The Hon. Alan D. Scheinkman’s remarkable legal career as both a judge and litigator include his appointment as the Presiding Justice of the Second Judicial Department of the New York State Supreme Court, Appellate Division. Judge Scheinkman applies his expansive knowledge and experience in his capacity as a Hearing Officer at NAM arbitrating and mediating a broad array of matters including business, commercial, contracts, construction, consumer finance matters, legal malpractice, personal injury, real estate, trusts and estates, and sexual abuse.

Since joining NAM, Justice Scheinkman has mediated several complex construction matters. By way of example, he was selected to mediate a construction matter involving a group of investors who had acquired a site for the development of a new luxury resort hotel. There were claims by the owners against the construction company of fraud due to their slow walking construction on their project, causing the owner to miss a key deadline in their development deal. The claims of alleged slow walking included insufficient staffing, late ordering or non-ordering of materials, diversion of project labor and materials onto the other competing project, while assuring the owners that all was proceeding smoothly. The construction company claimed that there were unexpected site conditions and change orders. Justice Scheinkman was also selected to mediate a claim involving a water treatment plant wherein the construction cost significantly more than budgeted. The contractor claimed that there were unexpected site conditions that drove up the cost. The architect claimed that the contractor did a poor job and that the extra charges were not necessary or covered by the contract. Justice Scheinkman was able to successfully mediate the dispute as to the extra amounts claimed and whether the charges were or were not appropriate.

Judge Scheinkman has extensive experience in arbitrating and mediating construction-related disputes. As County Attorney, he was responsible for all County contracts, including county construction contracts and construction litigation. As to construction litigation, Judge Scheinkman handled significant litigation over claims for extras (by the contractor) and for construction defects (by the County) with respect to the construction of a new airport terminal at the Westchester County Airport, as well as similar claims with respect to the repair and replacement of portions of several county sewage treatment plants and County roads (in particular, the Bronx River Parkway). He also oversaw the bid documents and contract drafting with respect to a number of bridges and roads that had to be repaired on an emergency basis in the aftermath of Hurricane Floyd.

As a trial judge, Justice Scheinkman handled a construction issue involving a major County private country and golf club on a dispute involving the installation of an advanced geothermal heating and cooling system. The Club terminated the contractor during construction. The contractor sued the Club for damages; the Club sued the bonding company on the contractor’s construction bond for the costs the Club incurred in repairing/completing the work and the contractor and architect for malpractice. Justice Scheinkman was able to resolve all claims and finalized the matter before trial.

While in private practice, Justice Scheinkman litigated a case involving a claim of poor construction/constructive eviction. He represented a client who had built a large warehouse-type building for a major retailer. The retailer moved out mid-lease claiming that the space was uninhabitable due to a sinking floor. The issues litigated included the significance of the alleged sinking floor and the integrity of the structure. After discovery, and motions for summary judgment, the case was ultimately resolved for several million dollars.

During his tenure on the Appellate bench, Justice Scheinkman heard a wide variety of appeals including complex litigation matters such as business disputes, labor and employment, partnerships, landlord and tenant, commercial foreclosure cases, business receiverships, business torts (fraud and deceit, usurpation of business opportunities), matrimonial and family law, trusts and estates, defamation, land use and construction, health law, and wage and hour cases. He also created and presided over special panels hearing commercial, matrimonial, estate, and land use appeals.

As the Presiding Justice, Justice Scheinkman oversaw the largest and busiest appellate court in the country hearing matters from three counties in New York City and matters from Nassau, Suffolk, and Westchester counties, as well as four other counties in the lower Hudson Valley. He was responsible for the management of all operations of the courts which are comprised of 21 judges, determined over 4,000 appeals and 12,000 motions annually, and was also responsible for oversight of the discipline and admission of attorneys. Justice Scheinkman was a member of the Administrative Board of the Courts, setting state-wide court policy and also served by designation on the Court of Appeals. As an appellate judge, trial judge, and litigator, he has handled all types of employment cases including breach of contract, trade secrets, confidentiality agreements, covenants not to complete, wrongful termination, discrimination, sexual harassment, and wage and hour disputes.

