Mr Paul Monte > Peckar & Abramson, P.C. > New York, United States > Lawyer Profile

Peckar & Abramson, P.C.
1325 AVENUE OF THE AMERICAS, 10TH FLOOR
NEW YORK, NEW YORK 10019
NEW YORK
United States

Work Department

Chair - Client Service Committee

Career

Paul Monte is co-managing partner of Peckar & Abramson’s New York City office and serves on the firm’s Executive Committee. He has practiced construction, public contract and infrastructure law for more than 30 years. Paul has extensive jury and non-jury trial, arbitration, and appeals experience, successfully prosecuting and defending complex commercial disputes on behalf of contractors. He also has significant transactional and project support experience on cutting-edge infrastructure projects, including design-build and public-private partnership (P3) projects.

Paul represents international, national and local civil infrastructure contractors on large and small public and private projects, including bridges, tunnels, highways, process and power plants, airports, utilities, railroads, and high-rise and institutional buildings. As lead counsel, he has prosecuted and defended numerous delay and extra work claims, wrongful termination claims, and multi-district litigation involving construction and material defects.

Paul’s litigation experience helps him guide clients in transactional and general business matters. He provides transactional and project support services, regularly advising contractors during their pursuit of P3 and design-build infrastructure projects, and in the formation of joint ventures. He also advises clients in the area of corporate compliance and ethics, including DMWBE laws and regulations.

Prior to joining Peckar & Abramson, Paul was a partner with Berman, Paley, Goldstein & Monte, LLP. He is a former general counsel to a civil contractor and developer; and acts as outside general counsel to numerous small and mid-size contractors.

Paul has received numerous accolades. In 2017, he became a member of The Moles, and one of the firm’s lead representatives to The Beavers. For the past three years, he has been named to Super Lawyers’ list of the Top 100 New York Metro area attorneys, a ranking designated for those attorneys who ranked at the top of the list in the Super Lawyers selection process. Paul is recognized by Chambers USA as one of the leading construction lawyers in New York and has been regularly awarded Martindale-Hubbell’s highest AV-rating. He is also recognized as a leading construction lawyer by Best Lawyers and was named as their 2022 “Lawyer of the Year” for construction in New York City. Most recently, Paul was named to City & State NY’s 2022 “50 Over Fifty” list.

Paul is active in many local and national construction industry groups and trade associations and has participated in numerous seminars and written articles on construction, public procurement and real estate law. A member of the Association of the Bar of the City of New York, Paul was a member of its Construction Law Committee and Real Estate Law Committee. He is also a member of the American Bar Association, and the Westchester County Bar Association.

Memberships

The Moles

The Beavers

Construction Lawyers Society of America (Fellow)

General Contractors Association of New York (Law & Legislation Committee)

Associated General Contractors of America

Associated General Contractors of America (New York Chapter)

Construction Industry Council of Westchester and Hudson Valley

Design Build Institute of America

New York Building Congress (Transportation and Infrastructure; and Public Building and Procurement Committees)

American Bar Association (Construction Industry Forum, Public Contract Section and Construction Litigation Committee)

New York City Bar Association

Westchester County Bar Association

Society of Construction Law (North America)

Education

Binghamton University, SUNY, B.A., with honors

Brooklyn Law School, J.D., Merit Scholar

Lawyer Rankings

United States > Real estate > Construction (including construction litigation)

(Leading lawyers)

Paul MontePeckar & Abramson, P.C.

Handling various regulatory and transactional matters arising from public and private projects, Peckar & Abramson, P.C. houses ‘major players in the construction industry’ with ‘an expert in every possible topic’. Steven Charney leads the team from New York, regularly representing nationally significant contractors in disputes, and continuing to serve as lead counsel to the Building Trades Employers Association of New York. Co-managing partners of the New York office Paul Monte and Gregory Chertoff’s expertise includes litigating wrongful termination and material defect claims, as well as insurance issues including general liability and builders risk. Other key areas of expertise include arbitration and construction disputes, with Washington DC-based Michael Branca representing clients in state and federal courts. Levi Barrett, and Adam Handfinger, located in the New Jersey and Miami offices respectively, have experience in the negotiation and preparation of contract documents and counseling on dispute avoidance strategies. Ronald Helmuth retired from the partnership in February 2024.