Charles (Trip) E. Dorkey, III

Charles (Trip) E. Dorkey, III is a Partner specialising in complex commercial litigation. His primary practice area is Commercial Litigation.

He has served as lead counsel in significant cases both in New York and nationwide involving securities, reinsurance, construction, real estate, employment and a broad range of commercial and other business disputes, many of which have arisen out of mergers and acquisition activities.

Due to his governmental service and political work, many of his matters have involved disputes at the intersection between private and public activity. He has also handled a variety of transnational cases dealing with non-US legal proceedings and issues in many countries, including Brazil, China, Nigeria, Turkey, Dubai, Saudi Arabia and many European countries.

His representative experience includes representing the estate of a former shareholder in a dispute over whether book value or fair market value would apply under a stock buy-back provision (Neville, Rodie, and Shaw, Inc. v. Legard, 2025 WL 686023 (2d Cir. 2025)); handling the successful defence of a nonprofit and one of its directors against claims by a developer of property in the Lower East Side of Manhattan (Singer v. DeBlasio, 2024 WL 130001, 2024 N.Y. Slip Op. 30153(U); Singer v. City of New York, 417 F.Supp.3d 297 (SDNY 2019)); and prosecuting several cases on behalf of a medical malpractice insurer against doctors covered by the insurer's policies for refusing to pay their assessments.

He has also defended Chinese companies in arbitrations involving alleged breaches of a securities purchase agreement, in disputes involving the construction of a geothermal power plant, and in disputes involving "take or pay" polysilicone contracts. He defended a bank against claims of implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing, promissory estoppel, fraudulent inducement and General Business Law Section 349 (Vasani v. CIBC, Inc., No. 650019/2016 (Supreme Court, New York County) (Sept. 28, 2016)); defended a nonprofit organisation in federal and state court actions alleging violations of RICO and state law claims for fraud and conversion, with courts granting motions to dismiss; and defended a special servicer in a dispute between two tranches of a CMBS loan over which one can purchase a defaulted note.

His construction experience includes a two-week jury trial of a breach of contract action brought by a subcontractor for work arising out of the contract for the deconstruction of 130 Liberty Street (Deutsche Bank building), and a multiple-month bench trial against a general contractor on a cost-to-compete theory arising out of a failure to complete a renovation project in Nassau County, NY, which resulted in several appellate decisions.

His insurance coverage experience includes defending an indenture trustee in a declaratory judgment action concerning the applicability of insurance coverage for environmental damages to property held as collateral (Commerce & Industry Insurance Co. v. US Bank National Association, 2008 WL 4178474 (S.D.N.Y. 2008)); prosecuting an insurance coverage action on behalf of a Canadian manufacturer for losses sustained during the 2003 AirTrain accident (Slattery Skanska Inc. v. American Home Assurance Co., 885 N.Y.S.2d 264 (1st Dep't 2009)); and representing a surety company against a French reinsurer for indemnity for amounts paid in the underlying construction case.

His securities experience includes representing the National Stock Exchange, Inc. in an industry-wide challenge to the practice of stock exchanges allowing certain customers access through their own proprietary feeds (Lanier v. Bats Exch., Inc., 838 F.3d 139 (2d Cir. 2016)); defending a company and its two principal officers in a US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) enforcement action alleging material misstatements in press releases and in 10-Ks and 10-Qs (SEC v. Neurotech Development Corp., 2011 WL 1099864 (E.D.N.Y. 2011)); and defending a "Big Four" accounting firm partner in a fraud action arising out of an allegedly abusive tax shelter.

Other matters include defending a Canadian energy retailer in a class action alleging violation of statutes prohibiting deceptive sales practices and advertising; representing a railroad in a claim for costs in relocating electrical facilities; defending an individual real estate investor in a breach of fiduciary duty case arising out of attempts to develop two more than 2,500-acre developments in New York and Pennsylvania; and successfully convincing the court that an individual director was covered by the arbitration clause in the employment agreement between the company and its terminated president even though the director was not a signatory to the employment agreement (Sedmak v. Ironshore Specialty Ins. Co., 2015 WL 144190 (S.D.N.Y. Jan. 2015)).

Avenue Magazine has recognised him as one of New York City's Legal Elite since 2010. He has also been recognised by The Best Lawyers in America in Commercial Litigation since 2012 and was listed in the 2016 edition of New York Metro Super Lawyers for business litigation.

He has held numerous government service positions, including Member of the St. Lawrence Seaway Development Corporation (2006–2013), Chairman of the Hudson River Park Trust (2003–2007), Vice Chairman of the Empire State Development Corporation (1995–2007), Member of the New York City Municipal Water Finance Authority (1995–2007) and Member of the New York State Job Development Authority (1995–2007).

He is a member of the Advisory Group to the Commercial Division of the New York State Unified Court System, a Trustee of the New-York Historical Society, a Member of the St. Lawrence Seaway Development Corporation, a Director of the New York Parks and Conservation Association, a member of the Executive Committee of the Commercial and Federal Litigation Section of the New York State Bar Association and a Director of the New York Bar Foundation.

He holds a JD from the University of Pennsylvania Law School (1973) and an AB, cum laude, from Dartmouth College (1970).