Carolyn Kruk Biography
Ms. Kruk is a Senior Counsel at Kishner Miller Himes where she focuses on complex business litigation and real estate-centered disputes. Ms. Kruk regularly represents the interests of condominium and cooperative boards, sponsors, and individual and corporate unit owners/shareholders in connection with a wide variety of litigation, including shareholder/sponsor disputes.
Before joining the firm in January 2022, Ms. Kruk was a Senior Counsel in the General Litigation Division of the New York City Law Department. During her time at the Law Department, Ms. Kruk defended the City of New York and its agencies and employees in federal and state court civil rights litigation challenging City programs and policies in areas such as conditions of confinement, emergency child removals, special education, and architectural and program accessibility for people with disabilities. Ms. Kruk has represented the City and the New York City Police Department in federal litigation brought under the Americans with Disabilities Act, 42 U.S.C. § 1983, Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act, and State and City Human Rights Law.
Prior to joining the City’s Law Department, Ms. Kruk practiced commercial litigation and arbitration with Hogan Lovells US LLP. After law school, Ms. Kruk clerked at the Alberta Court of Queen’s Bench and Alberta Court of Appeal, and completed her articles at Macleod Dixon LLP (now Norton Rose Fulbright), before moving to New York City to obtain a Master of Laws at Columbia University.
Representative Matters
- Counsel for the City of New York and the New York City Department of Homeless Services in a class action seeking that individuals in the City’s shelter system be housed in a single-occupancy hotel room for the duration of the COVID-19 pandemic
- Counsel for the City of New York and the New York City Department of Correction in actions seeking that the New York City Department of Correction take additional measures to protect inmates from the COVID-19 virus
- Counsel for the City of New York and New York City Health + Hospitals in class actions alleging that various City buildings and/or programs, services, and activities are inaccessible to people with disabilities in violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act, Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act, and City and State Human Rights Laws
- Counsel for the City of New York, the New York City Administration of Children’s Services, and the New York City Department of Education in actions alleging sexual abuse by City and Department of Education employees, brought under the Child Victims Act
- Counsel for the City University of New York in an action alleging that the college discriminated against a student by manipulating her grade on a final exam, denying her request to retake the course, and failing to conduct a proper investigation of her complaints
- Counsel for a sporting goods multi-national in a government investigation of alleged violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act
- Counsel for a reinsurer in an arbitration in Paris for alleged breach of contract
Professional Activities
Member, New York City Bar Association
Recognition and Accomplishments
Edith J. Spivack Award, New York City Law Department (2019)
Division Chief Award, New York City Law Department (2018)
Lawrence A. Wien Prize and Fellowship in Corporate Social Responsibility, Columbia University (2006)
Clerkships
Law clerk to the Honorable Rosemary Nation, Alberta Court of Queen’s Bench
Law clerk to the Honorable Constance Hunt, Alberta Court of Appeal
Education
Columbia University Law School (LL.M. 2007, Harlan Fiske Stone Scholar)
University of Calgary, Faculty of Law (LL.B. 2005, Dean’s List)
Philip C. Jessup International Law Moot Court (2nd Place, Canadian Finals)
Bar & Court Admissions
New York
U.S. District Courts for the Southern, Eastern and Northern Districts of New York
Alberta, Canada (inactive)