Philip R. Schatz, Partner
Litigation & Dispute Resolution Group; Director of Recruiting, Professional Development, and Communications
Litigation & Dispute Resolution Group; Director of Recruiting, Professional Development, and Communications
Phil Schatz has spent over 35 years navigating the courts and arbitration forums in New York. He tried his first federal jury trial in 1988, months after finishing his federal district court clerkship, and has directed many trials, arbitrations, and mediations in New York City federal courts, state courts, and arbitration forums.
Phil regularly teaches deposition and trial-advocacy programs National Institute of Trial Advocacy ("NITA") and New York city bar organizations. He is a “Member of the Bench” of the American Inns of Court and rated “AV/Preeminent—High Ethical Standing” by Martindale-Hubbell and has been selected to Super Lawyers for the NYC Metro area.
Phil has a broad knowledge of federal and state criminal law from his past service as a member of the Criminal Justice Act Panels of the Southern District of New York and the Second Circuit Court of Appeals, representing federal criminal defendants who are unable to afford their own lawyers. He was also pro bono Special Assistant District Attorney for the New York County and Kings County District Attorney’s offices for over a dozen criminal appeals.
Phil has been a panel mediator for the Southern District of New York, the Eastern District of New York, the Commercial Division of the New York Supreme Court, and the Appellate Division, First Department. He trains other lawyers in mediation skills.
Phil is a member of the American Bar Association, the New York State Bar Association, the New York County Lawyer’s Bar Association (Federal Courts Committee), the Federal Bar Association (Assistant Editor-in-Chief and member of Editorial Board, The Federal Lawyer; past Vice President for the Second Circuit; past President of the Southern District of New York Chapter (Winner, Presidential Excellence Award)), the Network of Bar Leaders (past Second Vice President), the New York City Bar Association (Litigation Committee; Judiciary Committee; Chair, Anatomy of a Trial), the New York Criminal Bar Association, the American Society of Legal Writers, and the National Institute of Trial Advocacy (Master Advocate Certificate; Faculty Designation).
EDUCATION
Phil received his J.D. degree from the University of Virginia School of Law, where he was an Associate Editor of the Virginia Law Review and a member of the travelling Moot Court team. He received his B.A. degree in English with minors in Mathematics and German from the University of Minnesota.
Following law school he was a law clerk for the Honorable R. Allan Edgar, former Chief Judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee.
Other Activities
Phil is a frequent volunteer in community activities. He has spoken on Law Day to inner-city high school students, acted as webmaster and parish-council member for a church, manned the phones for the PTA, and organized a letter-campaign to fund our courts. He has been the president of a 400+-unit condominium on Central Park West, and a large cooperative apartment building in Riverdale.
Phil’s wife, Kathleen, is a professional flutist for the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra, the Stamford Symphony, and on Broadway. She plays frequently on movie soundtracks and on recordings with other artists. His daughter, Greta, is an honors graduate of Barnard College with a masters from Columbia University, who recently finished a Fulbright program in Uzbekistan.