Steven M. Charney is the Chairman of the firm and the Managing Partner of the firm’s New York office. He represents the country’s leading contractors, construction managers and developers, and has done so in connection with many of our most highly innovative, vital and ambitious projects nationwide. Peckar & Abramson is known to be the largest firm in the country focusing near exclusively on representation of the construction industry, with offices across the country.
Mr. Charney’s background in both law and construction afford him a unique ability to counsel contractors and developers in such critical areas as risk management and dispute resolution. He is widely sought after as a lecturer on a range of transformative industry issues, delving, for instance, into the complexities of default insurance or the developments in relevant local, state and federal policy.
In addition to an extensive list of successful engagements and results achieved on behalf of his clients as a construction litigator and in drafting and negotiating complex agreements, Mr. Charney also plays a key role in addressing some of the most significant topics facing the construction community. He initiated a study by the Associated General Contractors of America of issues related to mold and the construction industry and served as vice-chairman of the task force that drafted the industry’s first guide to addressing this issue. Mr. Charney was also instrumental in successfully promoting federal legislation that granted $1 billion to provide insurance for the contractors who participated in the World Trade Center recovery efforts.
Chambers USA, Who’s Who in International Construction Lawyers, Best Lawyers in America and New York Magazine are just a few of the publications in which Mr. Charney is regularly recognized as a leader in his field. He is also a fellow in the American College of Construction Lawyers.
Mr. Charney’s Master’s degree from the School of Civil Engineering at the New Jersey Institute of Technology (Construction Management program) and law degree from Seton Hall University were both earned as an evening student. He earned those degrees while working full time for the nation’s largest general building contractor and construction manager in a variety of roles, ranging from superintendent to cost and scheduling engineer to claims and litigation manager. He also holds a bachelor’s degree in accounting from Syracuse University, with a minor in construction technologies.
Practice Areas
- Construction
- Construction Contract Review Program
- Dispute Resolution
Education
- Syracuse University, B.S.
- School of Civil Engineering at New Jersey Institute of Technology, M.S.
- Seton Hall University School of Law, J.D.
Admissions
- New York
- New Jersey
Professional Associations
- American College of Construction Lawyers
- New York State Bar Association
- American Bar Association
- New York City Bar Association
- Associated General Contractors of America (Contract Documents and Risk
- Management Committees)
Awards and Recognition
- Chambers USA
- Who’s Who Legal
- The Legal 500: United States
- Best Lawyers in America
- New York Super Lawyers
- New Jersey Super Lawyers
Associated General Contractors