Harris Beach expands its White Plains office with the hiring of two new senior counsel to serve clients in the areas of public finance, economic development, mass torts and business and commercial litigation.
Michael V. Curti is the former corporation counsel for the City of Yonkers and has expertise in all areas of development projects, including planning, zoning applications, environmental reviews under the New York State Environmental Quality Review Act (SEQRA) as well as school law and related proceedings. He also served as general counsel for Yonkers Public Schools. Mr. Curti will serve as senior counsel for the Harris Beach groups representing clients from public finance, economic development and municipalities and local agencies.
Christopher C. Palermo is a senior counsel in the Harris Beach Mass Torts and Industry-Wide Litigation practice group and joins the firm’s Business and Commercial Litigation team. Chris brings 30 years of experience helping clients to resolve complex civil, commercial, and regulatory disputes as well as government investigations across industries. In 2013, the Chief Judge of the State of New York appointed Chris to serve on the Commercial Division Advisory Council, which advises the Chief Judge on matters concerning Commercial Division courts.
“The addition of Michael and Chris to our office significantly expands our capabilities in the areas of commercial and business litigation, public finance, economic development, and municipal law,” said Darius Chafizadeh, office managing partner. “Michael provided years of outstanding counsel to Yonkers, the fourth largest city in New York, and Yonkers Public Schools, one of the state’s largest school districts, on a diverse range of issues from human resources to public finance. During his career, Chris has handled highly complicated and high-stakes litigation for business clients and brings a special expertise in representing manufacturers in federal and state government enforcement actions, consumer class actions, mass tort, and product liability actions. We believe with Michael and Chris on board, we’re well positioned to continue our growth throughout the lower Hudson Valley and downstate region. Coupled with the state-wide resources of Harris Beach, our expertise is second to none.”
About Harris Beach
Founded in 1856, Harris Beach and its subsidiaries provide a full range of legal and professional services for clients across New York state, as well as nationally and internationally. Harris Beach is among the country’s top law firms as ranked by The National Law Journal and is among the 2017 BTI Elite law firms based on in-depth interviews of more than 600 corporate counsel at the world’s largest and most influential companies. Clients include Fortune 100 corporations, privately-held companies, emerging businesses, public sector entities, not-for-profit organizations and individuals. Principal industries Harris Beach represents include education, energy, financial, food and beverage, health care, insurance, manufacturing, medical and life sciences, real estate developers, science and technology, veterinary medicine, and state and local governments and authorities. The firm’s more than 220 lawyers practice among offices throughout New York state in Albany, Buffalo, Ithaca, New York City, Rochester, Saratoga Springs, Syracuse, Melville, Uniondale and White Plains, as well as in New Haven, Connecticut and Newark, New Jersey.