Schwartzapfel Lawyers Announces New Firm Name: Schwartzapfel Holbrook
For more than four decades, Steven Schwartzapfel has built a law firm dedicated to representing injured workers and families across New York. What began as a single attorney’s mission grew into an institution that has recovered hundreds of millions of dollars for clients and developed a reputation for careful preparation and top-tier representation.
The Schwartzapfel name has become synonymous with tenacious courtroom advocacy, deep knowledge of New York's labor and construction safety laws, and a genuine, family-first approach to client care.
The firm is now entering its next chapter.
Christopher Holbrook has been elevated to Named Partner, and the firm will operate as Schwartzapfel Holbrook. The name change reflects the firm’s continued growth and the leadership role Chris has developed within the practice and the broader legal community.
While the name on the door is changing, the work of the firm remains the same: representing individuals and families across New York City and Long Island who are navigating serious injury, loss, and disputes with insurance companies.
Christopher Holbrook Named Partner
Chris Holbrook focuses his practice on catastrophic injury and wrongful death litigation. Over the course of his career he has secured numerous seven- and eight-figure recoveries for clients, with several cases appearing among the New York Law Journal’s Top Verdicts and Top Settlements.
His work has also earned recognition from organizations including New York Super Lawyers, The National Trial Lawyers Top 100 Civil Plaintiff Lawyers, and the Multi-Million Dollar Advocates Forum.
Within the legal profession, Chris is widely known for his role in training and mentoring trial lawyers. He currently serves as Vice President of the Second Department for the New York State Academy of Trial Lawyers and oversees the organization’s Continuing Legal Education trial skills programs as one of its Deans.
Through those programs he teaches attorneys across New York State on subjects such as jury selection, cross-examination, and proving damages.
Chris also teaches Trial Advocacy at St. John’s University School of Law and has served as an instructor at the Polestino Trial Advocacy Institute. One of the student teams he mentored went on to win the American Bar Association’s National Trial Advocacy Competition.
Before entering private practice, Chris served as a homicide prosecutor in the Nassau County District Attorney’s Office, where he tried serious criminal cases to verdict. That experience continues to influence the way he approaches complex litigation today.
The Foundation of the Firm
The firm’s growth reflects the foundation Steven Schwartzapfel established more than forty years ago. From the beginning, his focus was straightforward: represent injured workers and families with preparation, persistence, and respect for the seriousness of their cases.
Steve’s influence extends well beyond his own firm. He helped found the New York State Academy of Trial Lawyers and has held numerous leadership roles within the New York State Trial Lawyers Association, including serving as President-Elect and later Director Emeritus.
His commitment to the community runs just as deep. Steve, an Eagle Scout, has established scholarships at Pace University Law School and Touro Law School, and founded the Schwartzapfel Lawyers Humanitarian Scholarships for high school students pursuing careers in public service — teaching, social work, nursing, and beyond.
His firm has earned a 99% client satisfaction rate, hundreds of five-star reviews, and a reputation among insurance companies, defense counsel, and judges as a practice that is always prepared, always ready for trial, and routinely achieves among the highest verdicts and settlements in the state. That reputation is not handed out — it was earned, case by case, client by client.
A New Chapter
Adding Chris Holbrook’s name to the firm reflects the next generation of leadership within the practice Steven Schwartzapfel built.
Clients will continue to work with the same team, the same attorneys, and the same support staff they have come to trust. The firm's practice areas — construction site accidents, wrongful death, motor vehicle collisions, workers' compensation, and catastrophic personal injury — remain unchanged.
The only thing that's different is the name on the letterhead, and what it signals: that Schwartzapfel Holbrook is built to serve its clients not just today, but for decades to come.
