Cheryl Berger, Esq.

Professional Summary

Cheryl Berger, Esq. is a Partner at Lieb at Law, P.C. with more than twenty years of litigation experience. She represents both plaintiffs and defendants in disputes involving commercial relationships, business ownership, fiduciary obligations, anticompetitive conduct, civil claims, governmental liability, and regulatory issues.

Ms. Berger is known for the depth and thoroughness of her analysis. She examines each matter from every viable angle, including the governing agreements, complete factual record, procedural posture, regulatory framework, insurance considerations, damages theories, fee-shifting provisions, potential counterclaims, third-party claims, evidentiary issues, enforcement options, and appellate consequences.

Rather than relying solely on the most apparent theory of a case, Ms. Berger identifies and evaluates each viable path that may create leverage, limit exposure, expand recovery, reveal additional responsible parties, or alter the direction of the litigation.

Thorough Litigation Strategy

Complex commercial and civil litigation often turns on issues that are not apparent from the initial pleadings. Ms. Berger approaches each matter by developing a complete understanding of the facts, documents, relationships, governing law, procedural history, and business consequences before recommending a strategy.

Her analysis may include:

• Claims and defenses not identified in the initial pleadings
• Contractual notice, indemnification, limitation-of-liability, and fee-shifting provisions
• Additional responsible parties and third-party claims
• Insurance coverage and reporting considerations
• Regulatory and administrative consequences
• Direct, derivative, and representative claim distinctions
• Available emergency and provisional relief
• Damages, offsets, accounting remedies, and equitable relief
• Evidentiary weaknesses and preservation issues
• Discovery opportunities and burdens
• Forum-specific procedural advantages
• Trial, enforcement, and appellate consequences

Ms. Berger evaluates not only whether a legal position is available, but whether pursuing it advances the client's larger objectives. She considers cost, timing, evidentiary burden, operational disruption, reputational impact, insurance relationships, settlement leverage, and the likely response of the opposing party.

Referring attorneys and clients regularly rely on Ms. Berger when a case requires someone who will investigate every viable theory, identify issues that others may overlook, and develop a strategy that accounts for the matter from initial assessment through motion practice, trial, enforcement, and appeal.

Core Commercial and Civil Litigation Focus

Ms. Berger handles commercial and civil disputes where the factual record, procedural posture, contractual framework, and available remedies must be evaluated together.

Napkin Litigation™ and Business Ownership Disputes

Many of Ms. Berger's cases arise from businesses that were formed or operated through informal understandings rather than complete governance documents. These disputes may involve substantial investments of money, labor, intellectual property, industry relationships, or operational expertise, but leave ownership, control, compensation, profit rights, and exit rights unclear.

Ms. Berger handles Napkin Litigation™ matters involving:

• Founder disputes
• Partnership and shareholder disputes
• LLC member disputes
• Passive investor and operator conflicts
• Oral and informal ownership agreements
• Disputed equity interests
• Profit distribution disputes
• Capital contribution disputes
• Management and voting authority
• Unauthorized compensation
• Self-dealing
• Corporate waste
• Books and records demands
• Accounting proceedings
• Minority owner oppression
• Buy-sell agreement litigation
• Forced buyouts
• Business valuations
• Deadlock
• Dissolution
• Direct and derivative claims
• Removal of managers, members, directors, or officers
• Breach of fiduciary duty
• Veil-piercing and personal liability exposure

These matters often overlap with broader business disputes, including claims for accounting, fiduciary breach, forced buyout, dissolution, and control of company records.

Anticompetitive Practices, Class Actions, and Commercial Claims

Ms. Berger handles claims involving anticompetitive practices, unfair competition, market restrictions, coordinated conduct, false advertising, commercial interference, restrictive agreements, and other conduct affecting competition and business operations.

Her practice includes individual and class litigation requiring analysis of extensive factual records, market conduct, business relationships, regulatory frameworks, damages models, and the broader operational consequences of the claims.

Representative matters include:

• Anticompetitive practices
• Antitrust claims and defenses
• Unfair competition
• False advertising
• Class actions
• Restrictive business practices
• Commercial interference
• Market access disputes
• Real estate brokerage class actions
• Contractual and regulatory claims affecting competition
• Business practices alleged to harm consumers or market participants

Arbitration, Appeals, and Complex Motion Practice

Ms. Berger represents clients in New York State courts, federal courts, and before many private arbitration providers. She does not treat arbitration as ordinary litigation in a different room. She studies the governing arbitration agreement, provider rules, arbitrator authority, discovery limits, motion standards, hearing procedures, available interim relief, and enforcement framework before developing a strategy.

Her practice includes:

• Private commercial arbitration
• Industry-specific arbitration
• Arbitrator selection
• Emergency relief
• Forum-specific discovery
• Dispositive motions
• Preliminary injunctions
• Temporary restraining orders
• Complex briefing
• Multi-party litigation
• Class actions
• Trial preparation
• Confirmation and enforcement of arbitration awards
• Vacatur analysis
• Appellate litigation
• Preservation of issues for appeal

Civil Rights and Public Entity Litigation

Before joining Lieb at Law, Ms. Berger spent a significant portion of her career at the New York City Law Department, where she handled major federal civil rights actions and federal and state personal injury litigation.

She has also represented counties, towns, villages, public officials, and other governmental entities throughout New York in civil matters involving:

• Civil rights
• Constitutional claims
• False arrest
• Malicious prosecution
• Discrimination
• Municipal liability
• Personal injury
• Governmental operations
• Public-sector liability
• Regulatory and administrative issues

This experience informs her representation of both public and private entities in complex civil cases involving government action, civil rights allegations, institutional liability, and extensive factual records.

Third-Party Subpoena Representation

Ms. Berger represents businesses, executives, professionals, public entities, private entities, and other non-parties that receive subpoenas in litigation or arbitration.

She evaluates scope, relevance, burden, confidentiality, privilege, proprietary information, electronically stored information, compliance costs, objections, protective orders, and the potential business consequences of responding.

She works to protect the non-party's interests, narrow overbroad demands, preserve confidential information, and minimize operational disruption while meeting applicable legal obligations.

Industries and Clients Represented

• Public entities
• Private entities
• Commercial real estate
• Real estate brokerage
• Insurance
• Property management
• Closely held businesses
• Investors
• Business owners
• Executives
• Professional services
• Construction
• Municipalities and governmental entities
• Regulated businesses

Admissions

• New York State Courts
• United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit
• United States District Court for the Southern District of New York
• United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York
• United States District Court for the Western District of New York

Education

Media and Legal Analysis

Ms. Berger has appeared on television and radio as a legal analyst discussing litigation, antitrust, civil rights, and other significant legal developments.

Referral Counsel Welcome

Attorneys and law firms regularly encounter matters that require additional litigation depth, extensive motion practice, appellate analysis, arbitration experience, or the capacity to manage a large and complicated factual record.

Ms. Berger works collaboratively with referring attorneys and can serve as litigation counsel, co-counsel, appellate counsel, outside litigation counsel, or counsel for a specific phase of a matter. Lieb at Law, P.C. respects the referring attorney's relationship with the client and can tailor its role to the needs of the matter and the referral relationship.

Referring attorneys should understand from this section that Cheryl is particularly well suited for:

• Cases that have become procedurally or factually complex
• Cases requiring extensive motion practice
• Cases involving multiple parties or overlapping legal theories
• Cases requiring appellate planning
• Commercial and ownership disputes
• Anticompetitive practice and class action matters
• Arbitration
• Third-party subpoenas
• Complex civil matters
• Matters requiring a thorough review of every viable claim, defense, remedy, and source of leverage