Career

A member of the New York Bar for more than forty-five years, Warren R. Stern spent most of his career as a Partner in the Litigation Department of Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz. His practice centered on complex business disputes involving claims reaching into the billions of dollars, with a focus on complex litigation, including class action defense and settlement.  His practice was national and international in scope. He is a member of the Bar of the Supreme Court of the United States, as well as various federal courts of appeals.

Throughout his years in practice, Mr. Stern helped many clients achieve successful outcomes through settlement. He recognizes that alternative dispute resolution (ADR) methods can be more beneficial to clients than protracted, expensive litigation. Stern Mediation & Arbitration was launched with the aim of helping parties reach fair and durable resolutions to their disputes.

Alternative Dispute Resolution

Mr. Stern has a strong grounding in Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) techniques and principles. He has served as an arbitrator for the Eastern District of New York for many years and, since 2024, has served as a Special Master in the Supreme Court of the State of New York, Appellate Division, First Department — a role in which he has mediated cases arising in a wide variety of contexts. Mr. Stern also serves as a Panel Mediator for the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York. He has completed numerous ADR courses, including Basic Mediation Training and Advanced Commercial Mediation Training offered by the New York City Bar Association, and Comprehensive Training in Commercial Arbitration offered by the American Bar Association.

Biography

Mr. Stern graduated from Columbia College in 1974, summa cum laude, and was elected to Phi Beta Kappa. He subsequently attended Harvard Law School, where he served as Note Editor of the Harvard Law Review, and graduated in 1978 with a J.D., magna cum laude. He served as Law Clerk to the Honorable Henry J. Friendly of the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit.

Alongside his practice at Wachtell Lipton, Mr. Stern held adjunct teaching positions at Harvard Law School, New York University Law School, New York Law School, and Vanderbilt Law School, focusing on corporate litigation.

Mr. Stern's bar association activities include active membership on the Alternative Dispute Resolution Committee of the New York City Bar Association and the American Law Insitute. He was previously a member of the International Human Rights Committee, the Committee on Legal Education, and the Committee on International Litigation of the New York State Bar Association. He also served on the Board of the Lawyers Committee for Human Rights.

Mr. Stern has served his local communities as a member of the Representative Town Meeting in Greenwich, Connecticut, and the Zoning Board of Appeals in Darien, Connecticut, and has been active in several not-for-profit organizations. He currently serves on the Transatlantic Institute Council and Diplomatic Outreach Committees of the American Jewish Committee and is a Trustee of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy. He is a member of the Advisory Board of the Tikvah Fund and has served on the Board of YIVO Institute for Jewish Research and the Board of Visitors of Columbia College.

Mr. Stern makes his home in Greenwich, Connecticut, and Manhattan. He has two grown children and two granddaughters.