KURZMAN EISENBERG CORBIN & LEVER - Key Persons
Alexander Still is an associate in the firm's trusts and estates practice. Mr. Still's practice focuses on the areas of estate and gift planning and related services for individuals and families. Mr. Still has experience in drafting complex wills and trust agreements, estate and trust administration, estate settlement agreements and probate proceedings. While in law school, Mr. Still was an Articles Editor for the Cardozo Law Review. Prior to joining the firm, Mr. Still interned for the Hon. Jeffrey A. Cohen of the New York Appellate Division, Second Department and worked as a paralegal in New York City.
Job Titles:
- of Counsel
- Firm As Counsel
Mr. Lupatkin joined the Firm as Counsel after working at a major New York City law firm and then founding his own law firm. He is a frequent lecturer for senior groups and for professional organization.
Anna Chen is an Associate in the firm's Trusts and Estates Department. Ms. Chen practices in the areas of estate and trust administration and estate and gift planning. Ms. Chen has experience assisting fiduciaries in the administration of Estates and Trusts, drafting Wills and Trust Agreements, and conducting other related services for individuals and families.
Education
Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law (J.D., 2022)
Teachers College, Columbia University (M.A., Psychology in Education (Clinical Psychology), 2018)
University of Michigan - Ann Arbor (B.S., Biopsychology, Cognition and Neuroscience & Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, 2016)
Senior Attorney Admitted in: NY(212) 697-9570 download vCard | send email
Partner Admitted in: NY NJ CA(914) 993-6044 download vCard | send email
Partner Admitted in: NY NJ download vCard | send email
Partner Admitted in: NY CT(212) 922-0816, (914) 993-6053 download vCard | send email
Partner Admitted in: NY FL(914) 259-2366 download vCard | send email
Bruce W. Bieber is a partner in the litigation and corporate departments at Kurzman Eisenberg Corbin & Lever, LLP. His practice focuses on commercial disputes and transactions including the representation of business in the distribution, manufacturing and construction industries. Mr. Bieber also regularly represents high net worth individuals in shareholder and partnership disputes, and serves as counsel to numerous prominent businesses and individuals. Mr. Bieber has extensive experience in the pharmaceutical industry, where he represents national and regional distributors, chains, manufacturers and administrative organizations.
Prior to joining Kurzman Eisenberg Corbin & Lever, LLP, Mr. Bieber was a partner at Zimmet Bieber LLP and Barr & Haas LLP.
Education
Hofstra Law School ‘91 (Law Review)
SUNY Albany, B.S. Business Administration ‘88
Partner Admitted in: NY(914) 993-6042 download vCard | send email
Job Titles:
- Associate
- Senior Associate Attorney in the Firm
Caroline Keegan is a senior associate attorney in the Firm's corporate practice and art law practice. As part of her role in the firm's corporate practice, Ms. Keegan has broad experience including representing both buyers and sellers in transactions relating to the sale and ownership of a variety of assets including fine art, intellectual property and real estate. Ms. Keegan has substantial experience in business and non-profit entity formation, maintenance, conversion and dissolution and regularly prepares operating agreements and other related limited liability company, limited partnership, non-profit and corporate organizational documents. Ms. Keegan represents borrowers in complex financings secured by fine art and real estate.
Ms. Keegan has significant experience in art law, including counseling dealers and collectors of fine art and antiquities in matters of sales and use tax, insurance, lending and consigning. Ms. Keegan has negotiated purchase and sale agreements, guaranteed bids and consignment agreements with all of the primary auction houses. She has also drafted and negotiated settlement agreements in connection with title and the authenticity disputes and trademark and copyright infringement.
Ms. Keegan is a member of the Board of Directors of the New York non-profit Apropos Housing Opportunities & Management Enterprises, Inc. (A-HOME).
Prior to joining Kurzman Eisenberg Corbin & Lever, LLP, Ms. Keegan's work experience includes the Brooklyn Museum, the Calder Foundation, and Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts.
Education
Fordham University School of Law, J.D.
The Art & Law Program, Fellowship
Florida State University, B.A., History and Criticism of Art, magna cum laude
Associate Admitted in: NY MA(914) 259-2380 download vCard | send email
Clare Haugh is an Associate in the firm's Trusts and Estates department. Ms. Haugh practices in the areas of estate and gift planning, estate administration, and related private client services. Ms. Haugh has experience in drafting complex wills and trust agreements, estate and trust administration, and probate proceedings.
During law school, Ms. Haugh worked as a clinic student for the Innocence Project and the Civil Rights Clinic at Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law. Prior to attending law school, Ms. Haugh worked as a paralegal at the New York County District Attorney's Office.
