Steven Schiesel

Steven Schiesel is a founding partner of Pecoraro & Schiesel, a Manhattan law firm concentrating in the area of personal injury, medical/dental malpractice and insurance litigation.  Steven received a B.A., Cum Laude, from Columbia University, a J.D. from Fordham Law School and an LL.M. in Trial Advocacy from Temple University Law School.  While a student at Columbia University, he was elected to the Psi Chi National Honor Society and was a member of the Dean’s List.  While a law student at Fordham Law School, he served as a Journal Member which selected its members based on grades and a writing competition.

Steven holds an AV Preeminent* (5/5) peer review rating from Martindale-Hubbell and a “superb” rating (10/10) from AVVO. In 2010 and 2011, Steven was named by Arrive Magazine as one of the top 10 personal injury attorneys in New York.  He was also included on Lawdragon Magazine’s list of leading plaintiffs’ lawyers in America and was a finalist for the Top 500 Lawyers (in all specialties) in the United States.

Continuing legal education has been a significant part of Steven’s career since graduating from law school. He completed a 550-hour intensive trial advocacy program at the National College of Advocacy in Washington, D.C. and was awarded the highest designation, Diplomat, at its conclusion.  Shortly thereafter, the National College of Advocacy also awarded Steven the ASTA certification after completing their Advanced Studies in Trial Advocacy Program.  Approximately 50 attorneys in the United States hold the dual designation of Diplomat and ASTA.  In 2008, he completed an advanced Litigation Program at the University of Virginia Law School where he studied advanced Trial Advocacy skills with such luminaries as Ted Wells.

The highlight of Steven’s career came when he spent a month living and studying with renowned trial lawyer Gerry Spence on his Dubois, Wyoming ranch.  During that time, Steven, and 50 other experienced trial lawyers from across the United States, honed their trial skills and staged mock trials involving complicated personal injury fact patterns.

Pro Bono service has also been a part of Steven’s career. He has taught trial advocacy and moot court skills to High School students in under-served neighborhoods of New York City as well as represented mentally ill individuals in Court proceedings.  He has also served as a guest instructor in advanced deposition skills at Temple Law School.

Since establishing his firm in 1994, Steven has steadily built a reputation for excellence by winning multimillion-dollar verdicts and settlements for his clients.  In addition to representing his own clients in State and Federal Court throughout New York, Steven is frequently retained by other law firms to try complex personal injury, medical malpractice and insurance cases.

1992.

B.A., Cum Laude, Columbia University, New York, New York.

J.D. , Fordham Law School, New York, New York.

LL.M., Trial Advocacy, Temple University Law School, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Pecoraro & Schiesel LLP, Founding Partner, 1994 to Present.

Newman, Schlau, Fitch & Lane, Trial Attorney, 1992-1994.

Empire State Counsel Award, New York State Bar Association.

SuperLawyers, 2009 to present.

AV (Preeminent 5/5 Peer Review) Rated by Martindale-Hubbell, 2010-present.

Trial Advocacy Award American Association for Justice

Finalist, Lawdragon’s 500 Leading Lawyers In America Lawdragon Magazine.

Rated 10/10 (Superb, Highest Rating) by AVVO Lawyers Rating Service.

Included on Lawdragon’s List of the top 3000 Leading Plaintiff’s Lawyers in America, 2006.

Diplomat, Trial Advocacy, National College of Advocacy.

New York State Trial Lawyers Association.

The American Association for Justice.

New York State Bar Association.

Mensa.

Intertel.

