About Peter A.
Peter A. Mahler is a partner at Farrell Fritz, P.C., a law firm with offices in New York City and Water Mill, New York. He joined the firm in 2004, bringing experience in business litigation. His practice focuses on "business divorce" cases, involving disputes among co-owners of closely held business entities such as limited liability companies, corporations, and partnerships. He represents both controlling and non-controlling owners, often in family-owned businesses, assisting them in resolving conflicts through negotiation, mediation, and litigation.
Before joining Farrell Fritz, Mahler co-founded Derfner & Mahler in 1992, where he served as a partner until 2004. Prior to that, he was an associate at the firm from 1988 to 1990 and a partner from 1990 to 1992. His legal career began with a clerkship for the Honorable John R. Bartels in the Eastern District of New York in 1982. He earned his Juris Doctor from New York University School of Law in 1982, where he was an editor of the Law Review.
He graduated summa cum laude with a Bachelor of Arts in Law & Society from the University of California, Santa Barbara, in 1977. Mahler is a recognized authority in his field, having authored over 700 articles on business divorce topics, including dissolution and valuation proceedings involving closely held business entities. He also produces a podcast called the Business Divorce Roundtable, featuring interviews with experts in the field. In 2021, he began authoring the Practice Commentaries for the New York Limited Liability Company Law and the Revised Limited Partnership Act for McKinney’s Consolidated Laws of New York Annotated. He has been selected to Super Lawyers from 2013 to 2025, reflecting his professional achievements and peer recognition.
He is a founding fellow of the American College of LLC and Partnership Attorneys and has been qualified as a mediator, serving on the roster of neutrals for the Supreme Court, Commercial Division in New York, Nassau. Suffolk Counties. Mahler is admitted to practice in New York and has extensive trial and appellate experience in state and federal courts, as well as before arbitration tribunals. His practice areas include commercial, real estate, intellectual property, municipal law, employment, and contract litigation. He is fluent in English and conversational in Russian.