Education
Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law (J.D., 2021, cum laude)
Boston College (B.A., Classical Studies, 2016)
Associate Admitted in: NY(914) 286 6368 download vCard | send email
Associate(914) 993-6058 download vCard | send email
Partner Admitted in: NY(914) 993-6045 download vCard | send email
Job Titles:
- of Counsel
- Firm As Counsel
Mr. Hill joined the Firm as Counsel after practicing with the law firm of Klein & Hill and serving as Of Counsel to Gerald & Lawrence Blumberg LLP.
Partner Admitted in: NY(914) 993-6052 download vCard | send email
Partner Admitted in: NY download vCard | send email
Associate Admitted in: NY(914) 259-2367 download vCard | send email
Hayden Farmer is an Associate in the firm's Litigation Department. Mr. Farmer practices in the areas of commercial litigation, trusts & estates litigation, and the representation of community associations.
While in law school, Mr. Farmer was an Associate Editor for the Cardozo Law School Arts and Entertainment Journal and was an Alexander Fellow to United States District Judge Vincent L. Briccetti of the Southern District of New York.
Education
Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law (J.D., 2022)
University of Missouri (B.A., Journalism, 2019)
Partner Admitted in: NY NJ(914) 286-6375 download vCard | send email
Senior Counsel Admitted in: NY download vCard | send email
Jeffrey Held is a partner in the Real Estate department of Kurzman Eisenberg Corbin & Lever, LLP. His broad based practice focuses on advising clients on complex matters involving the purchase, sale, financing and development of improved and unimproved commercial real estate properties throughout the United States and abroad. In addition to representing clients in their real estate activities, he has provided guidance on the real estate components of significant corporate and financing transactions. Mr. Held has also represented landlords and tenants in sophisticated office and retail leasing projects, working with clients on operating and net lease arrangements. His clients have included private equity funds, private investors, owners, managers, operators and developers, as well as national and international entertainment companies and hotel and restaurant owners and operators.
Ms. Goldsmith is co-Managing Partner of Kurzman Eisenberg Corbin & Lever, LLP and Chair of the Trusts and Estates department. Ms. Goldsmith is a Fellow of the American College of Trust and Estate Counsel (ACTEC), a Martindale-Hubbell AV Rated attorney and a New York Super Lawyer, and has been named as one of the top 25 attorneys in Westchester. Since 2013, Ms. Goldsmith has also been named as one of the top Women Attorneys in the New York Metro area.
Partner Admitted in: NY CT(914) 286-6370 download vCard | send email
Job Titles:
- Partner
- Partner in the Securities, Corporate and Tax
Joel J. Goldschmidt is a partner in the Securities, Corporate and Tax Department at Kurzman Eisenberg Corbin & Lever, LLP. Mr. Goldschmidt is a highly-skilled transactional attorney with extensive experience representing and advising clients - both companies and individuals -- in connection with a variety of securities, corporate, real estate and tax matters. Mr. Goldschmidt's securities expertise covers a broad range of deal structures and financing strategies including traditional IPOs and follow-on offerings, reverse mergers, private placements, PIPEs, registered directs and shelf take-downs. He also regularly advises his clients on disclosure and compliance issues. Mr. Goldschmidt's corporate expertise includes mergers (private-to-private, private-to-public and public-to-public), sales and acquisitions of assets and businesses, commercial financing transactions, investment vehicles and joint ventures. He also regularly advises clients on matters relating to the formation, organization, administration, maintenance, governance and operation of business entities, including matters relating to executive employment arrangements, equity compensation arrangements and general business contracts, as well as strategic issues and tax matters relating to their structure, operations and strategic transactions. Over the course of his career, Mr. Goldschmidt has represented companies of varying sizes at every stage of development, from start-ups to development stage to fully operational, from nano-cap to large-cap, in a broad range of industries, including technology, life sciences, hospitality, real estate (including REITs), distance learning, food distributions, logistics, banking and finance, business services, publishing, and media and entertainment.
Prior to joining Kurzman, Mr. Goldschmidt was a partner at Morse, Zelnick, Rose & Lander, LLP, a "boutique" law firm specializing in corporate and securities law. Earlier in his career, Mr. Goldschmidt also worked as an associate at Proskauer and Shea & Gould.
Education
New York University School of Law, LLM in Taxation 1988
New York University School of Law, JD, 1982
Columbia University, BA (History), 1979
Job Titles:
- Partner
- Founding Partner of Kurzman Eisenberg Corbin
Joel Lever is a founding partner of Kurzman Eisenberg Corbin & Lever, LLP. Mr. Lever's transactional practice expands upon his depth of experience in corporate law and art law. Mr. Lever considers each aspect of a transaction and every potential impact on his clients, whether the matter is an acquisition of an operating business or the purchase of a multimillion dollar fine art collection.
