Sarah Steiner
One of New York’s Leading Election Law Practitioners
Sarah K. Steiner
is one of the leading election law practitioners in New York State, representing candidates, nonprofits, civic associations and PACs on the legal aspects of their political activities; she also advises on federal and New York City and State campaign finance law and compliance, as well as related ethical obligations.
Her clients have included candidates at all levels of local, regional and statewide politics, guiding them and their field offices in the mechanics of petitioning, defending and preventing challenges, and taking matters to litigation when necessary at both the trial and appellate levels in state and federal courts, as well as administratively before the NYC Campaign Finance Board and the NYC Board of Elections.
She has represented Congressional, judicial, State Senate and Assembly, and New York City Council candidates, and advised candidates, campaigns, and party officials at all levels statewide.
As a result of her broad and extensive experience, as well as her service as Chair of the New York City Bar’s Election Law Committee, she is frequently called upon by the media to translate the oft-byzantine rules of election law into understandable concepts for both the uninitiated and the public in general. While previously in private criminal practice, Steiner served as a member and then as Chair of the NYC Bar’s Criminal Courts Committee, and as a member of the NYC Bar’s Criminal Justice Operations and Budget Committee, and its Council on Criminal Justice.
Ms. Steiner has created and co-taught at public programs such as the City Bar’s “How to Get on the Ballot in NYC” and “Running for Judge in NYC,” and was a speaker at the NYS Bar Association program “The Path to Victory: Representing a Candidate under New York’s Election Law.”
Although Ms. Steiner has been involved with campaigns and elections since her college days, she also served as an Assistant District Attorney in the Rackets, Arson and Economic Crimes Bureau of the Queens District Attorney’s Office, and was a litigation associate at private law firms including Reavis & McGrath (now Norton Rose Fulbright).
Ms. Steiner has a BA in history and political science from the City University of New York, and is a graduate of the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law. She is admitted to practice in New York, the Southern and Eastern District Federal Courts of New York, and the Supreme Court of the United States.