Donald H. Birnbaum is founding partner of the Law Firm of Sandback and Michelen. Mr. Birnbaum acquired early exposure to the practice of law well before achieving his Juris Doctor Degree from Brooklyn Law School in 1971. He was appointed an intern to the New York State Supreme Court in 1969 where he worked in close proximity to many of the Justices of the Supreme Court. In the summer of 1970, he worked as a law intern to the office of the County Attorneys of Nassau County, New York.

Upon graduation from Law School, he immediately became what was known as a Criminal Law Investigator in the Bronx District Attorney’s Criminal Court Bureau and the Rackets Bureau. This position he held until admission to the Bar in November 1971 when he became an Assistant District Attorney in Bronx County.

He quickly rose through the ranks of the Criminal Court Bureau and was assigned to the Indictment Bureau, which presents cases before the Grand Jury of that county. Having presented hundreds of cases to the grand jury and having served with distinction, he was promoted to the position of Deputy Chief of the Indictment Bureau under Burton B. Roberts, the present Administrative Judge of the county of Bronx. Approximately one year later, he was promoted to the prestigious Homicide Bureau. He was primarily responsible for the investigation and prosecution of numerous cases involving murder, manslaughter and vehicular homicide case in one of the busiest homicide bureaus in the United States.

Upon his retirement from the DAs office in the Bronx, Mr. Birnbaum was appointed to the position of Assistant District Attorney in Nassau County, New York. Upon completing a short stint in the county court Bureau, he was appointed by Denis Dillon to the newly formed, elite Major Offense Bureau under Robert Strauss, who was to become a Judge in the City of New York.

In 1977 after the completion of his tenure at the Nassau District Attorney’s Office, he formed the law partnership of Sandback and Birnbaum with William A. Sandback, also a former Assistant District Attorney who was then the principal Law Clerk to Judge John Lockman, now Justice Lockman of the New York State Supreme Court.

Mr. Birnbaum was nominated by the Democratic and Liberal parties for New York State Assemblyman and has lectured to numerous groups concerning legal issues. He is listed in Who’s Who in American Law. Fluent in English and Spanish and currently developing proficiency in the Russian Language, Mr. Birnbaum believes that quality legal representation should be within the reach of all, and has prided himself in building and maintaining such a firm for the past 20 years.