Mr. Lever represents clients in a wide range of general corporate law and commercial matters. Mr. Lever's corporate practice includes the representation of both public and private sector companies in strategic acquisitions, joint ventures and venture capital financing. Mr. Lever has served as counsel to companies undergoing reorganization of their business and their assets. He advises acquiring companies and targets regarding mergers and acquisitions as well as leveraged buyouts. Mr. Lever also provides representation to medical practices, nursing homes, health maintenance organizations and provider networks in their general business operations as well as on policy matters and before state agencies.
Mr. Lever has a unique art law practice which includes the representation of collectors and dealers as well as artists and publishers. Mr. Lever handles sophisticated transactions including the purchase and sale of fine art and antiquities through private matters, or auction houses, secured lending against fine art, art licensing and publication, as well as loans to museums. He continually counsels art professionals through their unique legal needs from start to finish, including commissioning art installations, purchasing art privately or at galleries, licensing intellectual property rights, managing sophisticated tax documentation, and specialized planning for trusts and estates. Mr. Lever also negotiates and resolves claims for his clients, namely, those of title and authenticity.
Education
Boston University School of Law, JD
Syracuse University, BA with Honors
Job Titles:
- Senior Counsel
- Senior Counsel in the Corporate and Securities
John C. Hui is Senior Counsel in the Corporate and Securities Department at Kurzman Eisenberg Corbin & Lever, LLP. He has extensive experience representing and advising public and private company clients on corporate and securities law matters including implementing public and private securities offerings, preparing Securities Act Registration Statements and private placement memoranda, listing securities on the NASDAQ and the New York Stock Exchange, preparing and filing periodic and current reports required for publicly-traded companies registered under the Securities Exchange Act, complying with the affiliate reporting requirements of Section 16 of the Securities Exchange Act, drafting various types of transactional and transaction related agreements including, but not limited to, subscription, employment, stock option, restricted stock, and confidentiality and non-disclosure agreements,. Mr. Hui also has experience forming corporations, 501(c)3 charitable tax-exempt organizations and limited liability companies including the drafting of charters, bylaws, operating agreements and corporate governance documentation.
Prior to joining Kurzman, Mr. Hui was Of Counsel to Morse, Zelnick, Rose & Lander, LLP, a New York City based corporate, securities and business law firm.
Education
Touro College, Jacob D. Fuchsberg Law Center (J.D., 1996)
Queens College, City University of New York (B.A. - Accounting and Economics, 1992)
John C. Re is a partner in the Litigation Department of Kurzman Eisenberg Corbin & Lever, LLP focusing on commercial litigation. Mr. Re has a wide range of experience in both trial and appellate courts, both state and federal, in a variety of matters from simple to extremely complex. He has handled actions involving contracts, restrictive covenants, estate matters, insurance claims, structured settlements, and real estate transactions; and he has particular expertise in the areas of commercial mortgage foreclosures and related loan workouts, and has lectured on these topics for CLE providers.
Kara Schissler is the head of the firm's Estate Administration Practice. Ms. Schissler concentrates her practice in trusts and estates law including personal and tax driven estate planning, probate, and complex estate and trust administration. She has significant experience in estate audits with the Internal Revenue Service, estate litigation, and contested and uncontested judicial and informal accountings.
Prior to joining the firm, Ms. Schissler worked at Katten Muchin Rosenman LLP, New York, NY, from 2001 through 2010.
Education
Benjamin Cardozo School of Law (J.D., 2001, cum laude, Order of the Coif, Cardozo Law Review)
Cornell University, (B.S., 1998)
Katherine Steiner is a partner in the corporate law department of Kurzman Eisenberg Corbin & Lever, LLP. Ms. Steiner' s practice is concentrated in the areas of corporate law, mergers and acquisitions, bank financing (for both lenders and borrowers), secured financing transactions, employment law, Art Lawand licensing. Her work in mergers and acquisitions includes representation of both acquirers and sellers in asset, stock and merger transactions, including public company acquisitions and private transactions. Ms. Steiner has extensive experience in general corporate matters, including secured and unsecured financing, public and private securities offerings, the organization and dissolution of business entities, licensing, employment contracts, shareholder and operating agreements and other shareholder matters. Her clients include a wide variety of public and private companies, many with a national and international presence, including companies engaged in manufacturing, personal services, software development, retail sales, real estate and licensing.
Education
Georgetown University Law Center, JD, 1982
George Washington University, BA with Honors, Phi Beta Kappa, 1979
Associate Admitted in: NY(914) 259-2371 download vCard | send email
Job Titles:
- Partner
- Partner in the Corporate and Securities
Kenneth S. Rose is a partner in the Corporate and Securities Department at Kurzman Eisenberg Corbin & Lever, LLP. Mr. Rose's practice focuses on complex corporate and securities transactions including representing issuers and investment banks in public and private offerings of debt and equity securities, including alternative financing structures, representing purchasers and sellers in merger and acquisition transactions (both public and private), and representing clients in a full array of commercial transactions. Throughout his career Mr. Rose has represented companies at all stages of their life cycle, from start-up intiatives to New York Stock Exchange listed companies, both domestic and international, often as outside general counsel advising on all aspects of business, legal and corporate governance matters. Mr. Rose also regularly represents accountants, attorneys, physicians and corporate executives in connection with their employment, partnership and personal matters.
