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Erica B. Garay, Arbitrator and Mediator
Prior to establishing Garay ADR Services, Erica B. Garay was the Chair of the Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) practice group and a member of the litigation practice at Meyer, Suozzi, English & Klein, P.C. located in Garden City, N.Y. She also was a Member of the Firm and served on its Management Committee. SMs. Garay is on the NAM and American Arbitration Association rosters of neutrals for commercial and complex litigation and employment disputes on their arbitration and mediation panels. Ms. Garay also serves on rosters of mediators for Nassau, Suffolk, Brooklyn, Queens, Westchester and New York Counties, N.Y.S. Supreme Court, Commercial Division and the U.S. District Courts for the Southern and the Eastern Districts of New York, including those courts’ bankruptcy panels. Prior to joining Meyer Suozzi, she was a partner at Rivkin Radler for 19 years, and was associated with Willkie Farr & Gallagher. She also served in the New York City Corporation Counsel's office. She handled complex litigation, including the largest contract cases ever to go to trial (at that time) in Seattle, Washington and the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, both of which resulted in multi-million dollar verdicts or judgments in favor of her clients. She also served on the steering committee of multi-district litigation involving the issue of insurance coverage for 89 hazardous waste sites in 16 states. Ms. Garay has tried several preliminary injunction hearings involving complex issues, including theft of trade secrets, copyright, and Lanham Act as well as evidentiary hearings at agencies and court trials.
Ms. Garay has arbitrated or mediated numerous disputes (as a neutral) concerning real property transactions, contracts, environmental contamination, insurance coverage, shareholder and LLC disputes (dissolutions, freeze-outs, oppression, breach of fiduciary duty, valuation and derivative claims), employment discrimination, non-competition and other restrictive covenants, and trade secrets, business disputes, insurance coverage and a variety of other commercial matters. She has tried complex cases involving earn-outs, partnership disputes and dissolutions, accounting proceedings, and other commercial and business-to-business litigataion.
As an advocate for clients, Ms. Garay concentrated on commercial litigation including corporate, LLC, and partnership dissolutions, trade secrets and intellectual property, shareholder disputes and business valuations, arbitrations, trials, appeals, employment law, insurance coverage and general business representation. Ms. Garay represents businesses of all sizes and their management. She has served on steering committees charged with planning the course of major pieces of commercial litigation. She has lectured and authored articles on ADR, federal practice, employment law, shareholder rights, restrictive covenants and trade secrets, and advises businesses on these and other corporate and commercial matters.
NOTABLE EXPERIENCE INCLUDES:
Among her many accolades, Ms. Garay was honored by the Long Island Women’s Agenda in 2008. Ms. Garay was inducted into the “Top 50 Women on Long Island” Hall of Fame in 2003, after being a recipient of the honor for two prior years. She was named Advocate of the Year in 2002 by Women on the Job, and she was the Girl Scouts of Nassau County’s Juliette Low Award of Distinction recipient in 2000. She was the recipient of the 1993 Achievers’ Award in Law from the Long Island Center for Business & Professional Women and inducted in to its Hall of Fame in 2001. She has also been recognized by the American Bar Association’s Section of Litigation, receiving its Distinguished Leadership Award.
Ms. Garay has lectured at the Practicing Law Institute on “Enforcing Confidentiality and Non-Compete Agreements”; presented at the New York Judicial Institute to the State’s Commercial Judges on “Trade Secret and Restrictive Covenant Litigation”; at the Nassau and Suffolk Academies of Law on shareholder dissolutions and “Trade Secrets in the Electronic Age”; and at the Nassau County and Suffolk County Bar Associations on arbitration and mediation and shareholder rights.
Ms. Garay served as the Co-Chair of the Alternative Dispute Resolution Committee of the Nassau County Bar Association, and serves as a member of the Advisory Council of the bar association's Arbitrator and Mediation Panels.
Previously, Ms. Garay was the founder and President and Director of the Long Island Women's Agenda, President, officer and director of Women Economic Developers of Long Island and a Trustee of the Long Island Children's Museum among other not-for-profit organizations.
Ms. Garay received her J.D. from St. John's University School of Law (1978), where she was the Associate Managing Editor of the St. John's Law Review, and received the St. Thomas Award (for the editor who contributed the most to the Law Review). She received her B.A. in English Literature from Binghamton University (1973).
In addition to being active in the Nassau County Bar Association (where she was elected to its Nominating Committee), Ms. Garay is a member of the New York State Bar Association and served in many positions in the American Bar Association's Section of Litigation, and won the Star Award for her leadership.
