Steven Harfenist

Steven Harfenist, a seasoned attorney and partner at Harfenist Kraut & Perlstein LLP, focuses on trial and appellate law. His proficiency encompasses commercial law, real estate, estate and securities litigation, with a particular emphasis on insurance litigation aimed at safeguarding the rights of insured individuals. Providing services to clients in Lake Success and Purchase, New York, he employs a thorough approach to legal conflicts that integrates adept mediation and settlement negotiation strategies to facilitate the resolution of cases at an early stage.

With a track record of taking over 100 trials and numerous appellate arguments to verdicts in federal and state courts, Mr. Harfenist has a well-established practice in municipal and civil rights litigation, representing individuals and municipal entities. Notably, in 2014, he secured a $5 million jury verdict for a business owner in a case of false arrest and wrongful prosecution. He has also received favorable verdicts for law enforcement and municipal workers in civil rights cases.

After securing his bachelor’s degree cum laude in government and politics in 1986 from the University of Maryland in College Park, Mr. Harfenist pursued his legal studies at Emory University School of Law, where he earned his J.D. in 1989. Licensed to practice law in New York (1990), New Jersey (1990) and Georgia (1989), he is admitted before the U.S. District Courts for the Southern, Eastern and Northern Districts of New York, the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit and the United States Supreme Court.

Commencing his legal profession, Mr. Harfenist served as an assistant district attorney within The Office of the Bronx District Attorney. Beyond his prowess in the legal realm, he actively engages with numerous bar associations and frequently addresses litigation-centric subjects. His professional memberships span the New York State Trial Lawyers Association, the New York State Bar Association (Tort, Insurance, Commercial Litigation, and Labor and Employment Sections), the American Bar Association, the American Association for Justice, the State Bar of Georgia, the Federal Bar Council and the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers.