Hon. Nelson E. Canter, partner with McLaughlin & Stern. Mr. Canter heads the firm’s national Insurance Subrogation Practice Group. He provides complex civil litigation services to the business community and insurance industry with a concentration on property subrogation for domestic and foreign insurance carriers nationally. Judge Canter was elected to a 4-year term as Town Justice for The Town of Harrison, NY from 2012 through 2015 and upon joining the firm in 2017, spearheaded and manages the firm’s national Insurance Subrogation Group. Judge Canter has been Deputy Town Attorney, a part-time post, for the Town of Harrison, New York from 2016 to the present and handles and oversees all civil litigation and risk management for the Town of Harrison.

Judge Canter litigates large loss property subrogation and product liability cases throughout the United States and has led hundreds of complex origin and cause investigations involving fires and explosions, construction defects, building collapses, crane malfunctions, heavy equipment failures, energy losses, turbine failures, fire suppression system failures, water related losses, and a wide range of complex commercial disputes.

Judge Canter also engages in appellate practice and has numerous reported Decisions. He also provides outside general counsel services to corporations, manufacturers, suppliers and distributors for national litigation coordination, risk management, commercial litigation, transactional advice, employment issues and intellectual property enforcement.

Judge Canter began his career in law enforcement as an Assistant District Attorney for the County of Westchester, New York in 1987, where he tried over 75 cases to verdict, coordinated extensive under-cover narcotics investigations and presented over 150 cases to Westchester County Grand Juries.

In 1992, Judge Canter entered private practice and joined the late former Assistant United States Attorney William I. Aronwald in various high-profile criminal defense matters including People v. Carolyn Warmus, which the press dubbed the “fatal attraction murder trial.”

Judge Canter has been a First Responder as a volunteer firefighter for over 40 years. He is a Life Member of the Purchase Fire Department in New York, joining as a junior firefighter at age 16, and rose through the line officer ranks of Lieutenant, Captain and Assistant Chief. He is currently on the Board of Directors and served on the Board of Directors for over 25 years.

Judge Canter is a Guest Instructor for the Expert Witness Courtroom Testimony Course for the International Association of Arson Investigators, a Guest Speaker at many national conferences for the Property Loss Research Bureau and National Association of Subrogation Professionals and lectures frequently to general and independent property adjusters and experts.

Judge Canter is the New York State Delegate for the International Association of Arson Investigators’ Attorney Advisory Committee, was appointed by Governor George Pataki for a 2-year term to the Management Advisory Board of Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s Office of Inspector General, and was appointed in 2014 to the Executive Board of the Westchester County Arson Task Force.

Judge Canter’s passion and deep experience in public service as a Prosecutor, Judge, Deputy Town Attorney and First Responder, coupled with his extensive litigation background, enable him to communicate effectively and persuasively to achieve consistent, favorable results for our clients.