Christopher L. Van De Water is Senior Counsel to the Firm. Chris vigorously defended numerous high exposure federal court litigations in the Southern District of New York during his tenure as an Assistant Attorney General in the Division of State Counsel, Litigation Bureau, Law Enforcement Department.  As a seasoned trial litigator, Chris has an unblemished record of success consisting of numerous defense verdicts in both the Southern District of New York as well as various venues within the Supreme Court of New York.  Prior to his service within the Attorney General’s Office, Chris served as counsel to the New York City Department of Law, Corporation Counsel, in their Special Federal Litigation Division, where he represented the City in high-profile class actions, multi-million dollar federal litigations and multi-agency fraud and corruption investigations.

In addition to his distinguished career in the public sector, Chris has vigorously defended the rights and interests of private clients during his prior association with the nationally acclaimed law firms Wilson, Elser, Moskowitz, Edelman and Dicker, LLP and Rivkin Radler LLP.  During his combined eight years at these firms, Chris handled hundreds of depositions, filed and won numerous dispositive motions, and has tried dozens of cases in the Supreme Court of the State of New York.  Chris is a tireless advocate on behalf of his clients and has handled a myriad of matters and diverse legal issues including employment and labor law issues, breach of contract, breach of fiduciary duty, product defects, fraud, internet and trademark law cases.