Stephen A. Hochman recently retired from the New York City law firm of Friedman, Wittenstein & Hochman, where he practiced from 1987 – 2006, first as a partner and later as counsel. He was a founding partner in the firm now known as Kramer, Levin, Naftalis & Frankel, where he practiced from 1968-1987, specializing in corporate, commercial and securities law. He also represented both investors and issuers in real estate, tax oriented and other types of investment partnerships. Prior to 1968, he was a partner in Kramer, Nessen & Hochman and an associate at Proskauer Rose Goetz & Mendelsohn, where he began the practice of law following his graduation from Cornell Law School in 1959.
Mr. Hochman now practices almost exclusively as a mediator and arbitrator. He served as an arbitrator for the American Arbitration Association, arbitrating primarily securities and commercial disputes, and has been both an arbitrator as well as a mediator for the New York Stock Exchange and the NASD. He also serves as a court-appointed mediator for the federal district courts in the Southern and Eastern Districts of New York, the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in the Southern District of New York and the New York State Supreme Court, New York County (Commercial Division), and serves on the Supreme Court's ADR Advisory Group. He is also a mediation trainer in the Supreme Court=s Commercial ADR Program and a Special Master for the Appellate Division, First Department, of the New York State Supreme Court.
Mr. Hochman writes, consults and lectures frequently on the subjects of arbitration and mediation and is a member of the American Law Institute and various ADR-related bar association and advisory committees. He is a former Chair of the Arbitration Committee of the American Bar Association's Section of Dispute Resolution and former Co-Chair of its Large, Complex Case Subcommittee. He served for many years as Chair of the American Law Institute-American Bar Association's annual program on Alternative Dispute Resolution and was Chair of its annual program on Corporate Mergers and Acquisitions. He also served as a member of the American Arbitration Association's Securities Arbitration Rules Task Force and its Commercial Arbitration Practice Committee.
Mr. Hochman has mediated over 350 commercial, business, international and other types of disputes, including securities, contract, employment, insurance, real estate, construction, franchise, brokerage and class action disputes, approximately 98% of which have settled. In addition to his own investment activities, he serves on the investment committees and boards of various not-for-profit corporations, including several hospitals and a non-profit captive re-insurance company. Mr. Hochman has also been an Adjunct Lecturer in Securities Regulation at Columbia Law School and an Adjunct Lecturer in both Mergers and Acquisitions and Alternative Dispute Resolution at Fordham Law School.
