Attorney Bios

Cary R. Sternback
President & Managing Attorney

Albany Law School of Union University, Albany, New York, J.D. Cum Laude 1992
Clark University, Worcester, Massachusetts B.A. 1989

Admitted to New Jersey Bar, 1992
Admitted to New York Bar, 1993

Mr. Sternback began his legal career handling criminal defense matters, which required him to make various court appearances throughout New York City. He then spent time handling real estate transactions which caused him to develop a greater eye for the detail of contracts. He then joined Herb Heitner and Norm Breitstein in 1994 and has been litigating and collecting commercial collection cases ever since.

Having spent over two decades hunting debtors and their assets, whether employing the latest in electronic databases, making personal visits to debtor locations, or forcing the issue with debtors in and out of Court, Cary does what it takes to recover money for the client.

Eugene M. Banta

New York Law School, New York, NY, J.D. 1991
St. John’s University, New York, B.A. English, 1989 (Minor in Business)

Admitted to New Jersey Bar, 1991
Admitted to New York Bar, 1992

Gene joined the firm in 2013

For several years prior to becoming an attorney, Mr. Banta successfully managed several restaurants in New Jersey and New York with sales volumes of over of $3,000,000.00 annually.

Mr. Banta has over 20 years experience in all types of civil litigation, from intake to discovery to mediation to trial. He has extensive trial experience in New York City and the surrounding counties. Gene has tried cases in NYC Civil Court, County District Courts, New York Town and Village Courts and the New York Supreme Court. He has also litigated and tried numerous cases in New Jersey Superior Court, both in the Special Civil Part and the Law Division. Additionally, he has over 15 years of experience in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court.

He is currently a member of the Fair Lawn Board of Education, having first been elected in 1992. He was President for 4.5 years and Vice President 2.5 years. He is also the Board’s chief negotiator with the Teacher’s Union.

Yelena C. Tsyrlin

University of Maryland School of Law, Baltimore, Maryland, J.D. 2013
Rutgers University, New Brunswick, New Jersey, B.A. Magna Cum Laude 2010

Admitted to New Jersey Bar, 2013
Admitted to New York Bar, 2014

Yelena Tsyrlin joined the firm in 2017 as an associate. Since 2013, Mrs. Tsyrlin practiced law for several New Jersey law firms where she worked on a wide range of general business, corporate and litigation matters. While in law school, Mrs. Tsyrlin served as a law clerk at the Maryland Office of the Public Defender where she worked on post-conviction litigation.

Mrs. Tsyrlin has been a volunteer attorney for Volunteer Lawyers for Justice since 2014. She is fluent in Russian.