Brian Farkas

Partner

Brian litigates complex commercial disputes.

Brian Farkas Portrait

Brian is a partner in the Complex Litigation group. He represents businesses and large nonprofit organizations in federal and state courts, as well as in arbitration and mediation proceedings.

Before joining ArentFox Schiff, Brian served as a judicial law clerk to the Honorable Robert W. Lehrburger of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York. He also spent six years as an associate at a midsize litigation firm in New York.

Beyond his legal practice, Brian is passionate about teaching. He is an adjunct professor at Cardozo School of Law, where he teaches legal writing to first-year students, as well as upper-level seminars on arbitration and mediation. Multiple graduating classes have voted him “Best Adjunct Professor,” an award he received most recently in 2024.

He is also an adjunct professor at the City University of New York (CUNY), where he teaches undergraduate courses on law, negotiation, and conflict management. In alternating semesters, Brian teaches courses on mediation at Brooklyn Law School and previously served as a clinical instructor for Brooklyn Law School’s Mediation Clinic, training students to resolve disputes in Brooklyn’s Small Claims Court.

His writing on arbitration and mediation has appeared in numerous publications, including the N.Y.U. Journal of Law & Business, Lewis & Clark Law Review, Cardozo Law Review, Harvard Negotiation Law Review, and Northeastern Law Journal.

During law school, he was Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Conflict Resolution, an academic journal dedicated to arbitration, mediation and negotiation scholarship. He was awarded the Andrew S. Zucker Award for Academic Excellence.

Professional Activities

Brian is an active member of the New York City Bar Association, where he serves on the Board of Directors. He also chairs the City Bar’s New Lawyer Institute, which offers career development programming and mentoring for law students and recent graduates.

For the American Bar Association, he previously chaired the Legal Education Committee of the Section of Dispute Resolution, working with staff and volunteers to administer the annual Representation in Mediation Competition – a national moot competition for law students.

Publications, Presentations & Recognitions

​​​​​​Each year from 2016 to 2024, Brian has been named a “Rising Star” by Super Lawyers for Business Litigation.

Some recent publications in law review and trade publications include:

  • “New York’s Proposed Ban on Noncompete Agreements Is Dramatically Overbroad,” The New York Law Journal, December 7, 2023 (with Linda Jackson).
  • Arbitration at the Supreme Court: The FAA from RBG to ACB, 42 Cardozo L. Rev. 2927 (2022).
  • The Life and Death of CPLR 7515: New York’s Attempt to Prohibit Mandatory Arbitration of Discrimination Claims, NYSBA New York Dispute Resolution Lawyer (Summer 2021).
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His recent presentations include:

  • Speaker, “Arbitration Under Attack,” ABA Section of Dispute Resolution, April 12, 2024.
  • Moderator, “A New Day? Ending ‘Forced’ Arbitration of Sexual Assault and Harassment,” Cardozo School of Law, February 21, 2023.
  • Podcast Guest, “How I Lawyer with Professor Jonah Perlin,” March 3, 2023.
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Life Beyond the Law

Brian is a passionate volunteer for Vassar College, his undergraduate alma mater, where he currently serves on the Board of Trustees. Between 2013 and 2018, he was president of the Vassar Club of New York, planning educational and social programs for alumni around the New York area.