Kevin Schlosser Chairs Commercial Litigation Committee of NCBA

Kevin Schlosser has served as Chair of the Commercial Litigation Committee of the Nassau County Bar Association. The Commercial Litigation Committee is one of the most active and well-attended committees of the Nassau County Bar Association.

The Commercial Litigation Committee works closely with the New York State Commercial Division Justices in Nassau and Suffolk Counties as well as local federal judges to study and bring about change and improvement in commercial litigation. When Kevin Schlosser was Vice Chair of the Commercial Litigation Committee, he headed the Subcommittee on Expert Witness Disclosure, culminating in a pilot project initiated in Nassau County, which formed the basis of the new statewide Commercial Division rule on expert witness disclosure, providing for the exchange of written reports and depositions of experts prior to trial.

As Chair of the Commercial Litigation Committee, Mr. Schlosser spearheaded a number of important initiatives as well as organized and moderated its monthly meetings. For example, the Commercial Litigation Committee implemented the “Commercial Litigation Tips” email service in which important current commercial litigation updates are sent out to Committee members. Mr. Schlosser also led the Committee’s review and submission of comments on the Proposed Amendments to the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. In that regard, the Committee joined with the Federal Courts Committee in preparing official comments to the proposed amendments, which were approved by the Board of Directors of the Nassau County Bar Association and submitted to the Federal Committee tasked with reviewing the comments. The Commercial Litigation Committee’s comments can be viewed by clicking here.

A summary of the Commercial Litigation Committee meetings chaired by Mr. Schlosser appears below.

On June 8, 2015, the Commercial Litigation Committee participated in a CLE event entitled “An Evening with the Commercial Division Judges of the Tenth Judicial District.” The CLE event was jointly organized by the Commercial Division Committee of the Suffolk County Bar Association and the New York State Bar Association’s Federal & Commercial Litigation Section. Present at the event were all six Commercial Division Justices of Nassau and Suffolk Counties – Justices Stephen A. Bucaria, Vito M. DeStefano, Timothy S. Driscoll, Elizabeth H. Emerson, Jerry Garguilo and Emily Pines. The discussion was moderated by Kevin Schlosser, a partner at Meyer, Suozzi, English & Klein, P.C. and Chair of the Commercial Litigation Committee of the Nassau County Bar Association, and Harvey Besunder, a partner at Bracken Margolin Besunder LLP and Co-Chair of the Commercial Division Committee of the Suffolk County Bar Association. Robert L. Haig, partner at Kelley Drye & Warren LLP and Chair of the Commercial Division Advisory Council, was a special guest speaker. The program was “sold out” -- there were 180 lawyers who attended. Click here for photos.

At its March 26, 2015 meeting, chaired by Kevin Schlosser, the Commercial Litigation Committee was privileged to hear from the Honorable Jerry Garguilo, Justice, Supreme Court of the State of New York, County of Suffolk. Justice Garguilo has recently been assigned to the Commercial Division in Suffolk County. Justice Garguilo shared his advice and insights concerning how he manages his commercial case load, what he expects from counsel and other informative information concerning appearances before His Honor. Justice Garguilo hears oral argument of all motions, and encourages telephone conferences to resolve issues to avoid motion practice. His Honor also actively encourages settlement and interacts with counsel and their clients at settlement conferences. His part is very “hands on.” Click here to view photos.

At its February 24, 2015 meeting, chaired by Kevin Schlosser, the Commercial Litigation Committee was privileged to hear presentations by the Honorable Charles Ramos, Justice, Supreme Court of the State of New York, County of New York, Commercial Division and the Honorable Timothy Driscoll, Justice, Supreme Court of the State of New York, County of Nassau, Commercial Division. Justice Ramos is the longest-tenured Commercial Division judge in the State of New York, having been assigned to that division in 1996. Justice Ramos discussed his latest activities in the Commercial Division and recent experiences and insight concerning commercial litigation. Topics included Justice Ramos’ views on resolving discovery disputes through afternoon telephones calls to Chambers, his disposition of substantive motions through decisions from the bench, settlement practices and his preference for hard copy exhibits (rather than electronic exhibits) at trial. Justices Driscoll and Ramos also enlightened our members on how they handle complex commercial non-jury trials, with unique procedural rules for the presentation and management of testimony and evidence. The meeting drew a large turn-out and was very favorably received by the members. Click here to view photos from this meeting.

At the December 16, 2014 meeting of the Commercial Litigation Committee, Kevin Schlosser posed questions to Justices Leonard Austin and Peter Skelos of the Appellate Division, Second Department, addressing aspects of appeals in commercial litigation. The Justices shared advice on preparing and presenting commercial cases, unique issues related to those types of cases, tips for presenting arguments in the briefs as well as oral argument. Also, they addressed whether specialized Commercial Divisions should be created for the appellate courts. Click here to view photos.

At its October 30, 2014 meeting, chaired by Kevin Schlosser, the Commercial Litigation Committee was privileged to have on board Honorable Leonard Steinman, Justice of the Supreme Court of the State of New York, County of Nassau. Before being elected to the Supreme Court, Justice Steinman practiced general commercial litigation, most recently at Blank Rome. In an entertaining and informative presentation, Justice Steinman shared insights into the judicial decision making process with members of the Commercial Litigation Committee. Among other pointers, Justice Steinman offered the following advice:

• Come to court on time and be prepared so you can answer questions about the facts.
• Do not bicker with your adversary in front of the judge.
• Be knowledgeable and persuasive, not “too strident.”
• Do not bring orders to show cause at 4:00 p.m.
• When writing a letter to the court, explain in the first two sentences why you are writing to the court and what you want the judge to do.
• When writing a brief, tell the court what you are going to say, say it and then tell the court what you’ve said. Make it easy for the court to follow and understand your argument.
• Don’t throw in every argument under the sun.
• Use headings in affidavits and briefs.
• Don’t ever misrepresent the law or overreach on the facts.

The January 28, 2014 meeting of the Commercial Litigation Committee was another informative event at which Commercial Division Justices Stephen Bucaria, Timothy Driscoll and Vito DeStefano shared their thoughts, impressions and insights regarding the recently implemented new rules in the Commercial Division as well as a number of the proposed rules under consideration.