New York City Corporation Counsel Hinds-Radix Appoints Peter G. Farrell as Chief of the Law Department's General Litigation Division
May 5, 2022
New York City Corporation Counsel Sylvia O. Hinds-Radix today announced the appointment of Peter G. Farrell as Chief of the Law Department’s General Litigation Division. As an attorney at the Law Department since 2002, including most recently as Deputy Chief of the Special Federal Litigation Division, Farrell brings a proven track record resolving major cases resulting in both significant victories and institutional reform to strengthen law enforcement practices at the NYPD. Farrell has received numerous awards throughout his career for his legal acumen and dedicated service. As head of the General Litigation Division, Farrell will oversee hundreds of cases defending the City’s policies and interests in state and federal courts on a wide variety of areas such as constitutional rights, education, and health care. Recent Division matters included successfully defending the City’s mask mandate for students and resolving litigation to provide increased opportunities for the City’s minority high school students to participate in varsity sports. He succeeds Thomas Crane, who retired earlier this year after forty-one years of service to the Law Department.
“As a longstanding member of the Law Department, with decades of experience handling some of the City’s most complex cases, Peter is superbly qualified to oversee this critical division. Through challenging times and cases, Peter has never wavered from his commitment to the values of professionalism and excellence. He will always vigorously protect the interests of New Yorkers, which has been the hallmark of this Office," said Corporation Counsel Hinds-Radix.
“I am honored to be selected by Corporation Counsel Sylvia O. Hinds-Radix to undertake this important responsibility and to continue my commitment and dedication to representing the City of New York,” said Peter G. Farrell, Chief of the Law Department’s General Litigation Division. “I thank all my colleagues, past and present, as I view my accomplishments as a team effort.”
About Peter G. Farrell
Peter has worked at the Law Department since 2002 and has served as a Deputy Chief in the Special Federal Litigation Division since 2014. As Deputy Chief, Peter led the Division’s strategic case review process. Prior to his appointment as Deputy Chief, Peter was Senior Counsel for Complex Litigation and a Senior Counsel / Team Leader in Special Federal Litigation.
While at the Law Department, Peter has defended a number of policy challenges and class actions ranging from defending the NYPD’s Intelligence Bureau against claims of religious profiling to leading the team defending claims arising out of the arrests and detentions during the 2004 Republican National Convention. In that case, his efforts successfully upheld the City’s summons policy under strict scrutiny analysis and also established the leading precedent on law enforcement privilege in the Second Circuit. Peter was also part of the team that prevailed at trial to uphold the City’s subway bag search policy.
Peter has received numerous awards throughout his career for his legal acumen and dedicated service to the City, including the Jeffrey D. Friedlander Excellence in Management and Supervision, New York City Bar Association Municipal Affairs Committee, and Law Department Division Chief awards. Peter has served as a faculty member for the Practicing Law Institute for the past six years on their annual §1983 Civil Rights Litigation seminar and currently serves as the Law Department’s representative on the Local Rules Committee for the Southern and Eastern Districts of New York.
Peter is a graduate of SUNY Buffalo Law School where he was a member of the Buffalo Law Review and previously worked at the firms, Lord Day & Lord, Barrett Smith, and Morgan Lewis & Bockius LLP.
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