About the Firm
Victor P. Muskin provides client service in a broad spectrum of domestic and international activity, a reasonable cost, and at a personalized level not often provided by large firms.
A lawyer with extensive experience in litigation, international law and trusts and estates, Victor P. Muskin gained his experience through two well-known New York law firms where he worked as associate and partner, and a major government law office. He brings his experience of large firm practice to the small firm environment where he now practices as counsel at Scheichet & Davis, P.C. as well as independently.
Victor has served as Chair of the European Affairs Committee of the New York City Bar Association, is a Director of the French-American Bar Association’s New York Chapter and is a member of the International Law Section of the New York State Bar Association and the American Foreign Law Association. He is listed in Who�s Who in American Law. He is a graduate of Oberlin College and New York University Law School, and served in Tanzania in the Peace Corps.
United States Practice
Along with his colleagues, Victor handles complex cases for clients ranging from large corporations and financial institutions to family-owned companies. He has represented both investors and brokers in securities cases. He has represented real estate developers in transactional work as well as cases involving municipal land use regulations and questions of partnership law. He has represented employees and employers in employment relations cases, and is experienced in Surrogate's Court practice involving trust and estate issues. He has handled trademark prosecutions and infringement litigation. He has tried cases in state and federal courts all over the country, in stock exchange and other arbitration forums, and before the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board of the United States Patent and Trademark Office. He is a member of the New York Bar and admitted to practice in the U.S. District Courts of the Southern and Eastern Districts of New York, before the U.S. Courts of Appeals for the Second, Third, Ninth and Tenth Circuits and the United States Supreme Court. He is a member of the panel of neutral mediators of the Commercial Division of the New York Supreme Court for New York County, which frequently calls on him to seek the settlement of difficult cases. He has earned Martindale-Hubbell's "pre-eminent a v" rating, the highest it offers.
Victor has corresponding relationships with law firms in major cities across the United States. This enables him to keep a "hands on" control of problems requiring local attention in distant places. He has also established relationships with other New York law offices offering a variety of specializations, so that problems requiring a particular expertise are solved jointly rather than merely referred to another lawyer lacking a full perspective of the client's needs.
International Practice
Victor's international practice concentrates in representing and counseling European companies and individuals of substance in their U.S. activities. He has worked closely for many years with law firms in France and elsewhere abroad, concentrating in multinational litigation problems and the establishment of European business enterprises in the U.S. Some of the areas of law involved in these projects have been trusts and estates, trademarks, distributorship law, commercial law, oil and gas law, real estate and international tax law.
Fluent in French, he has appeared in court in France and has lectured in France on the U.S. litigation process and in New York on cross-border discovery conflicts. He offers bilingual support to French-speaking clients and their counsel. This confers an important advantage in cases requiring extensive witness interviews and document review.
Victor also works with counsel in other major European cities, in particular with one of the oldest law firms in Moscow, by whom he is regularly consulted on international estate and commercial cases involving the interaction of American and Russian law. Client inquiries as to Russian matters are welcomed.
Philosophy
Our mission is to find solutions to clients' problems. We do not subscribe to the Hollywood cliché that litigators are hired gladiators. Litigation is not a sport. It is a deadly serious, and unfortunately expensive, undertaking. We try to exhaust all means short of litigation before filing in court. Even then, most cases lead to settlement and compromise before reaching final judgment.
We assess each problem and develop a solution that best fits the client's needs and objectives. Effective counseling, success in court and effective cost control all depend upon the client being fully involved at every stage of every matter. We develop a coordinated strategic plan for every matter, and every step to advance that plan is taken on a joint basis. Wherever the client may be, he or she is kept fully informed and no call ever goes unanswered.
The unusual depth of Victor's resources enables him to approach every problem from a global perspective, synthesizing comparative legal and financial expertise obtained directly from colleagues in the countries concerned, who are experienced in each required legal domain, are known to each other and are accustomed to working together. This level of service is crucial to the success of international business in an era no longer constrained by national frontiers. Historically, it has been offered only by the largest multinational law firms, and at far greater expense.
Fee Structure
Fees are normally charged on an hourly basis, determined according to the task performed and the nature of the project, billed monthly. Under some circumstances, a reduced hourly rate combined with a partial contingency fee may be considered. Due to the intensive activity at the start-up phase of most projects, an advance retainer in an agreed amount is usually required.