David J. Abeshouse

NOTE:  I fully retired March 2023.  I no longer accept new clients or cases.  

I have a passion for resolving business disputes. I was deeply involved in conflict management and business dispute resolution from several different perspectives and in several different contexts. I wasa business dispute resolution lawyer, an Arbitrator, and a Mediator. I represented and advocated forcefully for my clients in settlement negotiations, arbitration or mediation proceedings, or related matters; I also helped businesses that have received a subpoena from a governmental agency.  And I have taught ADR Law (Alternative Dispute Resolution) as an Adjunct Professor at St. John's University School of Law. 

Please note: I am licensed to practice law only in New York State.  My office is located in Nassau County, on Long Island.  NOTE:  I have fully retired from practice, and no longer represent clients as their advocate, nor do I serve as a neutral business arbitrator or mediator. 

Description of Past Law Practice: I help entrepreneurs, professionals, and companies who have been stung personally, professionally, and financially by a painful business dispute, often at the hands of a partner, contractor, vendor, associate, or other affiliate.  My practice is dedicated to resolving clients’ business disputes creatively through arbitration, mediation, or settlement negotiation to achieve success and peace of mind.

Some disputes require outright litigation battle to achieve resolution. Others are more susceptible to "creative" business dispute resolution.  This means looking for solutions beyond the obvious.  It also involves attempting to achieve results that are beneficial or at least palatable for both sides rather than mechanically resorting to bashing each others' heads in (a process that principally benefits the lawyers' pockets) simply because the attorney doesn’t know how to do anything else.  It also can lead to exploring whether there's a possibility for presently warring parties to work together in future.  

I place particular emphasis upon effective, responsive communication with clients, helping to inform and guide them through the often unfamiliar and confusing maze of business alternative dispute resolution (ADR).  Other central services include helping clients avoid business disputes by performing litigation risk management (troubleshooting for potential areas of litigation liability); representing clients who have received a subpoena from a governmental agency such as the New York State Attorney General or the United States Department of Justice; as well as occasionally drafting, reviewing, and/or negotiating confidentiality and non-competition agreements, commercial leases, and other types of contracts.  

My firm practices primarily in New York State before arbitrators and mediators in the New York metropolitan area.  Based on my unique level of experience in Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR), I provide ADR consultation services to other attorneys.  I also serve regularly as New York or Long Island local counsel to out-of-state lawyers or companies involved in ADR matters in this region, respecting and protecting referring professionals' relationships with their clients.  

My practice background includes clerkship with a federal Magistrate-Judge early in my legal training; service with a significant midtown Manhattan law firm; more than a decade as a partner in a medium-sized, high-quality Nassau County, Long Island law firm; and, since 2000, managing my own firm.  

In addition to my law practice, I devote significant efforts to my service as a professional neutral commercial arbitrator for several major forums (e.g., AAA, ICDR, Resolute Systems, NCBA Panels) and as a private professional neutral commercial mediator.  As an arbitrator, I hear and adjudicate business dispute cases, rendering binding Orders and Awards that are legally enforceable in court.  As a mediator, I facilitate consensual resolution of business disputes, resulting in the parties' written settlement agreement.  In each of my capacities, I handle conflict management in the context of business dispute resolution.   

I also have personal experience running a small business: From 1988 through 2007, as President of a domestic real estate company owned by an Australian client, I managed autonomously the business operations and commercial real estate holdings of this entity, acting in all respects as a commercial landlord concerning property in Manhattan.  I regularly serve on the boards of New York not-for-profit corporations, and help to run legal and business networking groups, enabling me to develop and foster a broad and deep network of trusted professionals on whom I can rely to assist my clients and colleagues for matters that are outside the areas of my expertise.   

Business disputes should not be handled absent expert assistance.  Not only should you not seek to deal with a brewing dispute by yourself, you also should be wary of hiring those whose legal practice focuses in other arenas (e.g., corporate transactional work; tax; real estate; personal injury; and the like) to handle the legal aspects of your business dispute.  I don't presume to be able to practice in their areas; you should be cautious about having them venture into these specialized waters.   

Again, please NOTE: I have retired from the practice of law, and no longer represent clients as their advocate, nor do I handle cases as a neutral business arbitrator or mediator. 

FURTHER NOTE: I fully retired March 2023. 

What distinguished my past service from that of other lawyers:

• give extremely responsive, patient, and timely personal attention to client questions and matters; encourage open, frequent communication between attorney and client
• am appropriately aggressive in litigated matters, yet able to settle matters out of court when advantageous to my client
• am personally involved in every client matter, and do not delegate cases to inexperienced junior colleagues unfamiliar with the case or the law
• my service as a professional neutral arbitrator (essentially a private judge) for two national ADR forums provides "insider's" perspective on the ADR/litigation process
• have access to an unusually broad and deep cultivated personal network of top-notch professionals, ranging from specialty practice lawyers (through helping to run a lawyers' networking group) to accountants to most other service providers; refer business to my clients
• refrain from accepting matters outside my areas of practice (not a "jack-of-all-trades"); instead, energetically participate in the process of recommending other professionals appropriate to the particular task or matter, for the mutual benefit of the client and my network of professionals
• am zealous about fairness to clients in billing practices
• run a business (beyond the law practice) since 1988, and serve on boards of several not-for-profits continuously since the mid-1980s, and so have substantial and direct hands-on business management experience
• make presentations at public speaking engagements as well as write and publish pieces in various online and print media – recognized expertise
• have handled hundreds of business ADR (Alternative Dispute Resolution) proceedings as lawyer/advocate for my clients or as professional neutral (arbitrator or mediator) 
• treat my clients as though they are relatives -- ones I like 
• provide Manhattan sophistication and quality at Long Island billing rates

NOTE: I have retired from the practice of law, and no longer represent clients as their advocate, nor do I handle cases as a neutral business arbitrator or mediator. 

FURTHER NOTE: I fully retired March 2023.