Ira B. Matetsky

Partner
Commercial Litigation Department

Admissions:

New York

U.S. Supreme Court

U.S. District Court, Southern, Eastern & Northern Districts of New York

U.S. Court of Appeals, First, Second, Third & Ninth Circuits

U.S. Court of Appeals, District of Columbia Circuit

U.S. Court of Appeals, Federal Circuit

Education:

J.D., Fordham University School of Law

B.A., Princeton University

Memberships:

American Bar Association, Litigation Section; Federal Bar Council

New York State Bar Association, Commercial and Federal Litigation Section

New York City Bar Association

New York County Lawyers Association

Master and Member, New York American Inn of Court

Past Memberships

Member, and Vice President, Board of Education, Baldwin Union Free School District, 1983-1989

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Mr. Matetsky is a partner in the Firm’s Commerical Litigation Department. He is a seasoned trial and appellate attorney and has resolved hundreds of complex commercial, contract, real estate, securities, and employment disputes. He has litigated and arbitrated shareholder conflicts, product liability and class action lawsuits, as well as executive compensation and non-competition matters.

Mr. Matetsky’s prior experience as senior counsel at a major international food and beverage company and a member of the commercial and securities litigation practice of a global law firm informs his approach to cases and clients. He draws upon that ground-level perspective to design strategies and tactics that yield the best possible outcomes.

Mr. Matetsky writes and edits a number of publications devoted to the finer points of legal practice. He is regularly cited as a legal expert by media sources including CNBC, Vanity Fair, The Washington Post, and The National Law Journal.

Mr. Matetsky is the editor-in-chief of the Journal of In-Chambers Practice, the successor publication to In-Chambers Opinions by Justices of the Supreme Court of the United States and is a Master of the New York American Inn of Court.

Outside of the courtroom, Mr. Matetsky has applied his considerable dispute resolution skills as one of 15 elected members – and the longest-serving member – of Wikipedia’s Arbitration Committee.

Prior to joining the firm, Mr. Matetsky was a partner at Ganfer Shore Leeds & Zauderer.

New York Super Lawyers list: 2011-2021

Author, “General Counsels for New York Law Firms – An Idea Whose Time Has Come,” New York State Bar Journal

Co-Editor, The Green Bag Almanac and Reader 2012; Member of the Board of Advisors, 2008-present

Editor, The Journal of In-Chambers Practice, formerly In-Chambers Opinions by the Members of the Supreme Court of the United States, 2005-present

  • Coordinated litigation, as lead counsel, in jurisdictions including the United States, Israel and Curaçao (former Netherlands Antilles) for a group of minority shareholders in an Israeli-headquartered earth-observation satellite company
  • Represented an iconic comic-book writer and editor in intellectual property matters in New York and California
  • Represented New York City cooperatives and condominiums in various litigations, including a suit by a group of tenant-shareholders which sought to enjoin a renovation project, a suit by a tenant-shareholder who sought to enjoin the cooperative from paying for necessary repairs, and disputes concerning governance and elections
  • Represented companies and employees in disputes concerning executive compensation, benefits, and non-competition agreements
  • Represented a New York City condominium in litigation against a commercial unit owner as to a common charge dispute
  • Represented a brokerage firm in defeating a claim by a former broker over calculation of employment compensation
  • Represented a privately held corporation in defense of industry-wide, multidistrict products-liability claims
  • Represented independent directors of a public corporation against class-action shareholder claims