Steven Shanker

Steven is a business-minded counselor with over 25 years of experience in corporate and employment law.  Steven brings an entrepreneurial lens to every matter, helping business owners, entrepreneurs, and emerging companies navigate complex legal issues while managing risk.  

Steven serves as outside general counsel to select clients, handling day-to-day operational questions, workforce issues, regulatory compliance, and strategic initiatives. He is also engaged on high-stakes litigation and transactional matters across the business life cycle, from formation and growth to disputes and exit events, always with a focus on practical, business-first solutions.  

For some clients, Steven acts as outside general counsel, providing not only representation and legal advice but also assistance in daily operational matters.  For other clients, Steven represents corporate entities on individual matters that run the gamut of litigation and transactional issues.  Steven seeks to develop long-term relationships with business owners because he knows the importance of a strong attorney-client relationship.  

Steven is dedicated to abolishing the billable hour. Steven prefers project rates and favors flat-rate monthly pricing for legal services, including litigation. The value Steven brings to each client is not the time he puts in. It is the value in his strategy and the results produced.  

Steven is a recognized authority on the employee–independent contractor distinction. Steven has a long track record of influential trial and appellate results clarifying this critical issue in the modern gig economy. His substantial courtroom experience includes service as an Assistant Corporation Counsel for the City of New York, where he honed the advocacy skills he now brings to private-sector clients.  

In 2007, New York Governor David Paterson asked Steven to draft legislation creating a fund to provide workers’ compensation benefits for serious injuries and crimes committed against drivers dispatched by livery bases. That work led to the enactment of Article 6G of the New York Executive Law and the creation of the New York Independent Driver Benefit Fund (the “Livery Fund”), resolving a three-decade workers’ compensation problem stemming from the gray area around livery drivers’ employment status. Since the Fund’s launch on January 1, 2010, Steven has served as its outside General Counsel.  

Outside of the law, Steven is a history buff who also enjoys playing guitar, painting landscapes, gardening, and riding Harley-Davidson motorcycles.

Education

• Western New England University School of Law, J.D., cum laude (1997)
• Lehigh University, B.A. Political Science (1994)
• The Peddie School (1990)

Accolades