Brendan Ahern ’07 is a trial attorney with Rappaport, Glass, Levine and Zullo, where he represents plaintiffs in personal injury, medical malpractice, and civil rights cases. He was inspired to become a lawyer by his father, a Hofstra Law graduate who worked for Legal Aid in Suffolk County. “As a young child, I looked up to my father,” Ahern says. “I thought I would follow in his footsteps and go to law school.”
But his plans for law school were delayed when, as he was studying for the LSATs, he got an opportunity to work in Japan teaching English, and later working in New York City for a consulting company doing human resources consulting for major Japanese companies’ subsidiaries. Although he enjoyed working abroad, Ahern was determined to attend school at Hofstra Law. “I thought a law degree would be more constructive. I was interested in international law,” he says. But once again, his plans changed.
While at Hofstra Law, Ahern was introduced to NITA and the trial advocacy program with Professor Stefan Krieger. “That’s when I fell in love with trial advocacy,” he says. He also did a summer internship at the Nassau County District Attorney’s office under Kathleen Rice, and that cemented his interest.
After that internship, Ahern focused on taking practical courses that would help him in a career as a trial lawyer, including skills classes. “One of best things Hofstra Law does is educate its students with skills and trial advocacy programs. The professors, adjuncts, and alumni all join in teaching trial advocacy, and it is an incredibly beneficial model that gets you ready to go into a real courtroom,” Ahern says.
A Career in Public Service
Ahern began working for the Nassau County District Attorney’s Office in August of 2007 in the DWI program in First District Court. “I had a lot of trials in that program,” he says. “Over 10 in the first year.” He was then promoted to the Vehicular Crimes Bureau, where he continued to hone his trial skills. “I was assigned my first homicide case only 14 or 15 months after graduation.”
Next, Ahern became a trial supervisor and then deputy chief of the Vehicular Crime Bureau. He mentored and supervised new assistant district attorneys and helped them to get ready for trials. “It was an incredibly fulfilling experience,” he says. “I was leaning into the skills and NITA training I received at Hofstra Law, and I learned even more at the Nassau DA’s office. We would go to a courtroom and colleagues would sit in the jury box and provide feedback. It was a great model.”
After leaving Nassau DA, Ahern briefly entered private practice, primarily doing criminal defense and some civil litigation work. But in some ways, even his career in private practice continued his service to the general public.
“My first criminal defense jury trial was a home invasion case,” he says. The case was People v. Messiah Booker, which became a landmark case in prosecutorial ethics. Ahern learned that the prosecutor had failed to disclose information, including evidence that identified alternative suspects as potential perpetrators of the crime, that was required by law to be disclosed. “The misconduct was uncovered and the murder charges were all dismissed,” he says.
During his time in private practice, Ahern also got on Suffolk County’s murder panel and performed some pro bono work with veterans. “I handled some important matters and had good success in private practice,” he says. But he returned to public service, this time at the Suffolk County District Attorney’s office, where he supervised many homicide cases. He became the Chief of the Vehicular Crime Bureau, supervising all vehicular crimes involving serious physical injury or death in Suffolk County.
In January of 2020, Ahern was promoted to the deputy division chief of the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office’s Trial Division, overseeing the Vehicular Crimes Bureau, District Court Bureau, Case Advisory and Intake Bureaus, and the Domestic Violence Unit. “I took what I learned in Nassau and brought it to Suffolk,” he says. “That player-coach model was successful and served victims well. I wanted to bring that to Suffolk. I treated the people I supervised as peers. I wouldn’t ask them to do something I wasn’t willing to do myself; I had my own caseload, visited crime scenes, and worked to ensure things were done right so cases wouldn’t be dismissed. I was on call 24/7 to deliver cases for victims.”
Notable Cases and Awards
During his time at the Suffolk District Attorney’s office, Ahern was tapped for special assignments. One such assignment was a 2018 Valentine’s Day incident in which a gang member fleeing police and driving 155 miles per hour killed five people and injured several others. Ahern and his team built a successful case against the perpetrator for both the murder and for narcotics trafficking. Ahern also was a member of the team that headed the Keith Bush reinvestigation. Bush had been convicted in a rape and murder case from the 1970s, and Ahern’s collaborative reinvestigation ultimately proved that Bush did not commit the crime.