• Settlement: $3,250,000.00 for welder who fell from ladder and fractured wrist.
• Verdict:  $1,210,088.00 for worker who sustained sciatic nerve injury at work.
• Verdict: $1,064.357.00 for plaintiff who was involved in minor car accident. Minimally invasive shoulder surgery performed.
• Settlement: $36,000,000.00 structured settlement for woman paralyzed in an automobile accident in Queens, New York.
• Settlement:  $750,000.00 for young girl who sustained a mild shoulder injury, erbs palsy, during her birth.
• Settlement: $5,000,000.00 settlement in in Federal Court against a Foreign Government for airplane cleaner who fell while removing garbage from a plane at an airport. Fractured skull.
• Settlement During Trial:  $2,950,000.00 for worker who suffered neck and back injuries as a result of a fall.
• Verdict:  Obtained a directed verdict on behalf of a self insured dentist sued for malpractice.
• Settlement:  $975,000.00 total settlement for restaurant worker who slipped and fell injuring lower back (no surgery).
• Settlement:  $750,000.00 for repairman who underwent arthroscopic knee surgery after falling from a ladder.
• Settlement:  $3,000,000.00 for upstate New York infant injured during child birth.
• Settlement During Trial:  $450,000.00 for man who sustained a fractured hip and skull after being struck by a stolen car being pursued by police after robbery.
• Settlement During Trial:  Confidential settlement with Life Insurance Company for the Estate of a man who died as a result of a heart attack three months after purchasing multiple life insurance policies.  The insurance company refused to pay the policy proceeds claiming that the decedent made material misrepresentations on the insurance application.
• Verdict:  Obtained a defense verdict on behalf of self insured dental lab sued for malpractice and breach of contract.
• Verdict:  Obtained a plaintiff’s verdict on liability on behalf of a dental technician in a claim against a large dental practice for breach of contract in the sale of dental prosthesis.
• Settlement During Trial:  $2,400,000.00 for upstate New York infant injured during childbirth.
• Settlement During Trial $1,360,000.00 for passengers injured in a motor vehicle collision.
• Settlement During Trial:  $975,000.00 for laborer who fractured skull after falling from a scaffold.
• Settlement During Trial:  $375,000.00 for man who sustained an ankle fracture as a result of slipping and falling on ice on a city sidewalk.
• Settlement: $375,000.00 for elderly nursing patient who fell and fractured hip due to lack of nursing supervision.
• Settlement:  $350,000.00 for Police Officer who fell on a broken tile in a City building resulting in a knee injury.
• Settlement:  $300,000.00 for debilitated patient who fell on ice and sustained a torn tendon.
• Settlement:  $230,000.00 for man who sustained a knee injury as a result of tripping and falling on depressed asphalt in the street while walking to his car outside the crosswalk.
• Settlement:  $1,125,000.00 for patient injured as a result of Hospital’s failure to diagnose an aneurysm.
• Settlement:  $375,000.00 for elderly nursing patient who fell and fractured hip due to lack of nursing supervision (fracture repaired by minimally invasive surgery).
• Settlement:  $850,000.00 for electrician who fell at a construction site injuring his neck and losing 8 months from work (no surgery).
• Settlement:  $200,000.00 for elderly Long Island women who fell from bed in a nursing home and sustained a leg fracture.
• Verdict:  $1,200,000.00 for patient who injured arm and neck while riding as a pasenger in an ambulette involved in an accident.
• Settlement:  $1,500,000.00 in Federal Court for Carnival Worker injured by metal pipe that fell from a Ferris Wheel.
• Settlement: $1,825,000.00 for woman who sustained herniated disc in car accident.
• Settlement: $750,000.00 for elderly hospital patient who fractured jaw as result of fall.
• Verdict: $300,000.00 for dental tech. who sprained wrist in car accident.
• Verdict: $587,000.00 for wrist fractures for laborer who fell from ladder.
• Settlement: $1,800,000.00 for maintenance man hit by a van while going to work. Fractured skull with surgery.
• Settlement:  $1,250,000.00 in a Federal Court Civil Rights case for a plaintiff who was wrongfully convicted of murder.

• Deposition Skills, Guest Instructor, Temple University School of Law, LL.M. in Trial Advocacy Program

• Book Review-Litigating Brain Injuries, Bill of Particulars (New York State Trial Lawyers Association), 2007

• Coaches High School Moot Court and Trial Advocacy teams in under-served areas in New York City.