PROFILES
MARIANNE E. BERTUNA & ARTHUR AIDALA POWERHOUSE NYC LEGAL COUPLE By Bennett Marcus NOW ON THE EAST END Attorney Marianne E. Bertuna has been with the New York City law firm Aidala, Bertuna & Kamins for nearly two decades, becoming a partner and marrying Arthur Aidala, the firm’s founder, along the way. Bertuna and the firm’s other partners all have deep roots in the Hamptons. Now Aidala, Bertuna & Kamins has opened Arthur Aidala and Marianne Bertuna an office in Southampton. “I’ve been representing clients out here for 20 years but never had an office, and it was time,” she says. Having been a summer resident in Southampton for over 25 years. The East End is truly her second home and a community for which she cares deeply. A significant reason for opening the office now is many of their clients have been spending most of their time on the East End, working remotely. Now they can meet with clients in Southampton year-round. “I have always had roots here. REAL ESTATE, DWI, FIRST-TIME OFFENDERS Aidala, Bertuna & Kamins is known for its litigation practice, representing high-profile clients like Rudy Giuliani, Alan Dershowitz, and Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson. In addition, Bertuna specializes in transactional real estate matters, estate law, and knows her way around the criminal courthouses of the East End. With the Hamptons housing market in overdrive, Bertuna’s real estate practice has increased tenfold over the last year, with so many people building or buying second homes. Her criminal practice had been quieter. Because nobody was allowed to go anywhere, not as many people were getting into trouble. As things are opening, that’s changing. “My vehicular crime practice, which includes DWI, is busy again. People are driving and going out; restaurants and bars are open.”
LAWRENCE TAYLOR & ABE HIRSCHFELD While she does work on the firm’s high-profile cases like those of Lawrence Taylor and Abe Hirschfeld, Bertuna emphasizes that they typically represent many people who have been arrested for the first time: younger people heading to college or in college or graduate school, and professionals like accountants, teachers, firefighters, or lawyers facing legal issues that can create academic or career problems.
NEW YORK MAGAZINE: TOP ATTORNEY LIST Bertuna knows that her years of litigation and defending clients have made her the perfect advocate for her clients in real estate transactions. “It is important to have someone by your side who will ensure that not only the big-ticket items in the contract are accounted for but also the fine details which are often the most important to a client.” Bertuna has been featured in New York Magazine as a top attorney in the real estate world. She has closed multimillion-dollar homes on the East End for close to two decades. AIDALA, BERTUNA & KAMINS Bertuna first began at the law firm as an intern when she was a first-year student at New York Law School. She knows that hard work and dedication to her practice have contributed to her success. After graduating, she joined Aidela’s firm and built its real estate practice, and she also created a niche in surrogate court work. She and Aidala married in 2016 and have a young son, and yes, she admits with a laugh, they do talk about work at home. “But we enjoy what we do and so it never feels like a job. GEORGETOWN UNIVERSITY & HONORS Bertuna has been recognized as one of the top 100 attorneys by the National Academy for DUI Defense and has been recognized by Super Lawyers Magazine. She was named a member of 2021 Lawyers of Distinction in Real Estate Law. Bertuna is a graduate of Georgetown University. She is a past president of the Columbian Lawyers Association, a member of the Brooklyn Bar Association, and a member of the New York State Attorney Grievance Committee. Social Life