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About Ben Rubinowitz

Throughout his 30-year legal career, Ben Rubinowitz has established himself as a leading trial lawyer combining dedication with courtroom expertise. He started as a prosecutor, developing trial skills that became his trademark, before representing severely injured plaintiffs in personal injury cases. He joined GGCRBHS&M in 1989.

His meticulous preparation has produced 29 verdicts and over 180 settlements exceeding one million dollars in cases involving car accidents, premises accidents, construction accidents, medical malpractice, civil rights violations, and products liability. His ability to translate complex information into clear jury language has earned respect from judges and expert witnesses alike. He has successfully argued appellate cases before New York's highest courts.

Beyond litigation, Rubinowitz serves as a legal expert, having appeared on Court TV and co-authored trial advocacy columns in the New York Law Journal. He teaches trial advocacy nationally at Harvard, Yale, Emory, Fordham, Hofstra, St. John's, Pace, and Cardozo law schools, plus over 500 continuing legal education programs nationally and internationally. The National Institute for Trial Advocacy appointed him national and regional team leader, and he served as Chair.

Duke University School of Medicine, Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, the American Urologic Association, Mt. Sinai Hospital, NYU School of Medicine, and Mayo Clinic have invited him to lecture physicians about medical malpractice. He lectures to judges at the Judicial Institute and has represented judges before the Judicial Conduct Commission.

He was lead trial attorney in the Metro-North Valhalla train crash, where the jury found Metro-North 71% liable for a train crash resulting in six deaths and numerous injuries; the subsequent settlement exceeded $182 million. His recognitions include being named the #1 attorney in the New York Metro area by Super Lawyers for three consecutive years and Best Lawyers "Lawyer of the Year" six times. He is a member of The Inner Circle of Advocates, the top 100 plaintiff attorneys nationally.

Proven verdicts and settlements

$182 millionSettlement

After a Westchester jury found Metro-North 71% at fault for the 2015 Valhalla grade-crossing disaster, a settlement exceeding $182 million resolved the claims of roughly 30 victims and their families.

Westchester County, NY · 2026Wrongful DeathRead the full story →
$120 millionVerdict

After on-call residents missed a stroke on a CT scan and delayed lifesaving treatment for hours, Gair Gair Conason won a $120 million verdict against Westchester Medical Center for William Lee, the largest medical-malpractice award in the county's history.

Westchester County, NY · 2023Medical MalpracticeRead the full story →
$59.17 millionVerdict

After a methanol "rainbow" demonstration erupted into a fireball and burned 16-year-old Alonzo Yanes over more than 30 percent of his body, Gair Gair Conason won a $59.17 million verdict against the New York City Department of Education and his chemistry teacher.

New York County (Manhattan), NY · 2019Read the full story →
$41.5 millionVerdict

A Queens jury awarded $41.5 million to the widow and four children of Steven Frosch, a 43-year-old New York City sanitation worker crushed between two street sweepers inside a Maspeth garage.

Queens County, NY · 2017Wrongful DeathRead the full story →
$27.5 millionVerdict

After a New York City Transit Authority bus struck and dragged Gloria Aguilar in Manhattan, costing her a leg, Gair Gair Conason won her a $27.5 million verdict, later cut to roughly $18 million on appeal.

New York County (Manhattan), NY · 2009Car AccidentsRead the full story →
$27.5 millionSettlement

Gair Gair Conason secured a $27.5 million settlement from the Diocese of Brooklyn for four boys abused by a parish religion teacher, reported as the largest individual Catholic Church sexual-abuse payout on record at the time.

Kings County (Brooklyn), NY · 2018Read the full story →
Settlement

Gair Gair Conason represented the family of comedian Joan Rivers in a wrongful-death and medical-malpractice case against the Manhattan clinic where she died after a 2014 throat procedure, resolved in 2016 on confidential terms.

New York County (Manhattan), NY · 2016Medical MalpracticeRead the full story →
View all 10 proven verdicts →

Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome. Each case is unique and depends on its own facts.

