The City’s Attorney: What the Corporation Counsel Does

By Stephen Louis

On December 5, 2024, Muriel Goode-Trufant, is expected to be approved by the City Council as New York City’s Corporation Counsel. Ms. Goode-Trufant was nominated for the office by Mayor Eric Adams, and already serves as Acting Corporation Counsel. She appeared before the City Council’s Rules Committee for a confirmation hearing on November 20. As Corporation Counsel, Ms. Goode-Trufant will be the head of the New York City Law Department, one the nation’s largest law offices.

The Corporation Counsel Leads the New York City Law Department

Pursuant to Chapter 17 of the New York City Charter, the legal business of the City of New York is conducted by the Law Department. The head of the Law Department, and the chief legal officer of the City, is the Corporation Counsel, who, as set forth in Charter section 394 “shall be attorney and counsel for the city and every agency thereof and shall have charge and conduct of all the law business of the city and its agencies and in which the city is interested.”

The City of New York is a “municipal corporation” under state law, and thus its attorney is the “Corporation Counsel.” In other local jurisdictions, this person may be known as the City (or Town or County) Attorney, or City Solicitor.

Functions

The Law Department represents the City and all its elected officials, including the Mayor, the City Council, the Comptroller, the Public Advocate and the Borough Presidents, as well as city agencies, in civil litigation, both affirmative and defensive. It also represents the City in juvenile delinquency proceedings brought in Family Court and Administrative Code enforcement proceedings brought in Criminal Court. While most of the office directly handles litigation brought by and against the City, Law Department attorneys also draft and review local and State legislation and agency rules, draft and negotiate contracts and real estate transactions, and prepare municipal financing documents.

More generally, the Law Department’s attorneys provide legal advice to City officials and agencies. For example, the Law Department advises the Mayor on the extent to which the use of emergency powers in a time of crisis is permitted, or whether a particular piece of local legislation may be preempted by federal or state law.

Brief History

Since the adoption of the “Dongan Charter” in 1686, the City has had a person, originally called the City’s Recorder, in charge of the City’s legal matters. The Recorder had other responsibilities as well. Beginning in 1801, with the appointment of the first “counsel to the corporation,” the position as it now exists took shape. At first, the Corporation Counsel was a private practitioner, with the City as a client. The 1849 Charter created the Law Department, with the Corporation Counsel as its elected head. In 1873, the Corporation Counsel became a Mayoral appointee. Since 2019, this appointment has been subject to City Council advice and consent.

While the Corporation Counsel is appointed by the Mayor, is typically considered part of the Mayor’s senior staff, meets with the Mayor on a regular basis, and assists the Mayor in carrying out their broad policy agendas, the Corporation Counsel is not the “mayor’s lawyer” – something that has been made more apparent as a result of the Council’s advice and consent role. (The Mayor has traditionally appointed a “Counsel to the Mayor” or “City Hall Counsel” within the Mayor’s Office.)

Organization

Currently, the Law Department has roughly 800 lawyers and 750 support staff. Its Fiscal Year 2025 budget is about $250 million. It is divided into 18 legal divisions with specialized functions.

Some, such as Administrative Law and Regulatory Litigation, Appeals, Commercial and Real Estate Litigation, and Tort, primarily handle the Law Department’s substantial litigation portfolio – currently over 70,000 active cases. Other divisions, such as Legal Counsel and Risk Management, primarily provide counseling services, while yet others, such as Contracts and Real Estate and Economic Development, primarily work on transactional documents. There are also a number of support divisions and units. These are all overseen by the Corporation Counsel, the First Assistant Corporation Counsel (the equivalent of a First Deputy Commissioner), and several members of the executive staff.

Litigation and Settlement of Cases

The City has a budget line for “Judgments and Claims,” that is, amounts paid as a result of claims of damages from third parties. This amount, over $1 billion a year, goes to pay claims that are settled before litigation begins by the New York City Comptroller, judgments rendered by court verdicts, and settlements between parties after litigation has commenced. While Law Department attorneys handle the conduct of litigation, the Corporation Counsel may not unilaterally settle a case. The Corporation Counsel and the Comptroller must jointly approve any settlement.

The Role of the Law Department and Other Attorneys in City Government The Corporation Counsel represents the City as a whole. While as noted above, the Corporation Counsel represents the City’s elected officials and its other component parts, and while the Law Department employs hundreds of attorneys, there are many other lawyers employed throughout city government. The Mayor’s Office has its own counsel’s office, and the City Council has a substantial legal staff, and other elected officials – the Comptroller, the Public Advocate, and the five Borough Presidents – all have general counsels and other attorneys on staff. In addition, virtually every city agency has some legal staff.

The New Corporation Counsel

Muriel Goode-Trufant has been at the Law Department for over 30 years. After graduating from Temple University School of Law, and working as an associate at a private firm in Philadelphia, she came to the Law Department’s General Litigation Division in 1991. From 2002 to 2015, she was the Chief of the Special Federal Litigation Division, which handles civil rights cases brought against the City in federal court. From 2015 to 2023 she was the Department’s managing attorney, and was appointed First Assistant in 2023. As First Assistant, she had been serving as the Acting Corporation Counsel after Sylvia Hinds-Radix stepped down as Corporation Counsel earlier in 2024.

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Stephen Louis is Distinguished Fellow and Counsel for the Center for New York City and State Law at New York Law School. He was an attorney for the New York City Law Department for over 30 years, last serving as Executive Assistant Corporation Counsel for Legal Counsel.