Executive Summary:
Steven's areas of specialization include land use law, municipal law, real estate, and commercial litigation. Steven has represented numerous developers, businesses, municipalities, and community organizations in more than 20 years of practice. From 1980-1988, he practiced in Santa Fe, New Mexico during which he was a founding member of Potter, Kelly & Barshov and General Counsel to the New Mexico Municipal League. Since returning to New York, Steven has litigated in the United States Supreme Court; in federal courts in the Second, Fifth and Tenth Circuits; and in numerous New York State Courts. He provides a wide range of skills in connection with any real estate development, from transactional work, through obtaining required land use and other approvals, and culminating in litigation, if necessary. He is also Of Counsel to Cohen, Seglias, Pallas, Greenhall, and Furman; and Of Counsel to Stadtmauer Bailkin, LLP. Steven has written and lectured extensively in his areas of expertise. He is an adjunct professor at Brooklyn Law School were he teaches both Land Use Law and Real Estate Practice. Steven was graduated from Brooklyn Law School in 1980 and is about to complete his Masters in Urban Planning.

Areas of Practice:
Environmental Law and Litigation
Development and Land Use
Municipal Law
General Litigation

Affiliations/Activities:
Admitted to practice in New Mexico, 1981; New York, 1983; Tenth Circuit and N.M. District Court, 1984; U.S. Supreme Court, 1988; Southern & Eastern Districts of New York, 1993; Fifth Circuit, 1999.

Member of the New York Bar Association, New Mexico Bar Association, and the Association of the Bar of the City of New York. Prior member of Special Committee on Government Counsel, New York County Lawyers Association, Zoning Advisory Council.

Education

• Brooklyn Law School (J.D. June, 1980)
  Order of the Barrister Award for Excellence in Appellate Advocacy; Member A.B.A. National Appellate Advocacy Competition; American Jurisprudence Award in Criminal Procedure.
  
• Hunter College, City University of New York: 51 credits toward Masters in Urban Planning, Scholarship Award for Outstanding Graduate Students
• Colgate University: (B.A. Political Science - August, 1974), Regent's Scholarship

Published Works

• "How Yonkers Home Rule Case Applies to Yankee Stadium Ballot Challenge" NYLJ, pg. 1, October 5, 1998.
• "When Does Government Regulation Go "Too Far"?" VI Fordham Env. Law J. 565 (co-author).
• "Unraveling the Bundle of Rights in Takings Jurisprudence" NYLJ, November 28, 1994 (co-author).
• "The New Nexus in the Regulatory Taking Arena" NYLJ, pg. 1, July 12, 1994 (co-author).
• "Local Government Redistricting in New York: Where Does the Power Repose?" 57 Bklyn. L.R. 1049 (1992) (co-author).
• Pamphlets written for the N.M. Municipal League: "Municipal Election Districts - Legal Issues and Authority," "Municipal Regulation of Public Soliciting," and "Model Municipal Procurement Regulations."

Professional Highlights
Representative Litigation

• Bell v. Brown, (Sup. Ct. N.Y. Co. 2002) (defense verdict in two million dollar commercial litigation)
• Accessible Development Corp. v. Ocean House, Inc., (prevailing party in commercial construction arbitration); Holt Const. v. J & R Music World, (Sup. Ct. Rockland Co. 2002) (prevailing party in breach of contract case); West Branch Conservation Association v. Town of Ramapo, 726 N.Y.S.2d 137 (2d Dept. 2001) (striking down a rezoning of property as not having been adopted in accordance with the Town's comprehensive plan)
• Woodard v. Sonnabend Gallery (Sup. Ct. N.Y. Co. 2000) (successful defense of real estate contract claim); Schneider v. Ulster Construction, Inc. (Sup. Ct. N.Y. Co. 2000 (successful discharge of mechanic's lien by unlicensed home improvement contractor)
• Federated Conservationists of Westchester County, Inc. v. County of Westchester, (1997) (New York Supreme Court unreported decision upholding de-designation of parkland by City of Yonkers).

Legislative Drafting and Lobbying

• Charter of the City of Yonkers and Recodification of the Yonkers City Code
• Rio Rancho City Charter
• Grants City Charter
• Town of Taos Land Development Code
• N.M. Municipal Election Code and numerous bills and amendments to Chapters 1, 3, 4, 6, 7, 13, 14, 29, 35, and 47 NMSA 1978

Lecturing

• Brooklyn Law School, Adjunct Professor - Land Use Law and Real Estate Practice, 1997 - present
• Real Estate Board of New York - Lecturer at CLE program for real estate brokers, 1999 - present
• Westchester County Planning Federation - Short Course on Zoning
• Albany Law School Conference on the Public Trust Doctrine Nat. League of Cities Annual Conference for Self-Insurance Pools, Attorneys' Section: Government
• Liability for Regulatory Takings
• Land Use I, II, and III: Lecturer at CLE program sponsored by the New Mexico Bar Association.