Man wearing a tie and blue suit

Hon. David B. Saxe (ret).

Hon. David B. Saxe joins Mediation Solutions, bringing his considerable judicial and legal experience in the areas of commercial and real estate litigation, arbitration, mediation, and other areas of alternate dispute resolution.

Judge Saxe is currently a partner at Morrison Cohen LLP, where his practice focuses on commercial and real estate litigation, appellate practice, arbitration, mediation, and other areas of alternate dispute resolution.

Prior to joining the firm, he was an Associate Justice in the Appellate Division, First Department from 1998 until 2017. His prior judicial positions included Justice of the New York State Supreme Court, First Judicial District, Judge in the Civil Court of the City of New York from 1982-1989), and Acting Justice, New York State Supreme Court (1984-1989).

Judge Saxe also served as a Law Clerk to Hon. Shanley N. Egeth, Acting Justice of the State Supreme Court and Supervising Judge of the Civil Court of the City of New York from [year to year]. He was the Consumer Advocate for the City of New York and Director of Law Enforcement for the New York City Department of Consumer Affairs from and served as Special Assistant Corporation Counsel, in New York City.

In addition to his judicial and governmental experience, Judge Saxe was engaged in the private practice of law. He practiced general and matrimonial litigation at Phillips Nizer from [year to year]. He served as Associate Counsel for Commercial Finance, Factoring & Venture Capital to James Talcott, Inc., a Fortune 500 company, where he drafted complex commercial agreements, and prior to that, he practiced with Brett, Apfelberg, Epstein & Saxe, a boutique real estate litigation firm specializing in representing tenants in cooperative and condominium conversions.

Judge Saxe served as an Adjunct Professor of Law at The City University of New York (Baruch College) for over 40 years teaching courses in contracts, corporation law, and commercial paper. He has also taught courses at Fordham University School of Law, the Benjamin Cardozo School of Law and Hofstra Law School.

He has taught numerous law-related programs and CLE seminars sponsored by many different organizations including the New York State Bar Association, the New York County Lawyers Association, the New York City Bar Association (formerly the Association of The Bar of The City of New York). He was regularly asked to teach courses to members of the judiciary at the New York State Judicial Institute and has taught at the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers (New York Chapter), the Law and Humanities Institute and the National Institute for Trial Advocacy.

In addition to his many published judicial decisions, he has authored many publications throughout his career, including articles for the New York Law Journal, the New York State Bar Journal, the American Bar Association Journal, Newsday, The New York Times, and The Washington Post, among others.

Judge Saxe is available for mediation or arbitrations virtually or at any of our Long Island office locations.

Mediating/Arbitrating Cases In:

  • Commercial and business disputes
  • Real estate

Professional Activities and Associations:

Member, Governor’s Judicial Screening Committee for the New York State Supreme Court, Appellate Division, First Department

Member, Committee on Character and Fitness for the New York State Supreme Court, Appellate Division, First Department

Member, judging panel for selecting New York Law Journal’s “Attorney of the Year”

Professional Experience

Partner, Morrison Cohen LLP, (March 2017-present)

Associate Justice, Appellate Division, First Department (January 28, 1998 – February 28, 2017)

Justice, New York State Supreme Court, First Judicial District (1990-2017)

Judge, Civil Court of the City of New York (January 1982 – December 1989)

Acting Justice, New York State Supreme Court (1984-1989)

Law Clerk to Hon. Shanley N. Egeth, Acting Justice of the State Supreme Court and Supervising Judge of the Civil Court of the City of New York.

Consumer Advocate for the City of New York and Director of Law Enforcement, New York City Department of Consumer Affairs, with overall legal and administrative responsibilities; Special Assistant Corporation Counsel, New York City.

Phillips Nizer – general and matrimonial litigation

James Talcott, Inc. (a Fortune 500 Company), Associate Counsel; Commercial Finance, Factoring & Venture Capital

Brett, Apfelberg, Epstein & Saxe

Education

Columbia College, bachelor’s degree, 1963

Case Western Reserve University School of Law, J.D., 1966

New York University School of Law, L.L.M., 1972

Recent and Notable Publications

“A New Development in the Law of Special Education,” NYLJ, pg. 4, June 22, 2023, with Phyllis K. Saxe

“The New Pre-Argument Conference at the Appellate Division, First Department,” NYLJ, pg. 4, February 1, 2023, with Joseph Kamelhar, Mahnoor Misbah and Sydney Reade.

“Private Judges: How New York Can Unclog the Backlog,” NYLJ, December 12, 2022 (Online) with Alan Feigenbaum

“On Becoming an Associate Justice of the Appellate Division, First Department,” NYLJ, March 11, 2022 (Online)

“Some Thoughts on Oral Advocacy: Some Old, Some New,” NYLJ, January 19, 2022, pg. 4, with James M. Catterson

“Re-energizing an Injunctive Remedy to Stop UCC Foreclosures,” NYLJ, March 22, 2021, pg. 6, with Y. David Scharf and Aaron Lauchheimer.

“A Proposal for Private Judging in New York,” NYLJ, March 12, 2021, with James M. Catterson (Online)

“Med-Arb: Is it the Wave of the Future?”, NYLJ, November 20, 2020 (Online)

“The Hearing-Challenged Attorney in Courtroom – Progress and Pitfalls,” NYLJ, November 4, 2020, pg. 4 with Giovanna Tuttolomondo (Outside Counsel)

“Online Mediation of Matrimonial Matters? It WORKS,” NYLJ, October 5, 2020, with Joaquin Ezcurra (Outside Counsel)

“Lawyers Coping with Enforced Social Isolation,” NYLJ, June 2, 2020, pg. 6 with Haley Volk Solomon (Perspective)

“Digital Courtroom Advocacy: A Second Look,” NYLJ, May 6, 2020 (Online)

“Breach of Contract and Fraudulent Inducement Claims: Two Bites at the Apple?”, NYLJ, February 6, 2020 (Outside Counsel).