About Steven
Steven E. Fineman is the Managing Partner of Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein, LLP, resident in the firm’s New York office. Under his leadership, Lieff Cabraser has become a “go-to” firm for plaintiffs’ litigation across multiple bars, including Mass Torts, Antitrust, Securities/ Financial Fraud, Consumer Protection, Product Liability, Employment Discrimination, Data Privacy, and Whistleblower/False Claims Act. This commitment to excellence has led Lieff Cabraser to leadership roles in numerous major cases in recent years, and the firm to wide-spread recognition as one of the premier plaintiff-side litigation firms in the country. For his leadership of the firm, Lawdragon has identified Mr. Fineman as one of the nation’s “100 Managing Partners You Need to Know.”In addition to managing the firm, Mr. Fineman represents plaintiffs in class, group and individual civil litigation in the areas of securities and financial fraud, mass torts, and, consumer fraud. He has been consistently recognized as a top lawyer in his fields by Best Lawyers in America, Super Lawyers, Benchmark Litigation, and The National Law Journal. Lawdragon has repeatedly identified Mr. Fineman as one of the nation’s “500 Leading Lawyers in America,” and in 2022, selected Mr. Fineman as one of 20 “2022 Lawdragon Legends.”Mr. Fineman is a member of the national Board of Directors of the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), is a past co-chair of the ADL’s Global Leadership Council, is a member of ADL’s National Commission, is a member of the ADL’s New York/New Jersey Regional Board, and is a past Chair of the New York/New Jersey Regional Board. In 2021, Mr. Fineman received the ADL New York/New Jersey’s Edward Brodsky Founders Award in honor of Mr. Brodsky’s “vision, dedication, and service” to ADL’s mission.Mr. Fineman is a member of the Advisory Board for Stanford Law School’s Deborah L. Rhode Center on the Legal Profession, and is a frequent guest lecturer at Stanford Law School. Mr. Fineman is a past President of the Public Justice Foundation, which oversees and funds the national public interest law firm, Public Justice, P.C., is a past member of the Board of Directors of the American Constitution Society, and is a past Co-Chair of the American Association for Justice’s Securities Litigation Group.Mr. Fineman is presently the co-chair of the Brandeis University Parents’ Leadership Council and served for nine years on the Board of Trustees of the Packer Collegiate Institute, a K-12 independent school in Brooklyn, NY. Mr. Fineman and his wife, Lori Fineman, were among the co-founders of the Jewish Community Project Downtown, a center for Jewish Life in lower Manhattan.Mr. Fineman has an undergraduate degree from the University of California, San Diego, and earned his law degree from University of California Law, San Francisco. He also attended Stirling University in Stirling, Scotland.
Steven E. Fineman is the Managing Partner of Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein, LLP, resident in the firm’s New York office. Under his leadership, Lieff Cabraser has become a “go-to” firm for plaintiffs’ litigation across multiple bars, including Mass Torts, Antitrust, Securities/ Financial Fraud, Consumer Protection, Product Liability, Employment Discrimination, Data Privacy, and Whistleblower/False Claims Act. This commitment to excellence has led Lieff Cabraser to leadership roles in numerous major cases in recent years, and the firm to wide-spread recognition as one of the premier plaintiff-side litigation firms in the country. For his leadership of the firm, Lawdragon has identified Mr. Fineman as one of the nation’s “100 Managing Partners You Need to Know.”
In addition to managing the firm, Mr. Fineman represents plaintiffs in class, group and individual civil litigation in the areas of securities and financial fraud, mass torts, and, consumer fraud. He has been consistently recognized as a top lawyer in his fields by Best Lawyers in America, Super Lawyers, Benchmark Litigation, and The National Law Journal. Lawdragon has repeatedly identified Mr. Fineman as one of the nation’s “500 Leading Lawyers in America,” and in 2022, selected Mr. Fineman as one of 20 “2022 Lawdragon Legends.”
