John J. Halton
Associate Attorney

John J. Halton earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in American History and Secondary Education from Hofstra University, Hempstead, New York. Upon graduation, he received special commendation from the Hofstra History Department for his senior thesis entitled, A Decade of Decline, a treatise examining the demise of organized labor during the twenties. He then entered Touro College School of Law and received his Juris Doctor degree in 1990.

While attending law school, Mr. Halton was appointed to supervisor of casualty claims litigation at Liberty Mutual Insurance Company. In that position he was responsible for the investigation and defense of multi-million dollar lawsuits brought against construction companies, automobile policyholders, local municipalities, homeowners and nationally known department stores and manufacturing companies. Working closely with Liberty's legal department, he coordinated defense strategies and regularly attended settlement conferences and trials pending in the Supreme Court throughout  Nassau County and the five boroughs of New York City. He also developed and managed the Company's first arbitration and mediation program designed to promptly evaluate the value of accident cases and negotiate settlements. This broad experience afforded him the opportunity to acquire practical civil litigation and negotiation skills.

In 1991, he accepted an appointment as Assistant District Attorney of Nassau County, New York. Initially assigned to District Court Trial Bureau, he conducted a large number of misdemeanor jury trials including petit larceny, sexual assault, and driving while intoxicated cases. After proving himself as an outstanding trial attorney he was quickly promoted to the position of senior trial attorney in the County Court Felony Trial Bureau. There he was primarily responsible for the Grand Jury indictment and trial of major felony-level cases including attempted murder, assault, sexual assault, robbery, forgery and grand larceny. Here he developed expertise in the use of forensic evidence such as DNA, hair-fiber, blood splatter and handwriting analysis as persuasive litigation tools.

In addition to his County Court trial responsibilities and in recognition of his trial and negotiation skills, Mr. Halton was named special prosecutor in Suffolk County and promoted to Chief of the Forensic Mental Health Unit. In this capacity, he was responsible for litigating issues of criminal responsibility within the context of psychiatric illness. He has been a guest lecturer at the Nassau County Police Academy and has been featured on local and nationally televised programs as an expert in criminal litigation.

In 1998, after a successful career in public service at the Nassau County District Attorney's Office, Mr. Halton associated himself with Sandback, Birnbaum and Michelen.  Consistent with the Firm's reputation for providing exceptional legal representation to both individual and corporate clients, Mr. Halton brought a unique blend of civil and criminal litigation experience resulting in the recovery of appreciable monetary awards for seriously injured clients and numerous criminal acquittals after trial.  He is a well respected member of the legal community with a reputation for treating clients with respect and compassion while zealously representing their legal interests.

Professionally, Mr. Halton is a member of the Suffolk County Bar Association and the Association of Trial Lawyers of America.  He is admitted to practice in all of the courts in New York State and the United States Federal Court for the Eastern and Southern District of New York.  In 2003 he had the privilege of being admitted to practice law before the United States Supreme Court in Washington, D.C.

Mr. Halton is active in numerous fraternal and community organizations including the Knights of Columbus and the Ancient Order of Hibernians.  An avid golfer and long distance runner.  He organizes and participates in charity runs year round and has completed three New York City Marathons. He resides in Suffolk County with his wife and three children.