The Burden of Proof

The Honorable Philip M. Halpern is a United States District Judge of the District Court for the Southern District of New York. Prior to receiving his judicial com- mission, Judge Halpern was the managing partner of Collier Halpern & Newberg, LLP, a practice focusing on commercial litigation, estates, employment  litigation, real estate litigation, and securities litigation, and had more than ninety reported decisions and more than three decades of experience in representing individuals, corporations, and Fortune 500 companies. While in private practice, Judge Halpern was certified by the National Board of Trial Advocacy as a civil   trial advocate and a civil pretrial advocate, and was selected as a Super Lawyer every year since 2008. He has also served as a mediator in U.S. Federal Court for the Southern District of New York and in New York State Supreme Court in the Civil Branch for New York County and in the Ninth Judicial District, Commercial Division, for Westchester County. Judge Halpern also teaches a course entitled The Anatomy of a Trial: The Burden of Proof as an Adjunct Professor at The Elisabeth Haub School of Law at Pace University, dealing exclusively with trial skills. Judge Halpern is a magna cum laude graduate of Fordham University, where he majored in economics and is a graduate of the Elisabeth Haub School of Law  at Pace University School where he obtained his juris doctor. He began his legal career in 1980 as a law clerk to Federal Judge Irving Ben Cooper in the Southern District of New York. In 2002, Mr. Halpern authored a two-volume book for Thompson Publishing Company on civil procedure entitled Civil Pretrial Proceedings in New York. He has also authored several articles for the Westchester Bar Association, New York State Bar Association, American Bar Association, and the Pace Law Review, and in addition to his adjunct professorship, he has lectured for the Office of Court Administration, New York State Bar Association, New York City Bar Association and a number of Bar Associations on a variety of litigation topics. Judge Halpern received the Pace Law School Alumni Leadership Award in 2006, Westchester County Business Journal Pace Setter Award in 2007, the American Diabetes Asso- ciation Father of the Year Award in 2009, and was the Honoree for the Legal Services of the Hudson Valley Equal Access to Justice Award in 2017.