Commercial Federal Litigation Section Officers

Tracee E. Davis is of counsel at Zeichner Ellman & Krause LLP in New York Cityin the firm’s commercial litigation group.  Ms. Davis has served on the Executive Committee of the Commercial and Federal Litigation Section since 2002 and served as Section Secretary from 2004 to 2005.  Ms. Davis is Chair of the Section’s Diversity Committee and is the former Co-Chair of the Section’s State Court Counsel Committee.  She also served as a member of NYSBA’s House of Delegates from 2004 to 2009.

Ms. Davis’ practice involves complex commercial litigation, consumer class actions, banking, commercial real estate and insurance matters in state and federal court.  She has extensive experience handling disputes in New York’s Commercial Division.  Prior to private practice, Ms. Davis served as the Principal Court Attorney to Justice Charles Edward Ramos of the New York State Supreme Court, Commercial Division in New York  County  and as Senior Court Attorney in the Law Department of the New York State Supreme Court, in New York  County. 

Throughout the years, Ms. Davis has lectured extensively on various topics involving complex commercial litigation and New Yorkcivil practice.  She has been appointed to various task forces, including the New York State Bar Association Task Force on Mandatory Retirement of Judges in 2007 and the New York State Bar Association Task Force on Wrongful Convictions in 2008.  In 2004, she participated in the presentations given to the Justices of the Commercial Division at the New York State Judicial Institute at Pace  University.

 Gregory K. Arenson, Chair-Elect

Mr. Arenson’s pro bono activities include being a co-chair of the New York State Bar Association Task Force on the State of Our Courthouses, whose report was approved June 20, 2009, and a member of the New York State Bar Association Special Committee on Standards for Pleadings in Federal Litigation. He also serves as a mediator in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York. In addition, he is an active alumnus of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, having served as a member of the Corporation, a member of the Corporation Development Committee, vice president of the Association of Alumni/ae, and member of the Alumni/ae Fund Board (of which he was a past chair).

Paul D. Sarkozi, Vice-Chair

Paul D. Sarkozi is a partner at Tannenbaum Helpern Syracuse & Hirschtritt LLP in New York City and a member of its litigation and alternate dispute resolution practice group. Mr. Sarkozi has been a member of the Section's Executive Committee since 2006, is the Chair of the Section's Committees on the Commercial Division and is the former Co-Chair of the Section's Commercial Division Law Report Committee.

A graduate of Yale University and Harvard Law School, Mr. Sarkozi's practice focuses on business litigation and arbitration, both in the United States and internationally, with a particular concentration on disputes in New York's Commercial Division. His experience covers a broad range of matters involving banking, media, technology, securities, contracts, partnerships, real estate, antitrust, and employment disputes, and he has also represented corporations and individuals in U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission investigations.  Mr. Sarkozi has extensive experience in settling business disputes - both in the context of litigation and through mediation. He currently serves as Adjunct Faculty at Columbia Law School, where he teaches the "Negotiation Workshop," and also serves a private mediator and in the Commercial Division of the New York County Supreme Court.

Mr. Sarkozi has also played an active role in the Section's CLE offerings. In 2009, he organized and coordinated several programs for the Section's Spring Meeting.  In 2008, he presented programs on "Piercing the Corporate Veil" and "Conducting Effective Depositions."  Finally, in 2007 Mr. Sarkozi participated in the presentations given to the Justices of the Commercial Division at the New York State Judicial Institute at Pace University. 

Rebecca Hollis, Secretary

Rebecca Hollis is an associate in the Litigation Department of Todtman, Nachamie, Spizz & Johns, P.C., a mid-size, general business law firm with offices in New York, Milan and Paris.  Ms. Hollis focuses her practice on commercial litigation.  Her experience includes representing clients in banking, employment, commercial real estate, breach of contract, and intellectual property matters, as well as in adversary proceedings in bankruptcy matters, in both state and federal court.  Prior to entering private practice, Ms. Hollis served as staff counsel in the Executive Office of the New York State Office of Court Administration, and as junior law clerk to Hon. Ann Pfau, in the Commercial Division of the New York State Supreme Court.

Ms. Hollis has served as faculty for Continuing Legal Education seminars, with a focus on professional ethics and commercial practice, including: “What Young Lawyers Should Know About Practicing in the Commercial Division."  She has been published in legal periodicals, including The New York Litigator, and the New York International Law Review.  Ms. Hollis is a past member of the Committee on Professional Ethics of the New York City Bar Association, and co-chair of membership for the Commercial and Federal Litigation Section of the New York State Bar Association.

James M. Wicks is a partner concentrating in business and commercial litigation. Mr. Wicks represents large and small businesses, financial institutions and individuals in federal and state trial courts, as well as in arbitrations, involving a variety of commercial, technology, real estate, insurance, contracts, banking issues, business torts, business dissolutions and breakups, franchise litigation, corporate governance and derivative and class actions. He has represented developers and landowners in connection with real estate disputes, including sale/leaseback disputes, environmental cleanup actions, foreclosures, broker disputes, boundary and adverse possession disputes. He also counsels and litigates issues involving attorneys and ethics