Biography
Steve is an experienced business litigator and adviser who helps companies and entrepreneurs solve complex legal challenges.
Clients call on Steve to prosecute and defend lawsuits in judicial and arbitral forums across the country, but his practice has a particular emphasis in the New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania region. He represents a wide range of clients, including Fortune 500 companies, middle-market businesses, startups, closely held corporations and individual entrepreneurs.
Steve also serves in an outside general counsel role for clients, helping them proactively manage risk and grow their businesses. He works collaboratively with Fox’s deep bench of lawyers, advisers and subject matter experts to help his clients solve business problems nationwide.
Steve maintains a broad litigation practice, with a particular focus on complex commercial and business litigation. This includes prosecuting and defending high stakes business disputes, including:
- Commercial contract and lease disputes
- Shareholder disputes/business divorces
- Fiduciary duty breaches
- Consumer fraud
- Unfair trade practices
- Trade libel/defamation
- Enforcement of restrictive covenants
Representative Matters*
- Served as co-counsel that obtained summary judgment in the Ohio Court of Common Pleas for a director of a 501(c)(6) business league, resulting in the dismissal of breach of fiduciary duty claims in which the plaintiff/court-appointed Receiver was seeking more than $43 million in damages.
- Obtained summary judgment for a Fortune 500 pharmaceutical company in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey resulting in the dismissal of all claims, including a theft of ideas claim under which the plaintiff was seeking more than $1 million.
- Negotiated a favorable settlement on behalf of homeowners against a contractor who allegedly violated New Jersey’s consumer fraud statutes by engaging in unlawful license lending, resulting in a multiple six-figure settlement.
- Successfully defeated an order to show cause for temporary restraints and obtained dismissal of all claims (valued in the multiple six-figures) brought by a distillery against a business owner for breach of contract, tortious interference, fraud, and civil conspiracy.
- Represented a public research university in a multi-party litigation in the Superior Court of New Jersey, which included defeating motions to dismiss filed by multiple co-defendants to preserve valuable cross-claims.
- Successfully defended a national steel framing manufacturing company in a two-month jury trial in the Ohio Court of Common Pleas.
- Negotiated a favorable settlement on behalf of an automotive parts distributor in a contract dispute against a defaulting corporate client.
* Results may vary depending on your particular facts and legal circumstances.
Before Fox Rothschild
Steven was a summer associate at Fox Rothschild. He also served as a judicial intern for the Honorable Rosemary Gambardella of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court, District of New Jersey and for the Honorable Peter Doyne of the Superior Court of New Jersey, Bergen County.
During law school, Steven served as an Articles Editor on the Rutgers Law Review. He also served as a teaching assistant for Professor Amy Bitterman, where he conducted weekly seminars for first-year law students and prepared assignments on various legal topics.
While in college, Steven interned for the Passaic County Prosecutor’s office.
Bar Admissions
- New Jersey
- New York
- Pennsylvania
Court Admissions
- U.S. Court of Appeals, Third Circuit
- U.S. District Court, District of New Jersey
Education
- Rutgers Law School (J.D., 2011)
- The College of New Jersey (B.S., magna cum laude, 2008)
Memberships
- Trial Attorneys of New Jersey
Board of Directors
- Lower Bucks County Chamber of Commerce (Director and Executive Board member)
- Salvation Army, Trenton Citadel Corps (Advisory Board Member)
- CONTACT of Mercer County (former Director)