Incremental to his legal practice, Mr. Rose is deeply committed to not-for-profit endeavors. He has been a director of Charity Navigator,the nation's largest and most-utilized evaluator of charities, for over 15 years, and is presently serving as its treasurer and a member of its executive committee. He is also a founding director of The World of Smiles which provides comprehensive oral health care to underserved children in the Dominican Republic, while building sustainable local collaborations. Mr. Rose regularly advises on the formation of not-for-profit entities and a broad range of not-for-profit corporate governance matters.
Prior to joining Kurzman Eisenberg Corbin & Lever, LLP, Mr. Rose was a founder and the managing partner of Morse, Zelnick, Rose & Lander, LLP (1995 to 2019), a NYC based boutique corporate and securities law firm.
Education
Brooklyn Law School, JD, 1983
Hobart College, BA 1978
Mr. Corbin is a founding partner of Kurzman Eisenberg Corbin & Lever, LLP and a partner in the Firm's trusts and estates department. In addition to his responsibilities as co-Managing Partner of the Firm, Mr. Corbin also heads the Firm's family office and money management division. Mr. Corbin focuses on sophisticated trusts and estates matters and business succession planning for high net worth individuals. Mr. Corbin also specializes in the preparation of income tax returns for individuals and business entities as well as the review of clients tax returns prepared by their accountants. Mr. Corbin provides tax advice and assists in structuring a wide range of complex tax, financial and business transactions, including the buying and selling of businesses, and the creation of partnership, shareholder, limited liability company and other business agreements, as well as deferred compensation and pension plans.
Mr. Corbin provides counsel to, and is a director and officer of, a number of charitable organizations, including private foundations, whose grants have greatly benefited various hospitals, educational institutions, religious organizations and the arts.
Partner Admitted in: NY FL(914) 993-6041 download vCard | send email
Partner Admitted in: NY(914) 285-9800 download vCard | send email
Job Titles:
- Partner
- Partner in Kurzman Eisenberg Corbin
Marc S. Bekerman is a partner in Kurzman Eisenberg Corbin & Lever, LLP's Trusts and Estates Department. Mr. Bekerman has vast experience in many areas of trusts and estates, including planning, administration and litigation, with a special emphasis on high-net-worth clients. Mr. Bekerman is a Distinguished Adjunct Professor at New York Law School and has also been an Adjunct Professor at St. John's University School of Law.
An active practitioner for more than 30 years, Marc practices in the areas of estate and gift planning, estate administration, trust administration, and related private client services. Marc has been appointed by various Surrogate's Courts to serve as a Guardian ad Litem for persons under disability and is a member of the Suffolk County Surrogate's Court panel of certified mediators.
Marc has also been certified as an expert in New York Guardianship law by a Court in England.
Education
New York University (LLM in Taxation, 1995).
Fordham University School of Law (J.D., 1992).
State University of New York at Binghamton (B.A., 1989).
Marianna Polonio is an associate in the firm's Trusts and Estates practice. Ms. Polonio's practice focuses on the areas of estate and gift planning and related services for individuals and families.
Prior to joining the firm, Ms. Polonio worked for two years for a Family and Probate Court judge in one of the largest courthouses in Sao Paulo, Brazil. Ms. Polonio has also worked in the immigration field in the United States, assisting highly accomplished individuals to obtain special visas. Ms. Polonio obtained her LLM with a concentration in American law and estate planning from Wake Forest University School of Law.
Education
Wake Forest University School of Law (LLM in Estate Planning, 2019) Universidade Presbiteriana Mackenzie, São Paulo, Brazil (B.A., Law, 2017)
Associate Admitted in: NY NJ download vCard | send email
Associate Admitted in: NY(914) 993-6047 download vCard | send email
Mr. Chadakoff is the former global chair of the Latham & Watkins, LLP real estate practice group and prior to that has been a real estate partner at Shea & Gould and Weil, Gotshal & Manges.
Partner Admitted in: NY download vCard | send email
Partner Admitted in: NY(914) 285-9800 download vCard | send email
Partner Admitted in: NY CT(914) 286-6369 download vCard | send email
Partner Admitted in: NY(914) 993-6054 download vCard | send email
Partner Admitted in: NY NJ(914) 993-6055 download vCard | send email
Senior Attorney Admitted in: NY(914) 286-6376 download vCard | send email
Partner Admitted in: NY NJ(914) 993-6057 download vCard | send email