Ms. Garay has arbitrated or mediated numerous disputes (as a neutral) concerning real property transactions, contracts, environmental contamination, insurance coverage, shareholder and LLC disputes (dissolutions, freeze-outs, oppression, breach of fiduciary duty, valuation and derivative claims), employment discrimination, non-competition and other restrictive covenants, and trade secrets, business disputes, insurance coverage and a variety of other commercial matters. She has tried complex cases involving earn-outs, partnership disputes and dissolutions, accounting proceedings, and other commercial and business-to-business litigataion.
As an advocate for clients, Ms. Garay concentrated on commercial litigation including corporate, LLC, and partnership dissolutions, trade secrets and intellectual property, shareholder disputes and business valuations, arbitrations, trials, appeals, employment law, insurance coverage and general business representation. Ms. Garay represents businesses of all sizes and their management. She has served on steering committees charged with planning the course of major pieces of commercial litigation. She has lectured and authored articles on ADR, federal practice, employment law, shareholder rights, restrictive covenants and trade secrets, and advises businesses on these and other corporate and commercial matters.
- Obtained an injunction to protect trade secrets of a manufacturing company and successfully defended the injunction in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit.
- Defeated an application for an injunction against an international jewelry designer based upon claims of trademark infringement and trade secret misappropriation; won motion to dismiss claims of jewelry design copyright infringement
- Tried numerous valuation and shareholder cases involving dissolutions of corporate and partnership entities
- Argued numerous appeals in commercial and employment cases
- Argued and tried cases at administrative agencies
- Tried civil rights and consitutional law cases
NOTABLE EXPERIENCE INCLUDES:
Among her many accolades, Ms. Garay was honored by the Long Island Women’s Agenda in 2008. Ms. Garay was inducted into the “Top 50 Women on Long Island” Hall of Fame in 2003, after being a recipient of the honor for two prior years. She was named Advocate of the Year in 2002 by Women on the Job, and she was the Girl Scouts of Nassau County’s Juliette Low Award of Distinction recipient in 2000. She was the recipient of the 1993 Achievers’ Award in Law from the Long Island Center for Business & Professional Women and inducted in to its Hall of Fame in 2001. She has also been recognized by the American Bar Association’s Section of Litigation, receiving its Distinguished Leadership Award.
Ms. Garay has lectured at the Practicing Law Institute on “Enforcing Confidentiality and Non-Compete Agreements”; presented at the New York Judicial Institute to the State’s Commercial Judges on “Trade Secret and Restrictive Covenant Litigation”; at the Nassau and Suffolk Academies of Law on shareholder dissolutions and “Trade Secrets in the Electronic Age”; and at the Nassau County and Suffolk County Bar Associations on arbitration and mediation and shareholder rights.
Ms. Garay served as the Co-Chair of the Alternative Dispute Resolution Committee of the Nassau County Bar Association, and serves as a member of the Advisory Council of the bar association's Arbitrator and Mediation Panels.
Previously, Ms. Garay was the founder and President and Director of the Long Island Women's Agenda, President, officer and director of Women Economic Developers of Long Island and a Trustee of the Long Island Children's Museum among other not-for-profit organizations.
Ms. Garay received her J.D. from St. John's University School of Law (1978), where she was the Associate Managing Editor of the St. John's Law Review, and received the St. Thomas Award (for the editor who contributed the most to the Law Review). She received her B.A. in English Literature from Binghamton University (1973).
In addition to being active in the Nassau County Bar Association (where she was elected to its Nominating Committee), Ms. Garay is a member of the New York State Bar Association and served in many positions in the American Bar Association's Section of Litigation, and won the Star Award for her leadership.
Publications:
FAQS about Arbitration and Mediation
| faq_about_arbitration_and_mediation.pdf |
How Arbitration and Mediation Can Help Resolve Disputes in Family-Owned Businesses
| how_arbitration_and_mediation_can_help_resolve_disputes_in_family-owned_businesses.pdf |
How Mediating Estate and Will Disputes Can Help Keep Family Peace and Wealth
| how_mediating_estate_and_will_disputes_can_help_keep_family_peace_and_wealth_for_the_nylj.pdf |
How to Choose an Arbitrator
| how_to_choose_an_arbitrator.pdf |
The 10 Biggest Mistakes Business Owners Make in Closely Held Companies
| the_ten_biggest_mistakes_business_owners_make_in_closely_hold_companies.pdf |
What Are the Top 10 Mistakes Attorneys Make in Mediation?
| what_are_the_top_10_mistakes_attorneys_make_in_mediation.pdf |
How to Customize Arbitration for Complex Commercial Cases, published in the New York Law Journal, May 22, 2017,
www.newyorklawjournal.com/id=1202786508803
Events
Watch Erica Garay's webinar, Arbitration 101, at MyLawcle.com