Kohan Law Group

Bios

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  Michael Kohan

  Principal Attorney

  Attorney Michael Kohan is a graduate of Queens College with a BA in Political Science and dual minors in History and Psychology, where he advanced to the Dean’s List every semester and graduated Magna Cum Laude. Michael went on to receive his Juris Doctor from Hofstra University School of Law, where he was a New York State Bar Association, Trial Lawyer’s Section Statewide Trial Team Champion. As part of his studies, Michael was a student of the late U.S. Supreme Court Justice, Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Prior to founding Kohan Law Group, Michael worked at one of Long Island’s largest litigation firms. In 2018, the Presiding Justice of the Appellate Division, Second Department appointed Michael to the Court’s Committees on Character and Fitness, to which he was re-appointed in 2022 and where he continues to proudly serve. As the founding partner of Kohan Law Group, PC, a boutique, civil litigation firm, Michael has significant experience litigating complex civil litigation matters from inception through trial or settlement. Moreover, Michael proudly volunteers his time as the inaugural member of the personal injury division at Legally Links, a non-profit organization for the needy, including indigent widows and widowers. He has also volunteered his time by speaking regularly at a legal housing clinic in Woodside, NY with a retired Judge of the NYC Civil Court. Since 2015, Michael has been a panelist on the Queens County Bar Association’s annual continuing legal education courses on landlord-tenant law and real estate litigation and he has also presented CLEs on similar topics for the Nassau County Bar Association and Queens County Women’s Bar Association, among other organizations. Among the attendees of these courses have been Judges, attorneys, and real estate professionals. Repeatedly named “Super Lawyer” by Super Lawyers, Michael has experience in many fields, involving both litigation and transactional matters, which has provided him with outstanding foresight and ability to isolate the primary issues in a matter. These skills have resulted in him being appointed as an arbitrator by the Nassau County Bar Association, where he regularly presides in the Nassau County District Court. Michael has also been an Adjunct Professor of Law at Hofstra Law School teaching trial and litigation skills courses. Additionally, Michael serves as President of the Network of Bar Leaders, a coalition of over 50 bar associations in the New York Metropolitan area. He is also the immediate past President of the Brandeis Association of Jewish judges and attorneys in Queens County and a current member of the Board of the Iranian-American Bar Association. During the COVID pandemic, in coordination with various Appellate Division and Supreme Court justices, Michael also co-founded Jewish Bar Alliance NY, an umbrella non-profit organization representing the local Jewish bar associations in the New York Metropolitan area. Finally, Michael is the co-founder of the NYC Legal Referral Network, which has hosted regular events among prominent judges and attorneys in Manhattan and beyond and which has been prominently featured in the New York Law Journal. Michael also supports numerous charitable causes, including the Brandeis Scholarship Fund and the Wounded Warrior Project. In his free time, Michael enjoys traveling, trying new restaurants, and burning those calories playing ultimate frisbee and golf.

