After an illustrious legal career in public service as an Associate Justice of the Appellate Division and the Supreme Court, District Attorney, and Prosecutor, Judge Kavanagh is applying his vast experience and knowledge to alternative dispute resolution as a Hearing Officer at NAM. He hears a broad scope of matters ranging from construction, construction defect, consumer, cruise lines, financial matters involving securities, insurance, and personal injury cases, including labor law throughout upstate New York and New York City. Judge Kavanagh also serves as a neutral in Florida where he frequently hears cases.

Justice Kavanagh’s years of experience both on and off the bench have given him familiarity with a wide range of case types, including significant experience in construction matters. His experience in handling construction matters includes the successful mediation of a multi-party construction defect case related to the construction of a commercial condominium property involving several contractors and insurance companies that ultimately settled for a five-figure amount. Justice Kavanagh also mediated and settled a multi-party construction case with claims of negligence in the subrogation of a matter between a condominium complex and multiple plumbing, heating, and mechanical companies, as well as an MEP engineering firm specializing in commercial tenant interiors and infrastructure upgrades.

Justice Kavanagh has also handled several multi-party cruise line matters, such as a series of cases brought against a well-known cruise line by the employees and passengers. The employee grievances were submitted for binding arbitration based on their employment contract and were resolved to their satisfaction. The passenger cases involved a question of whether the accommodations and services agreed to by the parties for the cruise were in fact provided as set forth in the cruise agreement. All of these cases were resolved in a timely and efficient manner. Additional cases handled by Judge Kavanagh include an arbitration involving a multi-car automobile accident, a tri-panel arbitration regarding a breach of contract, and a mass filing concerning alleged consumer fraud.

Judge Kavanagh served the courts for 14 years. He was appointed to the Appellate Division by the Governor of New York State as an Associate Justice of the Appellate Division in the First Judicial Department in Manhattan. Thereafter, Judge Kavanagh served as an Associate Justice in the Third Judicial Department in Albany until his retirement from the bench in December 2012. During his tenure as an Associate Justice, he authored numerous opinions involving significant legal issues raised during litigation generated by the State’s Supreme, County, Family, and Surrogate Courts. Prior to his appointment to the Appellate Division, Judge Kavanagh spent eight years as a trial judge in the Supreme Court, where he presided over complex civil litigation actions concerning construction cases with issues such as contractual, construction defect, and complicated construction issues, as well as labor law related cases involving personal injury. He also handled administrative regulatory reform, contested matrimonial disputes, medical malpractice, negligence, personal injury, product liability, and tax certiorari matters. While on the Supreme Court bench, he ruled on civil matters in Ulster, Albany, Sullivan, Columbia, Greene, and New York Counties.

Prior to that time, Judge Kavanagh was appointed by the Chief Administrative Judge to the NYS Mass Tort Litigation Coordination Panel, and in 2005, he was again appointed by the Chief Administrative Judge to the NYS Advisory Committee on Judicial Ethics, where he served for six years. Judge Kavanagh was a member of both the New York State Bar Association’s committee that studied District Court jury trials and of the Unified Court System’s Drug Court Advisory Committee. Before his appointment to the bench, he served as District Attorney of Ulster County, a position to which he was elected six times, and as an Assistant District Attorney through 1978.

According to the New York Judge Reviews, Judge Kavanagh was given high marks for his demeanor, fairness, and legal knowledge. Some quotes about Judge Kavanagh from Judge Reviews include, “Judge Kavanagh has impressed interviewees with his strong settlement and negotiating skills,” and “He’s a very effective negotiator.” Lawyers interviewed described Judge Kavanagh’s legal knowledge as “excellent,” “He’s a very fair person,” and “His fairness is outstanding.” He has received high praise for his trial management and settlement skills.

In 2013, Judge Kavanagh was retained as a legal consultant by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and was a panelist in a forum held in the Republic of Macedonia on appellate practice and alternative dispute resolution. More recently, he was appointed by the New York State’s Chief Judge to the Statewide Commission on Attorney Discipline.

Judge Kavanagh is available to arbitrate and mediate cases throughout Florida and New York.