 Charles Berkman is a legend in the Brooklyn Courts—known to everyone as “Charlie.” He began his life humbly, as the youngest son of an orphaned immigrant in Brooklyn’s Coney Island during the Great Depression. He grew up working in his father’s junkyard business on McDonald Avenue, and renting cubbies in their back yard to beachgoers. His older brother Lou, who served in the Air Force as a bombardier during World War II, was the model for the character Lew Rabinowitz in the classic novel Catch 22, written by Coney Island native Joseph Heller. Graduating from law school in 1952, Charlie built a law practice from the ground up, beginning by representing folks from the Coney Island neighborhood, friends and relatives. Charlie never advertised for business. His reputation for giving his all for his clients instilled such intense loyalty that even today, 60 years later, many of those original clients, along with their children and grandchildren, remain clients of the firm. As the practice grew, Charlie’s wife Judy Berkman, left her career as a psychiatric social worker and came to work as an administrator in the firm. Education: - B.A., Brooklyn College, 1948.
- L.L.B., Brooklyn Law School, 1952.
Check out Charles Berkman, Esq. - Coney Island History Project Interview |