Sahn Ward Braff Coschignano

Joseph R. Bjarnson is a Partner with Sahn Ward Braff Coschignano PLLC. He concentrates his practice on commercial and civil litigation and appeals, land use litigation, zoning and land use planning. Before joining the firm, he was a corporate litigation associate at Dewey & LeBoeuf LLP, where his practice concentrated on complex commercial and antitrust litigation involving the healthcare, banking, finance and insurance industries.

Mr. Bjarnson was admitted to practice in New York State in 2010 and is admitted to practice before the United States District Courts for the Eastern and Southern Districts of New York and the United States Supreme Court. He is a member of the Nassau County Bar Association and the New York State Bar Association

Mr. Bjarnson was selected by Super Lawyers as one of New York Metro’s “Rising Stars” in the area of business litigation for the years of 2014 through 2020. In 2015, he was named Trial Lawyer of the Year by the Public Justice Foundation, and was the recipient of The American Lawyer Global Citizenship Award and the Leadership in Law Award from Long Island Business News.

Mr. Bjarnson graduated from the Maurice A. Deane School of Law at Hofstra University (J.D., cum laude, 2009), where he was an Associate Editor of Hofstra Law Review and a member of the Dean’s Scholar Program. Mr. Bjarnson holds an undergraduate degree from Brigham Young University (B.A., cum laude, 2005) in Middle East/Arabic studies.

Practice Areas

Zoning and Land Use

Litigation and Appeals

Memberships

Nassau County Bar Association

Bar Admissions

New York

Court Admissions

United States District Court for the Southern District of New York

United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York

United States Supreme Court

Education

Maurice A. Deane School of Law at Hofstra University, JD, cum laude, 2009

Brigham Young University, BA 2005

Firm Partners, Andrew Roth and Joseph R. Bjarnson Obtain Preliminary Injunction

Firm Partners, Andrew M. Roth and Joseph R. Bjarnson, obtained a preliminary injunction to prevent the Firm’s client, Mount Sinai Pentecostal Church of Hicksville, NY, from losing their Church property to a tax lien purchaser after more than $1 million in real property taxes were unlawfully assessed against the Church. In the case, the Firm argued, among other things, that the Church was mandatorily exempt from real property taxation under the New York State Real Property Tax Law and that any taxes assessed against the Church property should be declared void. Nassau County opposed the Firm’s application for a preliminary injunction and sought to have the case dismissed. The Honorable Randy Sue Marber, Justice of the New York State Supreme Court, County of Nassau, found that injunctive relief was appropriate because the Church had a “high likelihood of success on the merits” of its claim seeking to have the real property taxes assessed against its property declared void and denied the motion to dismiss.

Firm Successfully Defends County of Suffolk in Lawsuit

Firm Partners, Joseph R. Bjarnson and Ralph Branciforte, successfully defended the County of Suffolk in a lawsuit commenced by residents seeking to annul approvals associated with the construction of a cell tower on County property, asserting claims under, among other things, the State Environmental Quality Review Act (SEQRA), local zoning regulations and the Fourteenth Amendment of the United States Constitution. Joseph and Ralph were able to obtain a complete dismissal of the case from Justice Alison J. Napolitano in the New York State Supreme Court, County of Suffolk, establishing that the petitioners’ claims were moot and lacked merit.

Joseph R. Bjarnson

Attorney Biography

Professional Profile