East Hills resident Steven J. Eisman passed away on Thursday, Nov. 19. He was 61.
According to Howard Fensterman, managing partner of Abrams, Fensterman, Fensterman, Eisman, Formato, Ferrara & Wolf, LLP, Eisman passed away after suffering for several weeks from complications associated with recent surgery. Eisman was the firms executive partner and co-chair of the firm’s divorce and family law practice.
“Steve Eisman was a beloved member of our firm, and he will be greatly missed as a colleague, mentor and friend. Our hearts go out to his wife and children,” said Fensterman.
“Steve was recognized by his peers as one of the most distinguished attorneys on Long Island,” Fensterman continued. “In addition to being named president of the Nassau County Bar Association in June of this year, Steve was an active member of various professional, civic and political organizations. He was a fellow of the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers, delegate-at-large to the executive board of the New York Bar Association Family Law Committee, and member of the NYSBE Matrimonial Committee of New York Family Law Inn of Court. Steve previously served for eight years as a member of the Attorney Grievance Committee for the Tenth Judicial District and was recently appointed by the chief administrative judge of the State as one of only four Long Island attorneys to serve as a member of the statewide Matrimonial Practice Advisory and Rules Committee.”
Fensterman added that Eisman served as chair of the Supreme Court Committee and as a member of the Matrimonial Law and Family Court Law and Procedure Committees. He was also serving on the advisory board for the We Care Fund, a part of the Nassau Bar Foundation, NCBA’s charitable arm.
Samuel Ferrara, co-chair of Abrams Fensterman’s Divorce and Family Law practice, underscored Eisman’s numerous other personal and professional accomplishments, including a pre-eminent AV rating by Martindale Hubbell, and selection as one of the Top Ten Leaders in Matrimonial and Divorce Law by Digital Press.
“Steve was designated a New York Super Lawyer every year since 2008 and he was also been selected by his peers for inclusion in The Best Lawyers in America since 2012,” Ferrara said. “Additionally, Steve was selected by Long Island Business News as a recipient of its Leadership in Law awards in 2012 and in 2014, and Long Island Pulse Magazine named him the Top Legal Eagle in the areas of Divorce, Child, Family & Matrimonial Law.”
Eisman was honored and recognized by various community leaders for his dedication to many charitable, civic and other not-for-profit organizations. He was a recipient of the Nassau County Republican Committee’s Theodore Roosevelt Award for outstanding business community leadership and was the second recipient of the prestigious Rick Keidel Memorial Tribute Award from the NCBA Matrimonial Law Committee. He was also a recipient of the Education and Assistance Corporation’s Distinguished Service and Achievement Award, Court Officers Benevolent Association of Nassau County’s Jurisperitus Award, Diabetes Research Institute Man of the Year Award, East Meadow Chamber of Commerce Man of the Year Award, and was the first recipient of the New York District Kiwanis Past Governor’s Council Distinguished Service Award. Steve has been recognized by the Nassau County Bar Association We Care Fund, the St. John’s University School of Law Alumni Association and the Education and Assistance Corporation.
Eisman was a past president of the Nassau County Jewish Lawyers’ Association, past chairman of the Board of the Education and Assistance Corporation and past president of the Nassau Chapter of the St. John’s Law School Alumni Association.
“While Steve enjoyed a national reputation as a leader in the field of Divorce and Family Law, over the years he made a quiet but most significant contribution to our firm’s growth across a multitude of practice areas and into Manhattan, Rochester, and most recently into Brooklyn,” said Fensterman. “Steve, was an early proponent of tearing down the walls between practice areas within mid-size law firms, and he leaves a legacy at Abrams Fensterman of sharing, integration and camaraderie in the service of reaching client’s goals that will live on for generations.”
Eisman lived in East Hills with his wife, Kathy, and daughter, Jamie, a student at Northwestern University. His son Scott is an associate at Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer in Manhattan. His daughter, Alexandra, is an Assistant District Attorney in Nassau County, and daughter Amanda Seelman, is a student at New York Law School. Eisman is also survived by his daughter-in-law, Nicole and Alexandra’s fiancé, Grant Lieberman.
