Darius P. Chafizadeh
Member

Mr. Chafizadeh is a member of the firm practicing with the Business and Commercial Litigation, Municipalities and Quasi-Governmental Agencies Industry Team, and the Construction and Surety Law and Environmental Law Practice Groups.  Mr. Chafizadeh represents both private and public sector clients, has tried numerous civil and criminal cases to verdict in both state and federal courts and has argued countless cases before state and federal appellate courts.  He represents numerous commercial and governmental clients in all facets of litigation in state and federal court and arbitration proceedings, including contract disputes, fraud litigation, estate litigation, employment litigation, and wrongful death claims.  Mr. Chafizadeh also represents numerous governmental entities in administrative proceedings and civil litigation matters and represents governmental entities in claims brought under the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act of 2000 by religious property owners and the United States Department of Justice.  Mr. Chafizadeh also serves as counsel to a public utility and represents a wide variety of businesses in commercial disputes.  Mr. Chafizadeh began his legal career in the Bronx County District Attorney’s Office where he served for three years as an assistant district attorney in the Felony Trial Bureau.

Representative Matters:

• Represent an international gold exploration company in multi-day international arbitration.

• Represent a leading pharmaceutical advertising company in all facets of business, including transactional work and litigation.

• Represent a commercial real estate developer in litigation alleging breach of right of first refusal and fraud concerning multi-million dollar property.

• Represent a not-for-profit environmental group in environmental review of development of office park.

• Represent a milk distributor in litigation with manufacturer alleging breach of contract.

• Represent a boutique hotel company in all facets of business, including, breach of contract litigation.

• Represented a national supply company related to employment dispute.

• Established Dobbs Ferry Local Development Corporation and represented client in a $15+ million refinancing and bond issuance of outstanding debt for non-profit organization.

• Defended client and police commissioner in one week jury trial in United States District Court concerning alleged wrongful termination obtaining full defense verdict.

At his previous firms, Mr. Chafizadeh represented a leading appraisal management and due diligence firm in numerous lawsuits throughout the United States, including investigations and regulatory actions by the State Attorney General, the SEC and federal banking regulators concerning sub-prime issues.  Mr. Chafizadeh also represented a leading commercial bank in lender liability actions and actions for breach of contract and fraud, and a mortgage lender in a variety of lender liability actions, including defending allegations relating to sub-prime mortgage issues.  At his previous firms, Mr. Chafizadeh also defended a pharmaceutical research company in conjunction with regulatory investigations and represented an import/export company in conjunction with investigation by United States Department of Justice and Department of the Treasury.  

Mr. Chafizadeh also successfully defended a government client as lead trial attorney in multi-million dollar claim to verdict after a three week jury trial in New York State Supreme Court and successfully represented duly appointed Trustees in a “first-impression” litigation appealed to New York Court of Appeals regarding NY EPTL § 11-2.4.