Additionally, Justice Scheinkman has experience in overseeing numerous matters relating to cybersecurity and data privacy. He handled both civil and criminal cases presenting issues of electronic surveillance and improper access to computer information. A significant matter that Justice Scheinkman arbitrated dealt with the effect of the New Jersey Computer Related Offenses Act in New York State. It was claimed that the defendants had violated the Act by copying the information from the plaintiff company’s computer system and then used the information in a competing business and further alleged that the defendant had violated common law standards of fiduciary duty by copying digital information on his/her employer’s computer system and then using it to compete against the former employer. Further, he has overseen numerous discovery disputes wherein there were claims involving the tampering of computer information.

As a trial judge, Justice Scheinkman handled a large number of construction cases involving change orders and delay claims, including a large construction matter in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, which took place over four weeks. This matter involved the hotel chain and the hotel owner. Justice Scheinkman also heard matters involving a 52-story skyscraper and disputes over the construction of a public school.

In 2006, Justice Scheinkman was elected to the New York State Supreme Court, Ninth Judicial District, where he was immediately assigned to serve as the Justice, Presiding over the Commercial Division. During the next eleven years, Justice Scheinkman heard all manner of complex commercial litigation disputes and presided over jury and non-jury trials and hearings, as well as thousands of motions and case conferences. These included partnership and business disputes, contract disputes, employment termination and discrimination claims, disputes over major construction projects, wage and hour, class actions, landlord/tenant matters, and security class actions. Justice Scheinkman was instrumental in settling a majority of the cases that were pending in the commercial division due to his hands-on approach and relatability to the parties and their counsel. He also oversaw the Residential Mortgage Foreclosure Conference Part which primarily involved cases when a lender sought to foreclose on a home against the borrower.

In addition to his Commercial Division responsibilities, Justice Scheinkman presided over the Matrimonial Trial Assignment Part where he mediated hundreds of cases to settlement. As a result of his extensive experience with matrimonial cases as a litigator, Justice Scheinkman was acutely aware of the enormous stress and emotional toll that the divorce process has on those involved. He worked with both the clients and their attorneys in bringing parties to a mutually agreed-upon resolution so that all could move forward emotionally, financially, and legally. He has authored practice commentaries and a treatise, both of which have been widely cited and relied upon by courts and attorneys.

While serving on the Supreme Court, Justice Scheinkman was appointed Administrative Judge for the Ninth Judicial District where he led several significant initiatives involving facility upgrades, technology implementation, and case management, all during a time of budgetary restraints. He also created and presided over the Westchester County Compliance Part, supervising discovery in all general civil litigation. He previously served as Associate Judge on the Appellate Term for the Ninth and Tenth Judicial Districts where he heard civil and criminal appeals from city, town, and village courts.

Prior to his judicial career, Justice Scheinkman was engaged in private practice and also served as Westchester County Attorney where he handled a wide variety of legal matters and disputes concentrating on commercial, employment discrimination, wrongful termination, matrimonial, and federal litigation.  He was responsible for the bid documents, review, and negotiation of construction contracts and supervised litigation over those construction projects.

As the Westchester County Attorney, he oversaw the county’s compliance with construction contracts, as well as its contractors’ compliance. As a trial lawyer, he tried numerous cases to verdict and represented parties in mediations and arbitrations. His legal career began as a Law Clerk for the Honorable Matthew Jasen, Associate Judge of the New York Court of Appeals.

Justice Scheinkman was recognized by the legal community in 2024 when he was ranked in the Top 10 Individual Arbitrators in the state by the New York Law Journal “Best Of” survey. He was previously designated the #1 Arbitrator in the same prestigious survey. Justice Scheinkman served as an Associate Professor of Law at St. John’s University School of Law, authored and co-authored works on appellate practice and New York law, and has been actively engaged in various Bar Association committees and Statewide Commissions, including the Committee on Pattern Jury Instructions, the Commercial Division Advisory Council, and the Judicial Task Force on the State Constitution. A strong supporter of alternative dispute resolution, Justice Scheinkman advocates for mediation as a means to resolution.

Judge Scheinkman is available to arbitrate and mediate commercial cases throughout the United States.