The American Bar Association appointed Leslie A. Berkoff, a partner and chair of the dispute resolution practice group in the Garden City, NY, office of Moritt Hock & Hamroff, to serve as chair of the dispute resolution committee of its business law section.
The mission of the dispute resolution committee is to aid business lawyers in understanding and using alternative dispute resolution processes. The goals of the committee are to focus on education for section members, to encourage interaction between corporate legal departments and private law firms in the development of dispute resolution options relevant to the business needs of clients, and to foster continuing liaison and collaborative efforts with other sections and other committees within the business law section.
Berkoff has an active alternate dispute resolution practice and frequently serves as a mediator and arbitrator. She is on the mediation panels for the Eastern, Southern and Northern Districts of the United States Bankruptcy Courts in New York and the United States Bankruptcy Courts in Delaware and the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, as well as the commercial mediation panel for Nassau County and the Nassau County Bar Association in New York. Additionally, she also serves on the mediation panels for the Bronx Supreme Court and Richmond County Supreme Court in New York.
Berkoff serves as a member of the Second Circuit United States Court of Appeals pro bono appellate mediation panel and is a special master for the Supreme Court of the State of New York, Appellate Division, Second Judicial Department.
Berkoff also serves on the AAA National Roster of Arbitrators. Berkoff serves as a member of the dispute resolution section’s advisory council of the American Bar Association. She is the former co-chair of the ABA’s mediation committee and current co-chair of the ethical issues and ethical standards committee (June 2020 to present) of the dispute resolution section of the New York State Bar Association.
Berkoff is the contributing editor for the Mediation Matters column for the American Bankruptcy Institute and an active member of the organization’s mediation committee. She serves as the chair of the mediation subcommittee of Chapter 11 lawyers and judges advisory committee for the United States Bankruptcy Court, Eastern District of New York.
Berkoff is the former chair of Moritt Hock & Hamroff’s bankruptcy department and maintains a concentration in bankruptcy and restructuring litigation and corporate workouts nationally and locally.
