The MTA has been hiring costly private attorneys to defend against injury claims, yet the full extent of this multimillion-dollar legal work remains undisclosed. Responding to a Freedom of Information Act request, the agency revealed it has spent over $10 million on six law firms in recent years, but insiders suggest this figure is likely just a small part of the overall costs. “Millions are going to outside lawyers without any real accountability,” commented one attorney from the MTA’s oversight division.
Interestingly, six current and former legal department employees have noted that outsourcing for legal work has become more prevalent, despite the agency’s history of employing in-house attorneys for these issues. This situation means taxpayers are covering expenses for both the MTA’s staff salaries—which for nearly 60 staff members averages about $121,000 per year in 2024—and the private legal firms.
MTA Public Affairs Director Tim Minton stated, “The MTA is increasingly targeted by litigation fueled by political pressures and opportunistic lawyers. Thus, we need top-tier attorneys to defend us.” He mentioned the agency is assessing its approach to handling tort litigation, including the mix of in-house and external counsel.
Meanwhile, the MTA’s expenditures on court judgments and settlements have reached $687 million from 2019 to 2024. This figure excludes substantial amounts from recent record-setting judgments still under appeal.
For example, cancer survivor Aurora Beauchamp received a remarkable $72.5 million award for injuries from an MTA bus accident in 2024. The Staten Island law firm Sciretta & Ventellina LLP, which took over MTA cases in 2023, received nearly $163,000 from the agency, which is about what an in-house attorney would earn handling six cases annually.
In a notable case, the law firm Armienti DeBellis & Roden LLP managed to secure a $90 million verdict against the MTA for Lamont Powell, who lost an arm and a leg after a subway accident in 2018. Although the damages were subsequently reduced to just under $40 million, the costs incurred by the firm to the MTA amounted to $227,000 in another case—equivalent to 18 months of an in-house lawyer’s salary for a similar workload.
According to an agency official, “These hefty judgments are due to outside lawyers taking these cases.” They argued that private lawyers often prioritize billing hours over efficient dispute resolution.
Despite multiple inquiries from the Post, neither of the law firms provided responses. The exact total taxpayers are spending on these private attorneys and the number of cases they’re managing is still unclear, despite previous requests for this information.
More than a year ago, a Freedom of Information request was made for the annual billing amounts from six approved law firms, as well as the total costs of outside legal representation. Although the MTA disclosed over $10 million in payments between 2019 and 2024, they claimed they couldn’t provide comprehensive totals or case counts for outsourced legal work.
The Tort Division, managing such claims, had an annual payroll of around $7 million in 2024. Interestingly, the MTA’s FOIL division stated that they lacked relevant records, citing an outdated database as a hindrance in obtaining necessary information.
Officials later mentioned that the agency keeps track of financial amounts sent to outside auditors each year, but they don’t provide audit reports upon request. Of the six firms, Armienti DeBellis & Roden generated over $5 million from taxpayers during the specified period, while three other firms were compensated over $1 million each throughout those five years.
Under attorney Anna Ervolina’s leadership since 2021, spending on these six firms has surged significantly, going from $1.2 million in 2021 to over $2.6 million in 2023, and more than $2.1 million in 2024. However, Ervolina did not respond to questions regarding this increase.
Whistleblowers within the MTA have raised concerns that, if this trend continues, the enormous sums paid in settlements and judgments could escalate even further. The $687 million disbursed from 2019 to 2024 does not account for recent high-profile settlements that are still in the appeals stage.
An MTA lawyer observed, “If you file a baseless complaint against the transit agency, chances are you could win.” This perception has become part of their reputation. The MTA’s Office of Inspector General has acknowledged its overall oversight includes vendors and subcontractors but did not comment further.
Officials from the state comptroller’s office had not responded, although they have previously conducted audits examining the MTA’s use of outside lawyers. There was a recommendation to bring more work in-house back in 2017, but as of 2021, this had only been “partially implemented.”
Further, whistleblowers have mentioned that the MTA has ceased sending its own investigators to accident scenes, missing out on gathering evidence useful for defending against potential claims.
As a recently retired investigator noted, “The only investigations happening at the MTA these days seem to revolve around lunch.” In fact, there’s word that Ervolina has been working remotely for several years, which raises questions about her engagement and awareness of ongoing operations.
In the words of an active claims investigator, “If you haven’t stepped foot in the office in a while, you probably have no idea what’s really going on.” MTA representatives confirmed that Ervolina has received approval for remote work but provided no additional details.
