Fred Newman is a founding partner of Hoguet Newman Regal & Kenney. He is a legal generalist with five decades of experience in commercial litigation, business advice, corporate transactions, employment counseling, and alternative dispute resolution. Widely recognized in the New York legal community, Fred received the New York Law Journal’s 2020 Lifetime Achievement award. In addition to being a Benchmark Litigation Star, he has also been named a Litigation Trailblazer by The National Law Journal, a leading lawyer by Chambers USA, and is recognized in the 2025 edition of Best Lawyers in America®.
Fred’s long and celebrated career as a commercial trial lawyer has included many litigation wins. His $126 million trial decision in a precedent-setting trademark licensing suit involving royalties to be paid for using the iconic Palm restaurant intellectual property was unanimously affirmed in May 2020, leading to his nomination by The American Lawyer as a 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’s 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.”
Recently, Fred obtained a rare permanent injunction in an arbitration prohibiting future violations of a confidentiality agreement in a multi-million dollar proceeding. Other notable and precedent-setting HNRK cases in which Fred was lead trial counsel include representing Market Data Corporation against Dow Jones, which successfully settled before trial for $202 million; International Cards Company against MasterCard International for conversion of a letter of credit that resulted in a multimillion-dollar jury verdict for HNRK’s financial services client; a major Brazilian energy equipment supplier in a precedent-setting case in the New York Court of Appeals involving the application of New York law to a Euro-denominated financing; a nationally prominent talent agent in the successful defense of a highly visible and hotly contested suit by Fox News resulting in the creation of the right of first negotiation — commonly used today; and an investor in a five-month bench trial in the New York County Commercial Division involving a partnership dispute over the ownership of a Ukrainian television station.
Fred maintains an active employment counseling and litigation practice, primarily representing financial and media executives and business owners. He has successfully tried discrimination cases and related claims. Fred also advises business owners, executives, and entrepreneurs on business and personal matters.
Fred has always maintained a pro bono presence outside the firm. He served four terms on the First Department Grievance Committee including 5 years as a Panel Chair, and several years as an Adjunct Professor at Fordham Law School. Fred has been a member of the National Advisory Board of the Johns Hopkins Berman Institute of Bioethics since 2006. However, Fred’s most satisfying contributions have been the founding of HNRK and the development of the firm’s next generation of stars.
Education:
- Columbia Law School (J.D.)
- University of Virginia Darden School of Business (Executive M.B.A.)
- Harvard College (A.B. cum laude)
Practice Areas:
- Complex Commercial Litigation
- Employment Counseling and Litigation
Updated Sep 2024
