William G Ballaine

A founding member of LCBF, Bill has been privileged to represent a diverse trove of private and governmental clients at the trial and appellate levels in federal and state courts, both in the New York and throughout the United States. His broad-based litigation practice has embraced many areas, including mass disaster litigation, commercial disputes, toxic torts, insurance coverage, railroad litigation, employment discrimination, civil rights claims, labor law, construction litigation, condominium and cooperative apartment litigation, professional liability, and environmental litigation. On the appellate front, Bill has briefed and argued well over 100 appeals during his career, working both as lead counsel and in a cooperative capacity with counsel across the country on difficult, high-exposure cases. His enviable record includes successful results in seven different U.S. Courts of Appeals, in the highest courts of New York State, Connecticut, Delaware and Florida and in the District of Columbia Court of Appeals. His more notable favorable decisions in recent years include: Dahar v. Holland Ladder & Mfg. Co., 18 N. Y 3d 521 (2012), aff'g 79 A.D.3d 1651 (4th Dept 2010) (NY Court of Appeals rejects strict liability claim under N.Y. Labor Law asserted against firm client) Doral v. Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation, 2012 WL 1184340 (4th Cir. 2012) (unpublished opinion) (Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals upholds firm client’s position in mortgage servicing contract dispute that contract damages owed amounted to $124,588, not the more than $10 million claimed by Doral Bank) Nostrom v. A.W. Chesterton Co., 15 N.Y.3d 502 (2010), aff’g 59 A.D.3d 159 (1st Dept 2009) (N.Y. Court of Appeals rejects claim that firm client could be held liable for decedent’s asbestos exposure under N.Y. Labor Law and N.Y. Industrial Code regulations) Kerusa Co., LLC v. W10Z/515 Real Estate Ltd., 12 N.Y.3d 236 (2009) (N.Y. Court of Appeals reverses intermediate appellate court opinion and dismisses common law fraud claim against luxury condominium building sponsor in light of NY Attorney General’s comprehensive disclosure regulations applicable to condominium apartment sales) Deweese v. Nat’l R. R. Pass. Corp., 590 F.3d 239 (3d Cir. 2009) (Third Circuit Court of Appeals affirms right of firm client to contractual indemnity, rejecting indemnitor’s defense of state sovereign immunity) R&G Mortgage Corp. v. Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corp., 584 F.3d 1 (1st Cir. 2009) (First Circuit Court of Appeals affirms claim of firm client that non-party bank failed to intervene timely in client’s injunctive action to terminate its mortgage servicer) A more comprehensive list of Bill’s favorable appellate results over the years may be found in his List of Representative Cases. Bill has enjoyed a “AV Preeminent” rating from the Martindale-Hubbell® Peer Review Ratings™ for almost three decades. Since 2012, Bill has appeared on the Thompson Reuters' Superlawyers.com roster for New York Metro Super Lawyers (Appellate Specialty). He is also an invited member of the Fellowship of the Litigation Counsel of America. During his formative professional years, Bill was privileged to serve as an Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York under Robert B. Fiske, Jr. and Paul Curran. He tried both civil and criminal cases, defended the CIA against Bivens claims stemming from its mail intercept program and was Chief of the Office's Tax Unit. Bill was also detailed to serve as Consulting Attorney for the Nuclear Regulatory Commission's Special Inquiry Group investigating the 1979 Three Mile Island (TMI) accident, where he was responsible for questioning the five NRC Commissioners under oath regarding their emergency response. Bill was then retained to serve as Counsel to the Hart-Simpson U.S. Senate Sub-Committee, which issued a comprehensive investigative report to the full United States Senate on the TMI accident. Practice Areas: Appellate Advocacy Civil Rights, Municipal and Constitutional Law Commercial and Business Litigation Construction Litigation and Counseling Employment Litigation and Counseling General Litigation Mass Tort Litigation Professional Liability Litigation Rail, Bus and Other Transportation Litigation Toxic Tort Litigation Admissions: New York, 1972 U.S. District Court Southern District of New York U.S. District Court Eastern District of New York U.S. District Court Northern District of New York U.S. District Court Western District of New York U.S. District Court of the District of Columbia U.S. District Court District of Connecticut U.S. Court of Appeals 1st Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals 2nd Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals 3rd Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals 4th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals 6th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals 11th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals District of Columbia Circuit Associations and Professional Activities: New York County Lawyers' Association National Association of Railroad Trial Counsel Federal Bar Council Honors and Awards : “AV Preeminent” rating from the Martindale-Hubbell® Peer Review Ratings™ New York Metro Super Lawyer, Appellate Specialty, 2012-2014 Invited Member, Fellowship of the Litigation Counsel of America Education: J.D., Cum Laude, New York University School of Law, New York, New York, 1971 Editor, New York University Law Review, 1970 - 1971 Order of the Coif John Norton Pomeroy Scholar B.A., Brown University, 1967