Steven B. Malech

As a Partner in the firm’s Litigation Department, Chair of the Fiduciary and Probate Litigation Practice Group and Co-Chair of the Israel Practice Group, Steve’s practice primarily focuses on disputes over the ownership and/or administration of family wealth, including closely held businesses and other substantial assets. While his work typically involves matters arising in the context of disputes involving trusts and/or estates, Steve also handles a variety of business and other commercial litigation matters. His cases frequently involve underlying assets valued in the tens and hundreds of millions of dollars, including assets held in multiple jurisdictions in the United States and/or abroad. For example, Steve is currently responsible for several matters in which the claims or assets at issue are worth between $10 million and $100 million and several matters in which the claims or assets at issue are worth in excess of $100 million. He is responsible for cases pending in courts throughout the United States, including Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Nevada and New York. A number of these matters involve ancillary proceedings in other countries.

Steve is a relationship-builder and trusted adviser. He provides business-based advocacy designed to achieve his clients’ personal, practical, and financial objectives. As a result, he often represents many clients in connection with a wide range of their business and personal matters.

Steve typically represents beneficiaries, fiduciaries, and creditors in disputes involving alleged breaches of fiduciary duty; disputed accountings; will contests; and alleged violations of the Prudent Investor Act and its predecessors. Steve also represents businesses and individuals in a variety of litigation and regulatory matters involving contract, consumer protection, employment, non-compete, and other regulatory disputes.

Since 2015, Steve has been listed in Super Lawyers as a top-rated estate and trust litigation attorney in New York City. He has also received the highest rating from Martindale Hubbel for many years. His numerous presentations about strategies for avoiding disputed accounting proceedings have been delivered to leading trust companies and financial institutions, as well as at The Heckerling Institute. His presentations for continuing legal education providers on will contests, dispute resolution, fiduciary litigation, trust assets in divorce, and conservatorship and other litigation issues have also been reviewed by lawyers throughout the country.

He received his J.D. with honors from the University of Connecticut School of Law, where he served as an associate editor at the Insurance Law Journal. Steve received his B.A. with special honors in psychology from the University of Texas at Austin. He is admitted to practice in Connecticut, the District of Columbia, and New York.