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Stephen Crane

Hon. Stephen G. Crane (Ret.)

Case Manager
Shakiya Wright-McDuffie
T: 212-607-2700
F: 212-751-4099
620 8th Ave, 34th Floor, New York, NY 10018
swrightmcduffie@jamsadr.com

Biography

A retired Senior Justice of the Appellate Division of the New York Supreme Court and former Commercial Division Justice, Judge Crane wrote a handbook on Case Management for the Justices and practitioners in New York County Supreme Court while he was its Administrative Judge. Through his expertise as a Commercial Division Judge and earlier, general, Individual Assignment Justice, he has built a vast experience of managing and evaluating civil litigated cases.

Representative Matters

  • Neutral evaluation of claim to profits by a non-registered broker who had attempted to secure investors for various ventures of a regulated securities entity
  • Neutral evaluation of the merit of an appeal from an order dismissing a complaint pre-answer seeking recission of a gift and imposition of a constructive trust.
  • Neutral evaluation of a defendant’s chances of prevailing in litigation over a termination right in a commercial lease
  • Neutral evaluation of the merit of a potential lawsuit for waste against former directors of a cooperative corporation board
  • Special Master to decide pending discovery motions in action brought by issuer of financial guaranty insurance policies for residential mortgage-backed securitization transactions for breach of loan-level representations and warranties when securitizations began to experience increases in delinquencies and defaults in the underlying mortgages
  • Special master under FRCP 53(a)(1)(c) appointed to decide 14 motions in limine in anticipation of trial of action between competitors for damages for unfair competition and breach of contract
  • Special Referee appointed pursuant to CPLR 3104 in two related actions pending in different counties to supervise all aspects of disclosure in a corporate dissolution proceeding
  • Special Referee appointed pursuant to CPLR 3104 to supervise, during an on-going bench trial, the deposition of a third-party witness and other discovery related to this deposition including the cloning and inspection of the hard drive of his computer in Israel
  • Umpire between competing appraisers of damage to a work of art pursuant to a policy of art insurance
  • Neutral evaluator and one of three former Judges to moot argument in two motions being planned for a pending case involving insurance coverage of a mass tort class action
  • Robert L. Haig Award for Distinguished Public Service, New York State Bar Association
  • Jack Newton Lerner Award for outstanding contributions to Continuing Legal Education, New York County Lawyers’ Association
  • Louis J. Capozzoli Gavel Award, New York County Lawyers’ Association
  • Distinguished Service Award, Law Secretaries & Law Assistants Collegium
  • Harold A. Stevens Jewel Award, New York County Lawyers’ Association–Tort Section
  • Past President, Cornell Law Association and Past Chair, Cornell Law School Advisory Council
  • Past Member, Pattern Jury Instructions Committee of the Association of Supreme Court Justices of the State of New York
  • New York County Lawyers’ Association
    • Co-Chair, Institute on Continuing Legal Education; Chair, History Committee
    • Member: Public Service Awards Committee, Cromwell Award Committee 
    • Past Member: Board of Directors, Executive Committee, Criminal Justice Section (founding co-chair)
  • New York State Bar Association
    • Past Chair, Committee on Civil Practice Law and Rules
    • Member: Commercial and Federal Litigation Section Executive Committee, Dispute Resolution Section Executive Committee
    • Former Member, House of Delegates 
    • Life Fellow, New York State Bar Foundation
    • Member of former Commission on Legal Services for the Middle Income
  • Association of Trial Lawyers of America and New York State Trial Lawyers Association
  • Honorary Board Member, formerly Member of New York Regional Board and its Executive Committee, and Chair of By-Laws Committee, Anti-Defamation League
  • National Center for State Courts: Project Advisory Committee for A Manual for Managing Notorious Cases, 1990-1992
  • Association of Justices of the Supreme Court of the City of New York and Association of Justices of the Supreme Court of the State of New York
  • Member, Board of Justices, First Judicial District
  • Former Chair, Board of Trustees, New York County Public Access Law Library
  • Museum Memberships:  The Guggenheim Museum; The Metropolitan Museum of Art; The Museum of Modern Art; The Frick Collection; The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum; The Museum of Jewish Heritage; Frank Lloyd Wright Association
  • Neutral, International Institute for Conflict Prevention and Resolution (CPR)
  • Justice, Supreme Court, New York County, 1984-2007 (Supreme Court Justice, 1990-2007; Acting Supreme Court Justice, 1984-1989)
    • Senior Associate Justice, Appellate Division-Second Department, 2008
    • Associate Justice, Appellate Division-Second Department, designated 2005
    • Additional Justice, Appellate Division-Second Department, designated 2001
    • Administrative Judge of Supreme Court, Civil Branch, New York County, 1996-2001
  • Judge, Criminal Court, City of New York, 1981-1984
  • Partner, Glass Howard and Crane, New York, 1980-1981
  • Counsel to the Office of Court Administration, New York, 1979-1980
  • Chief Law Assistant, Supreme Court, Appellate Division, First Department, New York, 1976-1979 (Senior Law Assistant, 1966-1976)
  • Associate, Poletti Freidin Prashker Feldman & Gartner, New York, 1963-1966
  • J.D., with distinction, Cornell Law School, 1963
  • B.S., Cornell University, 1960

Counsel Comments

    • "We're impressed with your involvement and the level of your commitment to the process. You not only demonstrate a sterling intellect, but keen understanding of the interpersonal aspects of negotiation."

      -Lawyer for Party
    • "We very much appreciate Judge Crane’s skillful approach and considerable efforts that enabled the parties to reach this settlement."

      -Law Firm Attorney
    • "I don't think that it would be premature to express, once again, our appreciation for your hard and skillful work in connection with the resolution of our case. We had been working on reaching a settlement for several years without success. In three short hours, you helped us work it out. We look forward to working with you again in the future."

      -Law Firm Attorney
    • "I want to thank you for being so instrumental in developing the basis to end this most unfortunate and unnecessary conflict.  Your judicial stature, knowledge of the critical aspects of the law, and capability to assess the relative significance of the factual issues were each vital in the mediation process."

      -CEO Family Business Client
    • "Thank you once again for your efforts... What a truly terrific job I thought you did. I have been singing your praises here since then. You are probably the best mediator we ever had the pleasure of working with. You really pulled a rabbit out of the hat on this one. We didn't think this one was going to settle. You did a superb job. Another round of thanks for you."

      -Attorney for party
    • "It was as painless as possible and Judge Crane deserves to be credited for his objectivity and pleasant manners in a surprisingly strife free situation."

      -Appraiser

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