In 2019, Ahern prosecuted the case of a drunk driver who drove into a group of boy scouts, killing a 12-year-old. During that trial, Ahern became extremely ill with an autoimmune disorder. “I was hospitalized for the last eight days of the trial,” he says. “I would go to the hospital at night and sign myself out during the day to go back to court. I just wanted to get to the summation, which lasted several hours.” He accomplished that goal but was not present for the verdict. He was in Stony Brook Hospital when he received a call from a colleague advising him of the guilty verdict.
In recognition of his leadership skills, in 2020, Ahern became the District Attorney’s Office’s point person on Covid response and, after George Floyd’s death, was assigned to meetings on police reform issues. He also supervised the Thomas Valva investigation, a case involving the alleged abuse and murder of an 8 year old boy.
In 2019, Ahern received an award for his investigative work in the Bush wrongful conviction and the boy scout case. In January 2020 he received the Robert M. Morgenthau award from the District Attorney Association of the State of New York, and in December of that same year he was recognized as the National Traffic Safety Prosecutor of the Year by the National Association of Prosecuting Coordinators and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
Community Service
In addition to his other duties at the Suffolk County DA, Ahern was a member of the executive management team advising the District Attorney on policy and strategy. He created and participated in the former Suffolk District Attorney’s “Choices and Consequences” program, educating Suffolk County high school students. He also helped educate other law enforcement officials, performing training for New York State prosecutors, the Suffolk County police academy and the Suffolk County DA’s office. He has advocated for legislative fixes for traffic safety at both the state and national level, and has worked with Mothers Against Drunk Driving, both regionally and nationally.
Ahern is a member of several community organizations, including the Sayville Chamber of Commerce. But the cause that may be closest to his heart is his work for the Lt. Michael P. Murphy Navy Seal Museum in West Sayville, honoring Medal of Honor recipient Lieutenant Michael Murphy. “I am extremely proud to be a member of the fundraising team for the museum and in honoring our military heroes,” he says.
New Horizons
In November 2021, Ahern saw a good opportunity to go back to private practice and return to trial work. “I was proud of my professional accomplishments, and I enjoyed working on important matters for the County,” he says. “But it was a good time to make a move for my family, and I wanted to expand my portfolio of cases, develop more knowledge and experience in different areas, and build a practice that could sustain me for the future.”
“I love being in the courtroom and being on trial. I caught that bug at Hofstra Law, where I learned to stand on my feet in the courtroom,”
Ahern joined Rappaport Glass Levine and Zullo, where he looks forward to bringing his trial experience to the personal injury arena. “I want to learn as much from the firm’s partners as possible in the areas of medical malpractice, personal injury, and mass torts, and to bring high-level personal injury cases to deliver justice for victims,” he says.
“I love being in the courtroom and being on trial. I caught that bug at Hofstra Law, where I learned to stand on my feet in the courtroom,” Ahern says. “I was incredibly privileged to work with Stef Krieger in his trial advocacy and evidence programs to give back to the school, and I’d like to continue to do that.” Ahern has a more personal connection to Hofstra Law as well — he met his wife Denise during first week of law school, and they married in May of 2008. They continue to support Hofstra Law, and he has come back to the Law School for many events, helping students with interview prep, and helping with trial advocacy tournaments. “I always wanted to give a little bit back to the school and to Hofstra Law students,” he says. “Now that I am in private practice, I would like to give back even more.”
He was recently appointed to the Hofstra Law Alumni Engagement and Development Committee, was appointed as an Adjunct Professor for the Foundational Lawyering Skills program and will begin teaching at the school in the fall of 2022.
“I have a great love for Hofstra Law. It equipped me with the skills to hit the ground running. Professors and alumni sacrificed time to help me, and now I want to do the same for other students.”
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