Meet
Byron A. Quintanilla
Byron was born and raised in Long Island, New York. He is a proud descendant of two working-class Guatemalan parents who arrived in the United States in the 1980s and went through the process of becoming legal United States citizens, wanting a better life for their family. Byron witnessed first-hand how complicated the immigration process can be and how the language barrier is a massive issue for many, miscommunications causing the individual to miss dates and not understand procedures or what to do next. Byron acknowledges that he wants to recompense his parent’s struggles to achieve the American Dream by serving as a voice and a gladiator in the courtroom on behalf of his clients.
The struggles that his clients experience with the continuing complicated immigration process empowered Byron to gain a broad cultural awareness, which motivated Byron to help the same working-class Latino communities with their legal matters near and dear to his heart.
Byron’s dedication to helping others is a testament to his work. Byron is fluent in Spanish, and he has appeared as a legal advisor to educate the Latino community on the continuing changes to the immigration laws, as they happen quickly and can significantly affect people’s lives, on monumental television networks, such as Telemundo, Univision, and other national Latino mornings programs such as Vision Latina and TV Azteca. Byron serves as the point of contact in his Great Neck community for non-native speakers and those who need legal representation, and he opens the door to clients who continue to struggle to access it. Byron’s clients chose to work with his boutique law firm because of his extreme diligence, keen eye for detail, commitment to his client’s needs, and confidence in his approach to solutions to his client’s matters.
Education & Background
Byron graduated from New York’s highly-ranked college Binghamton University and received his law degree from Florida Coastal School of Law. Byron volunteered his afternoons and evenings while attending college and law school to advocate on behalf of the client to resolve immigration related-matters and defend the client against deceptive and illegal consumer practices under the supervision of an attorney.
In college, Byron volunteered with the New York Attorney General’s Office in Binghamton’s Bureau of Consumer Frauds and Protection unit, which is part of the Economic Justice Division, to advocate on behalf of consumers suffering fraudulent, misleading, and deceptive, and illegal consumer practices, and to prosecute businesses and individuals engaging in those deceptive practices.
In law school, Byron volunteered at his law school’s immigration clinic, sponsored by the Vera Institute of Justice under Vera’s Unaccompanied Children Program to provide legal representation to immigrant children from Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador, and placed in immigration proceedings. Byron’s law school clinic appointed him as the go-to person to train and manage other law students participating in the immigration clinic to prepare asylum, family-based petitions, and citizenship immigration petitions on behalf of the clinic’s clients.
Meet
David A. Kaplan, Esq., Of Counsel (Asociado-Consejero)
David Kaplan serves as Of Counsel to Ask Quintanilla Law, PLLC. Mr. Kaplan was admitted to the NYS Bar in 1986; Mr. Kaplan was born and raised New Yorker who graduated cum laude from Vassar College in 1983 and earned a law degree from Hofstra University School of Law in 1986.
Mr. Kaplan brings a comprehensive personal history, educational background, and employment experience to his practice of law. In his thirty-second year as an attorney, Mr. Kaplan has worked in various legal, nonprofit, and for-profit settings as a leader, litigator, and manager. He handles all matters in his purview with the confidence, poise, and professionalism one would expect from a seasoned litigator.
In 1986, Mr. Kaplan joined the firm of Fischer & Burstein, P.C. as a civil litigator, working on personal injury matters, estates, family law, and contract litigation. After early success as a trial attorney, Mr. Kaplan was offered an opportunity to manage publications for Matthew Bender & Co., a leading legal publisher, and a Times Mirror subsidiary. In that capacity, Mr. Kaplan worked closely with leaders in the field, such as Isidore Silver (Police Civil Liability), Lex Larson (Employment Discrimination), and Lee Kriendler (Aviation Accident Law).
After moving to and working in Spain on several international business transactions, Mr. Kaplan returned to America in 1993 and began his career in nonprofit management. Throughout this period, Mr. Kaplan continued to take on litigation matters related to his nonprofit mission. He joined Greenwich Village Youth Council (“GVYC”) in 1992 and led the organization as Development Director and Chief Operating Officer, establishing GVYC as an innovator in nonprofit programming and management. In 2007 Mr. Kaplan became the Executive Director of a brand new 40,000 sq ft YMCA on Houston Street on the Lower East Side. That branch of the Y included a six-lane swimming pool and five off-site programs, and a range of free holistic exercise and fitness programs. In 2010 Mr. Kaplan joined the Children’s Museum of the Arts as Executive Director and led the design, funding, construction, and operation of a brand new 10,000 sq ft children’s art space in SoHo.
In 2011, Mr. Kaplan returned to the full-time practice of law. Mr. Kaplan prides himself on understanding the needs and resources of his clients, engaging them in the strategy of the case, and empowering them to make critical decisions related to litigation or other matters. His deep ties to the community enable him to work closely with individuals and corporate entities in the areas of employment law; wills, trusts, and estates; estate planning; insurance; civil litigation; corporate management; real estate transactions; personal injury law; and family law. Mr. Kaplan has settled well over 100 cases on behalf of injured clients. He has recently won two major personal injury verdicts, including a $375,000 verdict in a dental malpractice case in Nassau County and, in 2019, a post-trial $1,000,000 structured settlement for a senior hit by a car. Mr. Kaplan also prevailed in two recent criminal trials on behalf of clients involved in the criminal justice system.
Mr. Kaplan is most proud of his new affiliation with the principal attorney, Byron A. Quintanilla, Esq. of Ask Quintanilla Law, PLLC., a boutique firm offering a variety of services to businesses, individuals, and families.
As a result of that collaboration, the law firm and Mr. Kaplan now offer a broad array of targeted legal services in various contexts with great success and efficiency, all to the benefit of the client and all with an eye toward empowering the client to understand and participate in the matter at hand.
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It is a truth universally acknowledged that no matter where he shows up, Byron is equipped to do battle. When Byron takes on a case, his client reaps the benefit of his considerable knowledge, experience and intense personal investment. Clients often want to know how to achieve efficient, predictable and cost effective results, and Byron Quintanilla will work with you to meet your needs. Byron’s practice focuses on complex immigration, accident, and workers’ compensation matters.