  Link: Michael Kohan

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  Steve Gokberk

  Attorney

  Steve brings his vigorous courtroom advocacy and extensive knowledge of personal injury and medical practice law to the Kohan Law Group, following his experience at a prominent law firm. Steve maintains his focus on automobile accidents, construction site accidents, products liability, premises liability, and medical malpractice, priding himself on his involvement on each case from inception to finish. Steve is licensed to practice law in New York, New Jersey, and Federal courts. Steve’s energy, passion, and endless dedication to advocating for his clients has earned him an increasing number of recognitions, including: appointment to the New York State Academy of Trial Lawyers Associate Board, being named in Long Island Business News 40 Under 40, being named a New York Metro Super Lawyers Rising Star for four consecutive years, receipt of the Long Island Top Professional 30 Under 30 Award from the Huntington Chamber of Commerce, receipt of the Top 40 Under 40 Award from The National Trial Lawyers, being named a 40 Under 40 Rising Star from the Armenian Bar Association, receipt of a Certificate of Recognition from the Armenian Bar Association, appointment to the Board of the New York/New Jersey/ Connecticut Chapter of the Armenian Bar Association and co-vice chair of its international newsletter. Steve also recently taught a CLE course entitled “Deposition on a Mission: Skills for Beginners” with the New York State Academy of Trial Lawyers. Steve has obtained many favorable outcomes, by trial and settlement, for his clients, especially in cases of catastrophic loss and injury. His recent verdict in Maurelis v. Gattuso was ranked as a Top 100 Jury Verdict by TopVerdict. His settlements have been published in the New York Law Journal, including the $5,000,000 recovery in Smith, Jr. v. City of Peekskill, which was ranked one of the highest mediated settlements in the New York Law Journal’s “2020 Top Verdicts Settlements Northeast” list and Wilson v. CM Associates Construction Mgt which was included in the “2019 Top Mediated Settlements” list. One of Steve’s most noteworthy legal decisions thus far in his career was in K.M. ex rel. Mobley v. Mobley, 51 Misc.3d 1207(A) (Sup.Ct. 2016), a personal injury case also published in the New York Law Journal. Steve has achieved impressive outcomes in such cases as Sinchi v. Herrera, 2018 WL 556876 (Sup. Ct. 2018), where he was able to prove the defendants were 100% liable before depositions by cleverly relying on and authenticating dash camera footage in his client’s vehicle. Steve began his law career early on. He started off on his high school mock trial team before attending St. John’s University to obtain his B.S. in Legal Studies and Philosophy, where he was also president of the University’s Legal Society. He continued on to St. John’s University School of Law to obtain his Juris Doctor. Outside of the office, Steve possesses an authentic passion for volunteering. As a first generation Armenian-American, Steve is heavily involved with the Society for Orphaned Armenian Relief (SOAR), an international nonprofit organization that provides humanitarian relief to over 2,000 orphaned Armenian children and adults with disabilities. In previous years, Steve was also an active volunteer with the Nassau County Bar Association’s child mentoring program. He also helped to organize volunteer opportunities in his undergraduate program as the president of the St. John’s University Legal Society and participated in a full year externship with the New York Legal Assistant Group, a non-profit providing free civil legal services to New York residents who cannot afford private representation.

  Link: Steve Gokberk

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  Adam Zabary

  Of Counsel

  Adam left a Manhattan law firm and joined Kohan Law Group in 2019, bringing with him his experience in all aspects of commercial and residential real estate litigation and negotiation, with an emphasis on landlord-tenant disputes, as well as general commercial litigation. Adam also has experience in numerous other areas of law, involving civil litigation and transactions, such as personal injury, medical malpractice, matrimonial, and trust and estate litigation. Adam has handled matters in all five boroughs of New York City and Nassau and Suffolk, including appellate courts, and has earned a reputation of being well-versed in the law, yet pragmatic and practical for the purpose of dispute resolution. Adam’s recent career highlights include an appearance in the New York Law Journal for a rare but successful argument in support of a late notice of claim against a municipal entity during the COVID-19 era, CLE courses he taught for the Nassau County Bar Association and Queens County Women’s Bar Association relating to recent changes in landlord-tenant law, COVID-19’s significant impact on landlord-tenant law, procedure, and dispute resolution, force majeure and commercial leasing strategies in a post-COVID world, and notices of claim against municipal entities. Adam has been recognized as a New York Metro Super Lawyers Rising Star. Adam earned his Juris Doctor from Hofstra University School of Law. While a student, Adam clerked for a well-known personal injury and medical malpractice firm, as well as for a former administrative law judge that concentrated in personal injury and estate disputes. Adam earned his B.A. in History from Binghamton University, where he was active in the Chabad Jewish Student Center and served as the business manager for a popular student-run on-campus newspaper. Adam is an active board member of the Brandeis Association and member of the Nassau County Bar Association (NCBA), and has participated in NCBA’s mentorship program, serving local middle school children. In his time outside the office, Adam enjoys spending time with his wife and daughters and is an avid sports fan (Knicks, Mets, and Giants).

  Link: Adam Zabary