about the author
Stanley N. Alpert
Former New York City Chief Environmental Prosecutor and Author of The Birthday Party
Stanley N. Alpert is a former New York Chief Environmental Prosecutor and is currently a private environmental and commercial lawyer. In 1998, while an Assistant U.S. Attorney, Alpert was kidnapped at gunpoint and held for twenty-five hours by a gang of thugs intent on draining his bank accounts. The story of that night is detailed in his critically acclaimed book, The Birthday Party: A Memoir of Survival, which The Los Angeles Times named as one of its favorite nonfiction books and which Joseph Wambaugh deemed “too wild to be fiction.”
Walking home that fateful night in 1998, Alpert was seized at gunpoint by three armed men and held by a gang of seven in an apartment in Brooklyn; the men stole from his accounts and repeatedly threatened to kill him. Alpert spent his entire 38th birthday in captivity, negotiating to save his own life and memorizing clues that, if he lived, could be used by law enforcement to capture the criminals. After a twenty-five-hour ordeal that is at times petrifying and at others “hysterical,” according to The New York Times, Alpert emerged and related his seemingly tall tale to the FBI and NYPD, who quickly captured the bad guys.
Alpert is an environmental and commercial trial lawyer, who was highly decorated by the U.S. Attorney’s Office and the Department of Justice. At the United States Attorney’s Office, Alpert successfully tried many cases, defeating mining giant Phelps Dodge and settling a case with ExxonMobil that resulted in one of the highest civil penalties ever issued by the government. He also champions sustainability by offering legal advice to green businesses and teaching classes about green building, carbon regulation, and green business practices.
Press Links
"A Hostage Who Stayed a Few Steps Ahead"
The New York Times
"A surprise in no way good"
Los Angeles Times
"Nonfiction Chronicle"
The New York Times
"You Say It’s Your Birthday"
New York magazine
"Live to Tell: The Birthday Party"
CBS News
An Interview with Stanley Alpert
FOX's "Glenn Beck"
"A birthday nightmare"
Newsday
Book Review: The Birthday Party
Booklist.com
Featured Book
The Birthday Party
"A street-smart prosecutor, Alpert delivers an unflinching look at the humiliating, terrifying role of the victim, lacing his plight with commentary on contemporary crime and the creaking judicial system. The second part reads as compellingly as the first and with every bit as much suspense. An effective, one-two punch of a memoir."
—Booklist
Speaking Topics
- Negotiations at Gunpoint
- The Art of Survival
- Get What You Want
- Enforce or Sustain
View Topic Descriptions »
Speaking Topics — Stanley N. Alpert
Negotiations at Gunpoint
Alpert presents a frightening yet humorous discussion of his kidnapping by a gang of robbers in New York City. Using the negotiation skills he learned on the job as a federal prosecutor, Alpert prevented his captors from pulling the trigger on that dark winter’s New York City night. Businesspeople will find inspiration in the skills of connecting with one’s adversary, understanding their position, and giving answers that remain true to your own side’s position while respecting and accommodating that of the other, in order to come to a good resolution. In this case, Alpert negotiated for his very life, and is here to tell the tale.
The Art of Survival
According to the FBI and the NYPD, most people who are kidnapped are then murdered. “It never ends well,” they say. What are the critical attributes and skills that allow someone to survive in a situation where he or she might have perished? To see Stan being interviewed on Big Think about survival skills, click here.
Get What You Want
The last chapter of Stan Alpert’s critically acclaimed book is entitled “Get What You Want.” In a random act of terror, Alpert was grabbed off the streets of New York and held at gunpoint for twenty-five hours. Through his moving and inspiring presentation, Alpert takes us to the other side, where he thought he would lose his life, and then brings us to the present in which he has it back. He describes how he learned about the great strength that lies within each us, which is revealed in moments of intense crisis. Alpert insists that all of us should examine our dreams and aspirations and then do what it takes to realize them to the fullest. When you have been held at gunpoint for twenty-five hours and almost murdered, you realize that to do otherwise is a crime in itself.
Enforce or Sustain
As former Chief of Environmental Litigation for the U.S. Attorney, Stan Alpert learned firsthand the price companies must pay for decimating the land, water, and air that we breathe. In private practice, he litigated over MTBE, a product that oil companies were heavily fined for using, and which the companies used despite warnings from their own engineers that it would foul drinking water sources. Hear Stan discuss environmental enforcement and the new triple bottom line business paradigm — the concept that has companies choosing green instead of mean. For an article featuring Stan’s views on the subject, click here.
Please contact us for booking requirements and availability.