Mr. Fineman is a member of the national Board of Directors of the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), is a past co-chair of the ADL’s Global Leadership Council, is a member of ADL’s National Commission, is a member of the ADL’s New York/New Jersey Regional Board, and is a past Chair of the New York/New Jersey Regional Board. In 2021, Mr. Fineman received the ADL New York/New Jersey’s Edward Brodsky Founders Award in honor of Mr. Brodsky’s “vision, dedication, and service” to ADL’s mission.
Mr. Fineman is a member of the Advisory Board for Stanford Law School’s Deborah L. Rhode Center on the Legal Profession, and is a frequent guest lecturer at Stanford Law School. Mr. Fineman is a past President of the Public Justice Foundation, which oversees and funds the national public interest law firm, Public Justice, P.C., is a past member of the Board of Directors of the American Constitution Society, and is a past Co-Chair of the American Association for Justice’s Securities Litigation Group.
Mr. Fineman is presently the co-chair of the Brandeis University Parents’ Leadership Council and served for nine years on the Board of Trustees of the Packer Collegiate Institute, a K-12 independent school in Brooklyn, NY. Mr. Fineman and his wife, Lori Fineman, were among the co-founders of the Jewish Community Project Downtown, a center for Jewish Life in lower Manhattan.
Mr. Fineman has an undergraduate degree from the University of California, San Diego, and earned his law degree from University of California Law, San Francisco. He also attended Stirling University in Stirling, Scotland.
Practice Areas
Professional Affiliations
Awards & Recognition
- Lawyer of the Year: Mass Tort Litigation / Class Actions - Plaintiffs, New York City (2016)
- Recognized: Mass Tort Litigation / Class Actions - Plaintiffs
- Practice Area: Litigation - Antitrust
- Practice Area: Litigation - Securities
- Practice Area: Mass Tort Litigation
- Practice Area: Product Liability Litigation - Plaintiffs
- Practice Area: Securities / Capital Markets Law
- Special Focus: Arbitration and Mediation
- Special Focus: Class Actions
- Selected for inclusion by peers in The Best Lawyers in America in field of “Mass Tort Litigation/Class Actions – Plaintiffs,” 2005-2026
- “Lawdragon 500 Leading Litigators in America,” Lawdragon, 2025, 2026
- "Lawdragon 500 Leading Plaintiff Financial Lawyers in America," 2020-2025
- “Lawdragon 100 Managing Partners You Need to Know,” Lawdragon, 2025
- “Lawdragon 500 Leading Plaintiff Consumer Lawyers in America,” Lawdragon, 2019-2025
- “Lawdragon 500 Leading Lawyers in America,” Lawdragon, 2020-2025
- “Lawdragon 500 Global Plaintiff Lawyers," Lawdragon, 2024
- “Legends of the 500,” Lawdragon, 2022
- “100 Managing Partners You Need to Know,” Lawdragon, 2008
- “Super Lawyer for New York Metro,” Super Lawyers, 2006-2024
- “Plaintiffs’ Lawyer Trailblazer,” The National Law Journal, 2023
- “Edward Brodsky Founders Award,” Anti-Defamation League, 2021
- “Game-Changer” in the Practice of Law, University of California, San Francisco Law, 2019
- “Recommended – Dispute Resolution, Securities,” The Legal 500, 2018-present
- “Lawyer of the Year,” Best Lawyers, recognized in the category of Mass Tort Litigation/Class Actions – Plaintiffs for New York City, 2016
- “U.S. Litigation Star,” “National Litigation Star,” “New York Litigation Star,” Benchmark Litigation, 2013-present
- Member, Best Lawyers Advisory Board, a select group of U.S. and international law firm leaders and general counsel, 2011-2012
- “Top Attorneys In Securities Law,” Super Lawyers Business Edition, 2008-present
- Consultant to the Office of Attorney General, State of New York, in connection with an industry-wide investigation and settlement concerning health insurers’ use of the “Ingenix database” to determine usual and customary rates for out-of-network services, April 1, 2008-February 1, 2009
- “40 Under 40,” selected as one of the country’s most successful litigators under the age of 40, The National Law Journal, 2002