Gacovino Lake

Steven Gacovino received a bachelor of arts in political science in 1988 from the State University of Stony Brook before earning his degree in law from the Touro College Law Center in 1992. After graduating from law school, he became a founding partner of our firm. Today, Steven Gacovino leads our team of New York personal injury attorneys, providing our clients with the skilled, knowledgeable representation they need to obtain a favorable settlement or verdict.

Steven Gacovino is admitted to practice law in the Federal District Courts of New York and Connecticut. His areas of practice include personal injury, wrongful death, criminal defense, will and estates and real estate law. Steven Gacovino remains active in the legal community and is a member of the following professional organizations:

• Suffolk County Bar Association
• American Trial Lawyers Association
• Queens Bar Association
• Nassau County Bar Association
• New York State Trial Lawyers Association
• New York Bar Association

Edward Lake is one of the founding partners of Gacovino Lake. Mr. Lake grew up working in the garment center in New York City. While learning the various aspects of running a clothing manufacturer, he gained the experience and skills that would ultimately pave the way for founding and running one of the largest Mass Tort practices in the country.

Mr. Lake earned his Bachelor of Science from the University of Maryland in College Park, and then he went on to hold several sales and marketing positions in the high-technology and manufacturing industries. After approximately ten years, Mr. Lake enrolled in the Jacob B. Fuchsburg School of Law at Touro College in Huntington Long Island, New York. While attending, he served on the staff of the Law Review and was presented the prestigious Jacob B. Fuchsburg Oral Advocate Award. It was also there that he would meet his fellow classmate and future business partner, Mr. Gacovino.

Shortly after graduating law school, Mr. Lake and Mr. Gacovino formed the Law Offices of Gacovino and Lake in Suffolk County, New York for the general practice of law. Over the next few years, the firm began to handle more accident cases and less other areas of practice. Through Mr. Lake’s keen vision and savvy marketing, this trend continued and the firm eventually decided that it could serve its clients best by focusing on accidents.

In the mid-90s, the firm licensed the vanity number 1-800-LAWYERS and, through the use of its co-op advertising, helped thousands of injured clients receive the monetary compensation they deserved.

In 2002, the firm expanded into mass torts, representing plaintiffs injured by dangerous drugs and medical devices.

Today, under Mr. Lake’s leadership, Gacovino Lake co-counsels with large and small firms across the nation and has played a significant role in building one of the nation’s largest mass tort portfolios. Co-counsel firms include Levin Papantonio, Girardi Keese, Wagstaf Cartmell, Beasley Allen, and Cory Watson. The lawyers at Gacovino Lake have also participated in Common Benefit work as members of science committees assigned by the plaintiff steering committees in various mass torts, including Avandia, Yaz and transvaginal mesh multi-district litigations.

Gacovino Lake’s time-tested client follow-up system, training, and procedures are the cornerstones of the firm’s success. With call centers in New York, Florida, and Utah, Gacovino Lake has become known for their ability to market for cases and attain the best possible return on investment. Gacovino Lake offers a wide array of mass tort services to other law firms. These include investment opportunities, marketing, lead conversion (on both old and new leads), and trial counsel referral. Through these strategic relationships, they have been able to position the firm as a nationally influential leader in the mass tort industry.

In addition to creating rigorous follow-up systems and highly-trained staff, Mr. Lake has developed a proprietary automated lead communications system called Persist. This advanced software streamlines the lead conversion process that enables firms to retain more clients without adding additional personnel. This has enabled Gacovino Lake to help thousands of injured persons in personal injury, medical malpractice and pharmaceutical litigation and successfully represent multiple clients in recovering compensation from manufactures for their dangerous products, including Vioxx, Avandia, Trans Vaginal Mesh, and Paxil. Some of the claims the firm is currently investigating involve Xarelto, talcum powder, Cymbalta, Zofran, and faulty GM ignition switches.

Mr. Lake shares his knowledge as a regular speaker at events across the country, including events by the American Association for Justice, Mass Torts Made Perfect, the National Trial Lawyers, and PILMMA. In 2014, Mr. Lake received the PILMMA Marketer of the Year award from the Personal Injury Lawyers Marketing and Management Association.

Mr. Lake is currently president of the Judith Lake Charitable Foundation. In 2004 he served as an adjunct professor at Southampton University in Southampton, New York.

Joseph M. Champion III graduated from the College of Saint Rose in 2007 with a Bachelor of Arts where he was a member of the National Historic Honors Society. Joseph then went to Albany Law School of Union University where he received his Juris Doctorate in 2013. His experience in law school ranged from advising Governor Cuomo on proposed legislation and taking the lead with the F.B.I., A.D.A, and Private Investigators in exposing insurance fraud. While at Gacovino, Lake & Associates, Joseph has been an integral part of the firm’s personal injury field where he has been synthesizing pleadings, formulating research, and facilitating trial preparation.

Robert (Bobby) Dallas graduated from University at Albany in 2006 where he majored in Public Law and Policy. He then obtained his Juris Doctorate from Albany Law School in 2009. Mr. Dallas joined our firm in October of 2009, and has been active in some of the largest and most complex multidistrict litigations in our court system’s history, including Yaz/Yasmin, Fosamax, and Avandia.