Practice areas

Education

Hofstra University
J.D., 1981
Boston University
Undergraduate, 1978

Bar admissions & credentials

State Bar of New York, admitted 1982

Litigation record

Ben Rubinowitz is counsel of record on the firm's appellate matters, including the published decisions below — official court records, verifiable and not self-reported.

New York Court of Appeals · 2003
Gair, Gair, Conason, Steigman & Mackauf, New York City (Ben B. Rubinowitz, Rhonda E. Kay and Richard M. Steigman of counsel), for appellant.
New York Court of Appeals · 2021
For appellants: Gair, Gair, Conason, Rubinowitz, Bloom, Hershenhorn, Steigman & Mackauf, New York City (Ben B. Rubinowitz and Richard M. Steigman of counsel). For respondent Esplanade Venture Partnership: Shaub, Ahmuty, Citrin & Spratt, LLP, New York City (Jonathan P. Shaub, Timothy R. Capowski, Christopher Simone, Jennifer A. Graw and Sarah M. Ziolkowski of counsel). For respondents Blue Prints Engineering, P.C., and another: Mauro Lilling Naparty LLP, Woodbury (Katherine Herr Solomon and Caryn L. Lilling of counsel), and Goldstein Law, P.C.
New York Supreme Court, Appellate Division, First Department · 2015
Gair, Gair, Conason, Steigman, MacKauf, Bloom & Rubinowitz, New York City (Ben Rubinowitz and Richard M. Steigman of counsel), for Gregware respondents.
Yvonne Y. v. City of New York
Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York · 2021
Gair, Gair, Conason, Rubinowitz, Bloom, Hershenhorn, Steigman & Mackauf, for appellants
New York Supreme Court, Appellate Division, Second Department · 2011
Gair, Gair, Conason, Steigman, Mackauf, Bloom & Rubinowitz, New York City (Rhonda E. Kay and Richard M. Steigman of counsel), for respondent.
View all opinions →

Awards & recognition

Best Lawyers in America - 'Lawyer of the Year,' New York City Personal Injury Litigation - Plaintiffs (2013, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2024)
Super Lawyers - #1 ranked attorney, New York Metro Area (2024, 2025, 2026)
Super Lawyers - Top 5 Personal Injury (Plaintiff) attorneys, New York Metro
The Inner Circle of Advocates - Member (limited to the top 100 plaintiff trial lawyers in the United States)
American Board of Trial Advocates (ABOTA) - Past President, New York City Chapter
Fellow, International Academy of Trial Lawyers
Fellow, International Society of Barristers
Forbes Advisor - Best Personal Injury Lawyers (2023, 2024, 2025)
National Institute for Trial Advocacy (NITA) - former Chair / national and regional team leader
New York State Trial Lawyers Association - Dean

Other attorneys at Gair, Gair, Conason, Rubinowitz, Bloom, Hershenhorn, Steigman & Mackauf

View firm →

Proven verdicts and settlements from other New York firms

Kramer Dillof Livingston & Moore
Kramer Dillof Livingston & Moore
$172 million · $172 Million Bronx Verdict After EMTs Arrived Without Oxygen or Defibrillator and Told Family to Wait
Rosenbaum Personal Injury Lawyers
Rosenbaum Personal Injury Lawyers
$14.1 million · $14.1 Million Jury Verdict for New York Pedestrian With Traumatic Brain Injury
Weitz & Luxenberg
Weitz & Luxenberg
$10.9 billion · Weitz and Luxenberg Helps Win $10.9 Billion Roundup Settlement for 125,000 Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma Claimants
The Perecman Firm, P.L.L.C.
The Perecman Firm, P.L.L.C.
$9.9 million · Union Laborer's Ten-Foot Fall From a Rolling Scaffold Settles for $9.9 Million
Hill & Moin LLP
Hill & Moin LLP
$5.5 million · $5.5 Million Childbirth Malpractice Verdict Against Lenox Hill Hospital, Later Reversed on Appeal