Overview
Steve Eckhaus heads McDermott’s New York Executive Compensation group, an experienced team, known for its deep understanding of contracts, executive pay and employment law. Steve has earned a national reputation as a trusted advisor to decision makers. Chambers USA (2020 ed.) quoted the CEO of one of the world’s largest banks, “We have been working with Steven Eckhaus for nearly 4 years. He is a very knowledgeable and experienced attorney who always stands in his client’s shoes and figures out the best solution to the client’s challenges.”
Prior to joining a “big law” firm, Steve founded a boutique law firm. Living by the axiom, “I never lost a case, I just ran out of appeals,” Steve brought and won appeals in the New York Court of Appeals, and in the Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, including Morelli v. Cedel, 141 F.3d 39 (2d Cir. 1998) which opened the federal courts to American employees of foreign employers.
Steve brought and won the first case to hold it was unlawful to discriminate on the basis of motherhood. Matter of Trezza, No. 98 Civ. 2205, 1998 WL 912101 (S.D.N.Y. Dec. 30, 1998) expanding the anti-discrimination protections of Title VII to include parents and other family caregivers.
For several years, Steve served as the personal lawyer for hotelier and real estate investor, Leona Helmsley, who relied upon Steve to handle all of her employment law matters including trials, and to represent her interests in five New York City hotels, dozens of real estate partnerships and the supervisory board of the Empire State Building.
For nearly seven years, under three university presidents, Steve represented the compensation committee of the Big Ten Conference, most notably designing and negotiating three groundbreaking agreements to reasonably compensate exceptional performance by its commissioner.
Prior to joining McDermott, Steve was chairman of the Executive Compensation practice at another, prestigious New York City law firm.
In February 2011, The Wall Street Journal declared that Steve had “emerged as Wall Street’s top executive compensation lawyer.”
Steve is now rated in Chambers USA, Legal 500, U.S. News – Best Lawyers, and, after nine consecutive years in which Human Resource Executive and Lawdragon included Steve in their annual lists of the nation’s top 20 lawyers in Executive Compensation, Employee Benefits and ERISA, Steve was elected to their Hall of Fame.
Recognitions
Community
- Association of the Bar of the City of New York
- Advisory Board, Hastings Law School Center for WorkLife Law
Credentials
Education
Cornell Law School, JD
Cornell University, BS
Admissions
New York
New Jersey
Courts/Agencies
US Supreme Court
US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit
US District Court for the Southern District of New York
US District Court for the Eastern District of New York
US District Court for the District of New Jersey