Jon D.
Lichtenstein
Partner
Jon Lichtenstein represents owners and operators of commercial buildings, nursing homes and assisted living facilities, facility managers, project and construction managers, commercial tradesman and manufacturers. He advises clients on a range of matters, including insurance coverage, products liability, professional liability, premises liability, commercial litigation, toxic torts and employment litigation, including claims of fraud, negligent misrepresentation, breach of contract, discriminatory hiring practices, breach of fiduciary duty and negligent hiring and supervision.
In 2013 Jon represented New York Crane & Equipment Corp. (NY Crane) and its insurance carrier National Interstate in an action arising out of the 2008 tower crane collapse on 91st Street in Manhattan which caused two fatalities and millions of dollars of property damage. Jon ultimately won a judgment which required the insurance carrier of Sorbara Construction Corp., who rented the crane from NY Crane, to pay for NY Crane’s defense in what turned out to be the longest trial in New York Supreme Court history. The trial stretched for more than 120 days of arguments and testimony with various construction and scientific experts and accident reconstructions, resulting in a $96 million verdict for the estate of the decedents.
Jon regularly contributes articles to the New York Law Journal. He has lectured to insurance companies on New York Labor Law and Asbestos litigation and recently wrote and delivered a CLE accredited lecture “Recent Developments in Mold Litigation.” Jon is a member of the Science and the Law Committee for the New York City Bar Association and co-chair of the Cyborg Law sub-committee. He moderated a panel discussion, “The New Suspect Class: Cyborgs – Should Damage to an Advanced Prosthetic be Personal Injury or Property Damage?” with industry leading scientists, legal scholars, business leaders and ethicists at the New York City Bar Association. Jon maintains a blog entitled the Rights of Cyborgs.
Jon is local counsel to CBRE, Inc., the world’s premier, full-service real estate services company with annual revenues of $11 billion, as well as local counsel to Patina Group, Inc. operator of 60 restaurants and food service operations in performing arts centers in New York and Los Angeles. For 15 years he was defense counsel to Compass Group, USA, Inc. and its many subsidiaries, the largest food services company in the world, with annual revenues of more than $20 billion a year.
Jon was selected to the 2014, 2015 and 2016 New York Metro Super Lawyers list and was an AI Legal Award winner in 2015 and 2016. He is admitted to the U.S. Second Circuit, District Court, Eastern District of New York, and U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York.
Jon lives in Greenwich Village with his wife Elissa, an author and graphic designer, and their two children.
Lectured to insurance companies on New York Labor Law and Asbestos litigation
CLE accredited lecture “Recent Developments in Mold Litigation.”
New York Law Journal
“Updating Tort Law for Advances in Prosthetics” August 28, 2015; re-printed by the American Bar Association in its Fall 2015 Tort Trial & Insurance Practice Section Newsletter.
“Rights of Cyborgs: Is Damage to a Prosthetic Personal Injury”, March 25, 2015.
“Beyond Paternity: Future of Genetic Testing in Personal Injury Litigation,” July 31, 2012.
“Is it True That Estoppel Cannot Create Coverage? That May Depend if You Are in the First Department or the Second Department,” September 23, 2010
“No Duty to Defend Insured Against Affirmative Defense of Offset,” October 6, 2009.
“First Department Decisions in Conflict Over ‘Other Insurance’ Provisions,” July 13, 2009.
“The case Against McDonald’s: Teens Take on Corporate Giant,” April 4, 2003
“Obtaining Academic Records of Non-Parties in Lead Paint Cases,” August 18, 1998.
“The Health Insurer’s Fight to Intervene,” March 18, 1998.
“The Death of Pre-Indemnification in Insurance-Related Litigation,” December 7, 1993.
Other Publications
“The Second Coming of Juarez? The Court of Appeals Once Again Invigorates Lead Paint Litigation” Mealey’s Litigation Report: Lead, Vol. 11. #12
“Non-Party Discovery in Lead-Paint Litigation: The New York Experience”, Environmental Claims Journal, Spring 1999, Vol. 11, No. 3.