NEW YORK, Jan. 13, 2021 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/
-- Alan Mansfield, a beloved
and highly respected New York
litigation attorney who helped shape the New York State Court of Appeals as a 25-year
member of the New York State
Commission on Judicial Nomination, passed away January 11, 2021. He was a member of the
Executive Committee at global law firm Greenberg Traurig, LLP,
where he had also served as the co-chair of the firm's Global
Litigation Practice. Mansfield joined the law firm in 1994 as the
11th attorney in its then nascent New
York City office, and the Commission two years later.
"Alan was the model of excellence and commitment to clients of
the highest level for me and so many others for decades," said
Richard A. Rosenbaum, Greenberg
Traurig executive chairman. "Alan loved his years at Greenberg
Traurig and we loved him. Anyone who knew Alan, knew that excellent
work was his life. We will never forget him, and the Greenberg
Traurig family mourns his death along with his natural family."
Mansfield's legal practice spanned more than 42 years, joining
Greenberg Traurig from Phillips
Nizer, LLP, where he was a protégé of the renowned trial
lawyer Louis Nizer. He was respected
counsel to judges, politicians, and elected officials. His work
centered around complex civil litigation, constitutional law, and
white-collar criminal litigation matters. He represented clients in
diverse industries in litigation matters ranging from product
liability and corporate and securities, to defamation and fraud. He
helped build Greenberg Traurig's respected New York Litigation
Practice, focusing on products liability as well as first amendment
and publishing issues.
"Every judge I know who knew Alan
Mansfield, from the Federal Circuit to the New York State Court of Appeals to the Trial
Courts of New York City, regarded
him as a lawyer of flawless integrity," said Carmen Beauchamp
Ciparick, former Senior Associate Judge of the New York State Court of Appeals and co-chair
of Greenberg Traurig's National Appellate Practice Group.
"Alan was trusted by everyone, revered by even those who were
adversaries, and loved by those of us who have had the privilege to
call him friend," said Edward C.
Wallace, co-chair of the firm's New York City office. "He was an eminent
American and a devoted New Yorker. He was a giant in the law and
his intellect was matched by his skill at finding counterintuitive
but obvious (once he showed the way), perspectives and thus
solutions to thorny legal problems."
Mansfield had many notable cases, including representing
Verizon, Hearst Communications, Inc., U.S. News & World Report,
The Daily News, Valbruna Group, Tishman Speyer Properties, Inc.,
Lorillard Tobacco Company, and R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co., among
others.
Given his success in the courtroom, the impact of his work has
been far reaching. Mansfield was lead counsel in the following
select cases, among his many on behalf of clients:
- New York State Club
Association v. City of New York,
487 U.S. 1 (1988), a first amendment challenge to local law
affecting private clubs.
- Small v. Lorillard Tobacco Company, 94 N.Y.2d 43 (1999), a
class action defense and leading case under New York's deceptive practices act.
- Attas v. Park East Animal Hospital, Inc., 235 A.D.2d 246 (1st
Dept 1997), a defamation defense.
- Fabiano v. Philip Morris, Inc., 54 A.D.2d 146 (1st Dept 2008),
where he argued and won an important decision holding that
individual plaintiffs could not seek punitive damages from the
tobacco companies because of their prior settlement with the
State of New York.
- Gorran v. Atkins Nutritionals, Inc., 464 F. Supp.2d 315
(S.D.N.Y. 2006), aff'd, 2008 WL 2164656 (2d Cir. 2008), a first
amendment defense.
In addition to his stellar litigation career, Mansfield was a
true leader of the bar and a frequent speaker and author regarding
trial practice. At the time of his death, he was a member of the
board of directors of the New York International Arbitration Center
(since 2014), a member of the National Center for State Courts
(Lawyers Committee), the Independent Judicial Screening Panel, the
American Bar Association, the New York
State Bar Association (Executive Committee of the Commercial
and Federal Litigation Section), the Association of the Bar of the
City of New York (Product
Liability Committee; Criminal Courts Committee; Criminal Advocacy
Committee), and the Alternative Dispute Resolution Panel,
New York State Supreme Court,
Commercial Division.
Mansfield was a life fellow of The American Bar Foundation, a
fellow of The New York Bar Foundation, and a mediator in
the United States District Court
for the Southern District of New
York. His philanthropic contributions included serving as a
trustee of Lexington School for the Deaf/Center for the Deaf, since
1987; and as a member of the Board of Directors at Mobilization for
Justice (formerly MFY Legal Services, Inc.), a provider of free
legal assistance to low-income New Yorkers, 1997-2017, serving as a
chair from 2006-2008. He was an instructor at Cardozo Law School,
1980-1982.
His many accolades include being listed in The Best Lawyers in
America, Commercial Litigation; Litigation - First Amendment;
Litigation - Mergers and Acquisitions; Litigation - Securities,
2005-2021; in Benchmark Litigation as a "Local Litigation Star,"
2020-2021, and "National Litigation Star" 2019; in Chambers
USA Guide, 2009-2019; in The Legal
500 United States, 2012-2013 and 2015-2020; and in Super Lawyers
magazine, New York Metro Super Lawyers, 2005-2020, including among
the "Top 100 Lawyers in New York,"
2009-2010 and 2012. He was a member of the team winning The
American Lawyer's "Products Liability Litigation Department of the
Year Award," 2018, a team winning a Law360 "Product Liability
Practice Group of the Year" recognition, 2011, and a Law360"
Appellate Practice Group of the Year," honor, 2010.
Mansfield received his J.D. in 1978 from Duke University School of Law, where he was editor
of the Duke Law Journal. He received his A.B., magna cum laude,
from Brown University in 1975.
Following graduation, he accumulated a long list of admissions. In
addition to being admitted in New
York, he was admitted in the Supreme Court of the United States; U.S. Court of Appeals for
the Second Circuit, the Third Circuit, and the Fourth Circuit; and
before the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, and for the Eastern,
Northern, Southern, and Western districts of New York.
He is survived by his wife Susan and sons Daniel and Adam. The
family will hold a private burial. A memorial service will be
planned when conditions permit.
"Too soon to go, may this brave, strong, and exceptional human
being, our dear friend and colleague, and to many the lawyer we
would ourselves want if we were in trouble and needed wise counsel
with the best judgment, rest in peace," Rosenbaum said.
Media Contact
Lourdes Brezo Martinez, Greenberg
Traurig, LLP, 212-801-2131, martinezl@gtlaw.com
SOURCE Greenberg Traurig, LLP