Phone: (212) 599-7575
HARNIK LAW FIRM
LAWYERS AND STAFF
STEPHEN M. HARNIK
Stephen M. Harnik is a general practitioner, concentrating in corporate law, international law, litigation, arbitration, trusts and estates and real property. He represents a broad range of domestic, foreign and international corporations. He is the attorney for the Austrian government in New York, the President of the American Foreign Law Association ("AFLA"), the U.S. correspondent of Juris Consult Alliance (a consortium of law firms throughout Western, Central and Eastern Europe), a Trustee of The American Austrian Foundation, Inc., (AAF) a Director of the U.S. Austrian Chamber of Commerce, (USACC) a Director of the International Friends of the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna, (IFKHM), the Freud Foundation US, which supports the Freud Museum in Vienna, a Director of the International Friends of the Albertina Museum in Vienna, ("IFAM"), a director of the International Friends of the MAK ("IFMAK," Museum of Applied Arts, Vienna, Austria), a director of the Vienna Secession American Foundation, (VSAF), a Director of the International Friends of the European Radiological Society (IFERS) with headquarters in Vienna. Mr. Harnik is a regular contributor to Anwalt Aktuell, a monthly legal periodical published in Austria. He is a graduate of Swarthmore College and Case Western Reserve University School of Law.
On June 6, 2007, Stephen M. Harnik was awarded a gold decoration of honor for his services to the Republic of Austria (Goldenes Ehrenzeichen für Verdienste um die Republik Österreich).
On the 16th Austrian-American Day, September 16, 2013, the Austrian-American Council awarded Stephen Harnik its Volunteer Community Service Award.
On February 18, 2016, Stephen M. Harnik was honored by the City of Vienna with a silver statuette of the armored knight who stands atop Vienna’s City Hall (the Rathausmann award). On the same occasion, the Austrian Consul General in NY Dr. Georg Heindl commemorated Mr. Harnik’s 20 years as Austria’s designated attorney for the Republic in NY.
Stephen M. Harnik is a New York State licensed real estate broker.
Cathrine Bondi de Antoni
Cathrine Bondi de Antoni studied law in Vienna (Mag.iur., University of Vienna, Faculty of Law) and Los Angeles (LL.M., University of California, Los Angeles).
Before joining Harnik Law Firm, she worked as an associate for a large corporate law firm in Vienna and did her legal clerkship within the Sprengel des Oberlandesgerichts Wien (district of the Higher Regional Court of Vienna).
She passed the Austrian Bar Exam in 2020 and the New York Bar Exam in 2022. She is admissible to practice law in Austria and is admitted to the New York Bar Association.
STAFF
SARAH C. CLARIDAD
Sarah is a graduate of the University of St. La Salle (B.S., Commerce and Accounting), De La Salle University (Teacher Certification), and Centenary College (B.S., Business Administration). Sarah has been a paralegal with our firm since 1998.
OF COUNSEL
STEPHEN P.H. RACHLIS
Mr. Rachlis specializes in commercial and products liability litigation and in drafting and negotiating contracts including purchase and sales agreements. Many of his clients are industrial equipment manufacturers, including Black Clawson Company, Inc. and United Container Machinery, Inc. He is a graduate of Beloit College and Case Western Reserve University School of Law.
CHRISTIAN VOTAVA
Mr. Votava is a graduate of University of Vienna Law School and Danube University in Krems (Degree in European Law). In May 2006, he also graduated cum laude from Fordham Law School with an LL.M. degree in Intellectual Property and Information Technology Law.
During his studies in Austria Mr. Votava has worked with the Austrian Patent Office, with a Viennese law firm, and with an Austrian IT-Service company. In 2000/2001 he participated in the European Law Moot Court for the University of Vienna, where his team ranked third overall. Thereafter, Mr.Votava was engaged in the creation of a comprehensive revision of a commentary on Austrian Commercial law.
Mr. Votava is a member of the American Foreign Law Association ("AFLA") and he is also co-author of EU State Aid Law Yearbook 2008, 2010 and 2013 published by NVW in Austria.
LORENZ WOLFFERS
Lorenz Wolffers is an experienced immigration lawyer whose practice is primarily focused on business immigration. Lorenz has assisted a wide array of companies in hiring foreign talent and transferring high level managers and specialists from all over the world to the United States. He has secured investor visas for both well-established companies, as well as start-ups. One of Lorenz’s specialties is procuring visas for individuals of extraordinary ability.
Lorenz is fluent in German and French. He graduated magna cumlaudefrom the University of Bern School of Law in Switzerland and earned his LLM from Cardozo Law School in New York City.
