Stephanie Cooper | New York Divorce & Family Lawyer

Stephanie Cooper has nearly thirty years’ experience in the practice of civil litigation and transactional law. She concentrates her work in contract law with an emphasis on the fine and performing arts, entertainment, and intellectual property law, domestic relations, and employment matters. With a distinguished track record in state and federal motion and appellate practice, Ms. Cooper has argued before the New York state and federal trial and appellate courts, has arbitrated matters before the American Arbitration Association, and is a certified mediator. She prides herself on the presentation of elegant and persuasive written and oral legal argument. She is admitted to practice before the New York and Connecticut Bars.

After beginning her legal career at Edwards & Angell, LLP, and serving as Of Counsel to Moses & Singer, LLP, in 2001 Ms. Cooper founded her eponymous law firm. Her cases range from the breach of a wide variety of contracts (e.g., personal service and employment agreements, non-compete agreements, marital separation, and partnership agreements) to complex conflicts involving such issues as the conversion of fine art and antiques from an art gallery and the misappropriation of the assets of an influential children’s entertainment company. She is well versed in the handling of matrimonial conflicts, business dissolutions and civil rights, defamation and employment disputes.

Ms. Cooper focuses on transactional work in the arts, including theater, television, fine art, and classical music. She drafts and negotiates agreements in many disciplines and has formed entertainment entities, art galleries, and conventional commercial business organizations. Her practice also involves counseling clients on intellectual property issues in the areas of copyright and trademark.

After graduate study in music at Sarah Lawrence College and a national career as a concert pianist, chamber musician, and teacher, Ms. Cooper spent a decade in public relations and press representation for arts institutions and performing artists at Cooper-Grant, Inc., where, inter alia, she directed the North American publication of Macmillan’s epoch-making, 20-volume New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians and served as a national press representative for The Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival. These business experiences led her to the study and practice of law. When she founded her law firm in 2001, she also established The Development Section, an arts advisory service providing guidance in strategic planning, media relations, and professional and business development to arts organizations, individual artists, producers, filmmakers, and entrepreneurs.

A graduate of Sarah Lawrence with a concentration in literature, Ms. Cooper earned a Master of Fine Arts degree in chamber music. She received her J.D. with honors from the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law, where she was recognized as a Belkin Scholar and an Alexander Fellow. As Alexander Fellow, Ms. Cooper served as a judicial law clerk to the legendary Federal Judge Jack B. Weinstein in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York. Upon graduation, she was appointed Adjunct Professor of Legal Writing at Cardozo Law School.

A member of the Board of Trustees of Sarah Lawrence College from 2000 to 2013, Ms. Cooper was appointed to the committee charged with selecting a new President. A member of the College’s Alumnae Board from 2000, she was elected President of the Sarah Lawrence College Alumnae Association from 2005-2009 and chaired the Attorney’s Advisory on Legal Affairs.  Ms. Cooper continues to serve on the Marketing & Communications Committee of the Board of Trustees. She has also served as counsel to the Boards of the New York Film/Video Council, The House/Meredith Monk, and Young Concert Artists, Inc.

Simon and Schuster published Ms. Cooper’s posture and back care book, Get Your Back in Shape, in the United States, as did Thorson’s in Great Britain. Combining her legal, business, academic and arts backgrounds, she has taught Legal and Business Issues in the Arts for artists and professionals at Sarah Lawrence.