Steven Leigh Kessler is widely quoted and cited in court opinions and media of legal and general circulation nationwide.
NEW YORK, NY, April 25, 2019 /24-7PressRelease/ -- Marquis Who's Who, the world's premier publisher of biographical profiles, is proud to present Steven Leigh Kessler with the Albert Nelson Marquis Lifetime Achievement Award. An accomplished listee, Mr. Kessler celebrates many years' experience in his professional network, and has been noted for achievements, leadership qualities, and the credentials and successes he has accrued in his field. As in all Marquis Who's Who biographical volumes, individuals profiled are selected on the basis of current reference value. Factors such as position, noteworthy accomplishments, visibility, and prominence in a field are all taken into account during the selection process.
Mr. Kessler is a nationally recognized authority in the field of forfeiture law, representing clients in forfeiture and white collar criminal cases in state and federal district and appellate courts nationwide, including before the United States Supreme Court. He is a member of the Joint Rules Committee for the Southern and Eastern Districts of New York with regard to the forfeiture-related local rules and has testified before legislative bodies nationwide on issues related to forfeiture.
Mr. Kessler earned his Bachelor of Arts degree, with distinction, from Cornell University's College of Arts and Sciences in 1978. While at Cornell, he served as a Senior Editor at the Cornell Daily Sun, the acclaimed independent daily publication in Ithaca, New York. He was also a member of the Mortar Board National Honor Society. After a year working with the New York City Council and interning with the white shoe law firm of Stroock & Stroock & Lavan in Manhattan, Mr. Kessler returned to Ithaca for law school, graduating from Cornell Law School in 1982.
Upon graduation, Mr. Kessler joined the Appeals Bureau of the Bronx District Attorney's Office under Mario Merola. There, he handled all aspects of criminal litigation, including appeals, trials and hearings, and arguing cases in New York's Court of Appeals and the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. It was as an Assistant District Attorney that he formulated his interest in forfeiture law. At DA Merola's request, Mr. Kessler became head of the office's Asset Forfeiture Unit, where he supervised and litigated all phases of forfeiture and related matters. In that capacity, he also served as a member of the Forfeiture Law Advisory Group of the New York State District Attorney's Association.
It was at that time that he was contacted by Matthew Bender (now part of LexisNexis), Gould Publishing (now part of LexisNexis) and ClarkBoardmanCallaghan (now part of West Group) to write treatises on the New York and national forfeiture and RICO laws. The result was the publication of Mr. Kessler's two acclaimed and much quoted treatises, Civil and Criminal Forfeiture: Federal and State Practice (West Group 1993 & Supp. 2018), a three-volume treatise analyzing the forfeiture and RICO statutes of all 50 states and the District of Columbia and the major federal forfeiture provisions, and New York Criminal and Civil Forfeitures (LexisNexis 2018), a highly acclaimed one volume handbook for which Mr. Kessler received the Otto L. Walter Distinguished Writing Award from New York Law School in June 2000. In addition, he is a co-author of Asset Forfeiture: A Guide for the Defense (NACDL Resource Manual 2015), and wrote the chapter entitled "Civil and Criminal Forfeiture" in Real Estate Titles (2d ed.) (New York State Bar Association 1998).
His expertise in this niche area of the law has taken Mr. Kessler all over the world. As such, in addition to his membership in the New York and Connecticut Bars, Mr. Kessler is admitted to practice before the United States Supreme Court and has appeared before the United States Courts of Appeals for the First, Second, Third, Fifth and Seventh Circuits and the District Courts in Connecticut, Florida, Illinois, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Texas, Vermont and West Virginia.
A contributor to the New York Law Journal, law reviews and other legal, national and scholarly publications on issues relating to forfeiture and criminal law, Mr. Kessler is the author and Revisions Editor of portions of the Civil Practice Manual (LexisNexis) and ten chapters of the renowned 15-volume treatise, Weinstein, Korn & Miller's New York Civil Practice. He is widely quoted and cited in court opinions and media of legal and general circulation nationwide, including The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, Business Week, The Christian Science Monitor, The Houston Chronicle, The Kansas City Star and the ABA Journal, among others. Mr. Kessler has been selected for inclusion in Super Lawyers and New York's Top Rated Lawyers every year since 2012, and his biography appears in Who's Who in American Law, Who's Who in the East and Who's Who of Emerging Leaders in America, as well as in similar publications. A frequent lecturer at CLE programs, Mr. Kessler has taught New York Practice as an Adjunct Professor of Law at New York Law School since 1994.
In addition to his primary practice, Mr. Kessler has served his community in many ways. From 1988 to 1993, he served as an Administrative Law Judge for the City of New York. For eight years, beginning in 1990, Mr. Kessler also worked as an Arbitrator for the American Arbitration Association. He was the Director of the Paralegal Program at Lehman College for the City of New York from 1985 to 1993, during which time he was a professor there as well. He worked as a member of the planning board for the Bronx Special Olympics from 1985 to 1987. And one of the highlights of his career to date is his work as a mock trial advisor for the New York City Partnership, when he worked with high school students in the South Bronx as part of the New York State trial competition.
Mr. Kessler has lectured at the National Conference of State Legislatures and the Southern Conference of the Council of State Governments, and has testified before the New York State Assembly Codes Committee, the New York State Assembly Standing Committee on the Judiciary and the New York City Council. He is a member of the Forfeiture Abuse Task Force of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, and served as Co-Chair of the Forfeiture Law subcommittee of the New York State Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers. He is also a past Treasurer of the NYSACDL and a past member of its Board of Directors.
In addition, Mr. Kessler served from 1999-2001 as Chair of the 4,000 member General Practice Section of the New York State Bar Association. Between 1989 and 2001, he was the editor of One on One, the General Practice Section's highly acclaimed newsletter, and edited the Section's monthly Fax Update. He served for eight years as a member of the NYSBA's House of Delegates and was Chair of the Association's Special Committee on AIDS and the Law from 1992 to 1996, a multi-professional committee responsible for the drafting and passage of groundbreaking legislation in Albany during what was one of the worst times in this country for those infected with HIV/AIDS. Mr. Kessler co-authored a chapter in HIV/AIDS: A Guide to Primary Care Management (4th ed.) (W.B. Saunders Co. 1998), on the legal aspects of HIV/AIDS.
Mr. Kessler served as a member of the Civil Courts Committee of the Association of the Bar of the City of New York and served for three years as a member of the Board of Directors of the Bronx County Bar Association. As an Arbitrator in the Small Claims Part of the Civil Court of the City of New York, Mr. Kessler served as member of the Board of Directors of the Association of Small Claims Arbitrators. He was a member of the Board of Editors for Manhattan College's Journal of Business from 1985 to 1193. He is a Fellow of the New York Bar Foundation.
Outside of the world of law, Mr. Kessler is passionate about two things: athletics and his family. Both were combined in the early 2000s when one of his children became active in swimming. As his child advanced to elite status, and with his desire to exchange a seat in the stands for a position with a better view of the pool, Mr. Kessler began officiating for USA Swimming. After more than ten years of serving on decks throughout the country, he has now reached the pinnacle of that endeavor as well, certification to officiate all meets, including the Olympics. For his work in the swimming community, in 2016, Mr. Kessler was awarded the Phillips 66 Outstanding Service Award.
In recognition of outstanding contributions to his profession and the Marquis Who's Who community, Mr. Kessler has been featured on the Albert Nelson Marquis Lifetime Achievement website. Please visit www.ltachievers.com for more information about this honor.
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