Fredric S. Newman

Fredric S. Newman is a founding partner of Hoguet Newman Regal & Kenney, and the firm’s Managing Partner for more than 25 years. He is a legal generalist with five decades of experience in commercial litigation, corporate transactions, employment counseling, and alternative dispute resolution. Fred’s clients have come from a broad range of industries including media, consumer products, software, financial services and hospitality including work on behalf of the Archdiocese of New York. He has represented entrepreneurs, executives and public figures.

Fred’s distinguished career as a commercial trial lawyer is marked by a series of high-profile, precedent-setting wins at both trial and appellate levels.  One of his most notable achievements was a $126 million trial victory in a trademark licensing dispute  over royalties tied to the iconic Palm restaurant brand. That decision was unanimously upheld by the New York State Appellate Division and earned him recognition by The American Lawyer which considered him for the “Litigator of the Week.” Shortly after the trial decision, New York Commercial Division Justice Andrea Masley, who tried the case, ordered defendants to pay $4.6 million in attorney fees and expenses to HNRK for its successful prosecution of the case. In her fees ruling, Justice Masley praised Fred for his leadership on the case, noting that his trial skills were “extraordinary.”

Other notable and precedent-setting HNRK cases in which Fred served as lead trial counsel include: representing Market Data Corporation against Dow Jones, which settled before trial for $202 million; securing a multimillion-dollar jury verdict for International Cards Company in its conversion action against MasterCard International involving a letter of credit; representing an investor in a five-month bench trial in the New York County Commercial Division  concerning a partnership dispute over the ownership of a Ukrainian television station; representing a major Brazilian energy equipment supplier in a precedent-setting case before  the New York Court of Appeals addressing  the application of New York law to a Euro-denominated financing; successfully defending a talent agent in a  high-profile  and hotly contested suit brought by Fox News resulting in the creation of the right of first negotiation — commonly used today; and an executive in his successful NASD (now FINRA) arbitration recovery of a $680,000 bonus from Bank of America Securities that resulted in an oft-cited decision upholding the award and establishing the New York standard of review for arbitration decisions.

Fred regularly counsels corporate owners, executives, and entrepreneurs on both business and personal matters.  He has also held key leadership corporate roles, including serving on the board of directors of a private reinsurance company, being appointed CEO of a public company in dissolution by its primary creditor, and acting as general counsel and secretary of a publicly traded subsidiary of a Fortune 50 company.

Recognition

• Recipient of New York Law Journal’s Lifetime Achievement Award
• ­Best Lawyers in America, 2025-2026
• Named a Litigation Trailblazer by The National Law Journal, 2019
• Named a Litigation Star by Benchmark Litigation, 2019-2026
• Chambers USA, America’s Leading Lawyers for Business “Leading Lawyer” – General Commercial Litigation, New York
• Martindale-Hubbell “AV” Rating

Leadership

• Appellate Division of the Supreme Court, First Department, Grievance Committee and Departmental Disciplinary Committee, Member and Panel Chair (2007-2019)
• ­Berman Institute of Bioethics of Johns Hopkins University, National Advisory Board
• ­Fordham University School of Law, Adjunct Professor
• ­Visiting Professor of Arbitration (Latvia)
• ­Congress of Fellows of the Center for International Legal Studies
• ­Southern District of New York, Mediator
• ­Columbia Law School Association, Director
• ­The Calhoun School, New York City, Trustee
• ­American Corporate Counsel Association, New York Chapter, Founding Director and Vice President
• ­New York Fire Safety Foundation, Director and Secretary
• ­American Bar Foundation, Sustaining Life Fellow
• ­Clean Water/Clean Air Bond Act Committee, Treasurer
• ­New York State Ad Hoc Committee on the Future of Racing

Admissions

• ­   Bar of the State of New York
• ­   U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York
• ­   U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York
• ­   U.S. District Court for the Northern District of New York
• ­   U.S. Court of Appeals, Second Circuit