Benjamin Brafman reflects on Robert Morgenthau

By Michael Orbach

Issue of April 24, 2009 / 30 Nissan 5769

The race is on to succeed Manhattan District Attorney Robert Morgenthau, and the winner will be lucky to hold the job for a fraction of the time that Morgenthau has been in office. He was first elected in 1974.

Attorney Ben Brafman, who worked for Morgenthau for four years beginning in 1976, recently reflected on his old boss who decided to not seek a tenth term.

“I gave him moments of nachas in my professional career,” Brafman said, “even when my work resulted in his high profile defeats.”

Brafman, a resident of Lawrence and the recipient of nearly every award for attorneys in the criminal bar, is arguably the best criminal defense attorney in New York. However, like many, his career really only began after serving under Morgenthau as a junior D.A.

Brafman worked in the Rackets Bureau trying white-collar criminals, tackling police corruption in the Ninth Precinct and even prosecuting cases against organized crime. According to Brafman, the only sign of aging he’s detected in the 89-year-old district attorney is that in their last meeting Morgenthau was wearing a tie he owned when Brafman served under him.

“People see him as an old man and I always viewed him as a senior citizen when I went to work for him 35 years ago,” Brafman said, laughing over the phone.

The greatest things Brafman said he learned from Morgenthau is that there is no substitute for hard work and that total preparation is an absolute requirement to be a good trial lawyer. However, it was Morgenthau’s integrity that affected him most.

“Your integrity was more important than any other quality as a prosecutor or a criminal defense lawyer,” Brafman explained. “That’s what I think part of Bob’s strength was: he called it as he saw it, without worrying what the newspapers thought.”

In 1980 Brafman left the Manhattan District Attorney’s office and borrowed $15,000 from his maternal grandfather to open his own practice, Brafman and Associates.