Lisa is a partner with more than 30 years of experience in the field of appellate law, having spent 24 years at the New York State Court of Appeals, the state’s highest appellate-level court. She also clerked in two intermediate appellate courts and served as an appellate litigator in the New York Solicitor General’s office.
As a litigator with significant experience in administrative, business and commercial law, she advises case teams on high-level legal strategy, drafts appellate briefs and critical motions, reviews briefs and motion papers authored by other attorneys, presents oral arguments in trial and appellate courts and prepares other attorneys for oral argument. In addition, she provides appellate consulting services to other firms, assisting them in developing successful litigation strategies and in navigating the complex jurisdiction of the New York appellate courts, particularly the Court of Appeals.
Prior to joining Harris Beach Murtha, she served as Chief Clerk and Legal Counsel to the New York Court of Appeals, the highest-ranking non-judicial position on the state’s highest court. In that role, she led the staff, managed all day-to-day court operations, and provided counsel to the Judges on matters of jurisdiction, procedure, ethics and institutional policy. As chief clerk, she was one of three attorneys who attended the confidential conferences of the Judges, providing assistance as they worked through issues of substantive law and procedure, standards of review, corrective action and the intricacies of the Court’s jurisdiction.
Her unique experience is unmatched by other law firms. During her lengthy tenure at the Court of Appeals, she served under the leadership of three Chief Judges and two dozen Associate Judges. In addition to the role of chief clerk, she held positions on the institutional staff and in chambers, including chief of staff to Chief Judge Janet DiFiore, and Assistant Consultation Clerk and Senior Principal Law Clerk to Senior Associate Judge Victoria A. Graffeo. In those roles, she prepared confidential bench briefs on more than a thousand appeals and assisted with the drafting of hundreds of opinions. Prior to her time at the Court of Appeals, she clerked at the Third and Fourth Departments of the New York Supreme Court, Appellate Division. She also was an appellate litigator in the New York Solicitor General’s office, where she handled more than 75 appeals, representing the governor, the comptroller and numerous state agencies in the Court of Appeals, all four Appellate Division Departments and the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit.
By virtue of her experience in the appellate courts, Lisa possesses unique experience and a comprehensive understanding of appellate jurisdiction and practice, particularly the extraordinarily complex jurisdiction of the New York State Court of Appeals, a knowledge base that is valuable to all Harris Beach Murtha’s practice areas. In addition, Lisa’s unique career has exposed her to virtually every area of New York law that can give rise to litigation and she also has significant experience with federal law by virtue of her prior litigation experience and the many federal claims brought in the New York courts.
Lisa’s broad-based appellate experience is complemented by a deep understanding of state administrative law, including CPLR Article 78 challenges to administrative determinations, having coauthored a chapter on the subject for the Commercial Litigation in New York State Courts treatise edited by Robert Haig.
Likewise, in light of the important role of the Court of Appeals in the development of business and commercial law, she has had significant exposure to complex, high-profile and, in many instances, groundbreaking commercial matters and will share that depth of experience as a member of our Business Litigation Practice Group. Lisa has presented numerous continuing legal education programs on appellate-related and other topics, and, as an adjunct professor at Sage Graduate School, originated and taught a course entitled Mental Health Law, which was a required, graduate-level course for students in the Forensic Mental Health program.