daubert Alembic: Reliability, Relevance and Reality in the Federal Judicial Gatekeeping Function
April, 1997

American Bar Association - Litigation
Expert Disclosure: From Soup to Nuts
Litigation, January, 1997

American Bar Association
Banking Liability in the '90's: Forfeiture Law Developments (Meeting Materials)
January, 1994

American Bar Association
Primer on the Federal Organizational Sentencing Guidelines (Meeting Materials)
August, 1993

American Bar Association
An Overview of the Law Relative to Asset Freezes and Forfeiture as It May Apply to the Professional Advisor (Meeting Materials)
January, 1992

American Bar Association
Professionals as Bank Fraud Targets: From Protected Advisors to Fair Game to Sitting Ducks? (Meeting Materials)
January, 1992

American Bar Association - Practical Litigator
Help Commercial Lenders Avoid Forfeiture Litigation
January, 1992

American Bar Association
Uncle Sam Wants Yours: An Overview of Basic Principles of Forfeiture Law and Innocent-Owner Defenses (Meeting Materials)
January, 1991

American Bar Association
A Shield Against the Storm of Federal and State Forfeiture of Real and Personal Property: Preserving the Innocent Parties Rights under the Bill of Rights and Statutory Law (Meeting Materials)
January, 1991

American Bar Association - Criminal Justice Magazine
Why Should the Innocent Pay? A Proposal to Reimburse the Acquitted
January, 1991