My law practice helps entrepreneurs, professionals, and companies who have been stung personally, professionally, and financially by a painful business dispute, often at the hands of a partner, contractor, vendor, associate, or other affiliate. I am dedicated to resolving clients’ business disputes creatively through arbitration, mediation, or court litigation to achieve success and peace of mind.
Some disputes require outright litigation battle to achieve resolution. Others are more susceptible to "creative" business dispute resolution. This means looking for solutions beyond the obvious. It also involves attempting to achieve results that are beneficial or at least palatable for both sides rather than mechanically resorting to bashing each others' heads in (a process that principally benefits the lawyers' pockets) simply because the attorney doesn’t know how to do anything else. It also can lead to exploring whether there's a possibility for presently warring parties to work together in future. As one who also wears the hats of a professional neutral arbitrator and mediator, I understand this process well.
My message is straightforward and clear: For the vast majority of business disputes involving small or medium-sized businesses, Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) provides superior means of achieving resolution, in contrast to court litigation.
Most entrepreneurs, professionals (including lawyers), and business managers and owners lack true and complete knowledge about ADR. I hope to educate and enlighten them regarding the advantages of ADR and avoiding more costly court litigation proceedings. I welcome the opportunity to discuss this with you and to debunk some of the inaccurate myths that seem to re-circulate, based on misinformation, old information, or lack of information about the realities of ADR. I also can tell you about the particular situations where – in contrast – court litigation is preferable to ADR or even necessary; one size does not fit all in the realm of business dispute resolution.
ADR allows parties to take more control over, and often lets them customize the resolution of, their disputes instead of simply having an unwelcome adjudication forced on them by a judge who is constrained more mechanically to apply limited facts to the law, rather than take a flexible and targeted approach for the greater good of the parties. ADR is usually cheaper, faster, less disruptive, and more beneficial to the parties overall. Disputing parties who utilize ADR usually come out more satisfied with the end result than do those who litigate in court.
If you would like to learn more, either in general or with regard specifically to your own present or future circumstances, please e-mail me through the contact page of this website, or call me at my office number. And if you'd like to learn a bit more about me and my approach to the practice of law and ADR, please peruse my "Personal Statement" page of this website.
I place particular emphasis upon effective, responsive communication with clients, helping to inform and guide them through the often unfamiliar and confusing maze of business litigation and alternative dispute resolution (ADR). Other central services include helping clients avoid business disputes by performing litigation risk management (troubleshooting for potential areas of litigation liability); representing clients who have received a subpoena from a governmental agency such as the New York State Attorney General or the United States Department of Justice; as well as drafting, reviewing, and/or negotiating confidentiality and non-competition agreements, commercial leases, and other types of contracts.
My firm practices primarily in New York State and Federal trial and appellate courts, and before arbitrators and mediators in the New York metropolitan area. Based on my unique level of experience in Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR), I provide ADR consultation services to other attorneys. I also serve regularly as New York or Long Island local counsel to out-of-state lawyers or companies involved in litigation in this region, respecting and protecting referring professionals' relationships with their clients.
My practice background includes clerkship with a federal Magistrate-Judge early in my legal training; service with a significant midtown Manhattan law firm; more than a decade as a partner in a medium-sized, high-quality Nassau County, Long Island law firm; and, since 2000, managing my own firm.
In addition to my law practice, I devote significant efforts to my service as a professional neutral commercial arbitrator for several major forums and as a private professional neutral commercial mediator. As an arbitrator, I hear and adjudicate business dispute cases, rendering binding Orders and Awards that are legally enforceable in court. As a mediator, I facilitate consensual resolution of business disputes, resulting in the parties' written settlement agreement. In each of my capacities, I handle conflict management in the context of business dispute resolution.
I also have personal experience running a small business: From 1988 through 2007, as President of a domestic real estate company owned by an Australian client, I managed autonomously the business operations and commercial real estate holdings of this entity, acting in all respects as a commercial landlord concerning property in Manhattan. I regularly serve on the boards of New York not-for-profit corporations, and help to run legal and business networking groups, enabling me to develop and foster a broad and deep network of trusted professionals on whom I can rely to assist my clients and colleagues for matters that are outside the areas of my expertise.
Business disputes should not be handled absent expert assistance. Not only should you not seek to deal with a brewing dispute by yourself, you also should be wary of hiring those whose legal practice focuses in other arenas (e.g., corporate transactional work; tax; real estate; personal injury; and the like) to handle the legal aspects of your business dispute. I don't presume to be able to practice in their areas; you should be cautious about having them venture into these specialized waters.
If you are interested in finding out more about how I might help you, please look through the following pages of this website or get in touch with me through the contact page.
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What is Business Litigation?
Business litigation (sometimes called commercial litigation) is the judicial (court) resolution of disputes encompassing issues relating to contracts, real estate, business entity dissolution, franchising, unfair competition, and other areas of commerce.
What is Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR)?
ADR includes arbitration (binding), mediation (consensual), conciliation, early neutral evaluation, and other binding and non-binding means of resolving disputes without resorting to court. ADR is appropriate for many types of cases and clients, and is far superior to court litigation in most (but not all) instances. Knowledgeable counsel can help determine which cases are most suitable for ADR and which should proceed through the courts; how to move your business disputes into the ADR arena; and the best strategies for successful outcomes once you are involved in an arbitration or mediation proceeding, as they usually require lawyering skills and experience that are different from what works best in court.
ADR typically offers participants a menu of dispute resolution mechanisms that are more cost-effective and expeditious than court litigation, with better results; ADR provides the parties with greater control over procedures than they would have in court litigation, even to to the extent of selecting the arbitrator who will hear and determine the case, and avoiding juries; ADR often allows greater flexibility (e.g., bending evidentiary rules) to foster achieving business goals and practical solutions to serious conflicts; ADR affords parties the opportunity to avoid negative publicity and adverse precedent, as the proceedings are private rather than public like in court; and ADR often allows for the opportunity to preserve ongoing business relationships that would be destroyed by court litigation. For example: Mediation permits the parties to customize the resolution of their dispute, a benefit unavailable through any other method; the principal goals of arbitration include achieving fast, fair, expert, and economical justice. There are many good reasons that nearly all of the decisions of the U.S. Supreme Court over the past decade or more that determined questions relating to the arbitrability of business disputes have come down squarely in favor of broad application of arbitration to resolve business cases. Learning more about ADR is beneficial for business owners, lawyers, and anyone else who might become involved in a legal dispute.
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