Ira Lipton Named to City & State New York’s 2024 Trailblazer in Law List
List Recognizes Most Influential Legal Professionals in New York
March 18, 2024—Partner Ira Lipton has been named to City & State New York’s 2024 Trailblazer in Law list, which recognizes New York’s most influential legal professionals. The inaugural list features high-profile elected officials, partners at prominent firms, public defenders, legal scholars, and others who advise or oversee governmental bodies, advocate for policy changes, or argue cases before the highest courts.
For over 40 years, Ira has been litigating cases in federal and state trial and appellate courts, representing the MTA and other government entities in a uniquely broad spectrum of litigation. As a partner in the firm’s Commercial Litigation & Dispute Resolution practice, Ira’s work has ranged from complex construction and lease litigation to suretyship to constitutional and civil rights class action litigation. He has also represented employers in litigation arising under federal and state anti-discrimination and retaliation laws.
Before joining HNRK in 2001, Ira served as senior counsel for litigation for the MTA and as assistant chief in the General Litigation Division of the New York City Law Department. While in public service, he successfully argued Westinghouse v. New York City Transit Authority, a landmark decision upholding the alternative dispute resolution procedure included in MTA’s construction contracts. He also successfully argued Rogers v. New York City Transit Authority, a leading First Amendment case establishing parameters for free expression in public transportation facilities.
His recent accomplishments include: winning the dismissal, sustained on appeal, of a lawsuit by a private property owner against the MTA which sought compensation for the economic impact of the construction of the Second Avenue subway; winning the dismissal of a federal class action suit seeking to mandate the installation of platform barriers in the New York City subway system and the MTA’s commuter lines; and winning summary judgment, including affirmance on appeal, on a contractor’s claim for delay damage in connection with the construction of the Long Island Rail Road terminal in Brooklyn.
Read Ira’s profile here.