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CharlieMartorana

He | Him | His

Partner

"I am committed to excellent client service."

Overview

Biography

Charlie is an experienced attorney who primarily concentrates his practice on commercial, environmental, governmental, and land-use matters, including federal and state litigation at both the trial and appellate levels. He represents corporate, governmental, and individual clients in commercial matters involving business, corporate, and governmental disputes; unfair trade practices; contracts; class actions; and injunctive-relief matters.

Charlie has obtained favorable court judgments and orders and has successfully negotiated settlements in both mediation and litigation proceedings in state and federal courts, including appeals to the NYS Court of Appeals and the US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. His litigation experience also includes actions at the trial and appellate levels in NYS Article 78 proceedings and declaratory-judgment actions challenging and defending governmental actions in State Environmental Quality Review Act (SEQRA), rezoning, and land-use permit proceedings. Charlie handles both prosecution and defense service for business and governmental clients in multi-party environmental-based litigation for property and personal-injury damages as well as in Clean Water Act compliance and enforcement matters.

Charlie also negotiates complex private-public partnership contracts involving water and wastewater projects; energy-performance contracts; the creation of water and sewer districts, public authorities, and public-benefit corporations and the promulgation of rules and regulations for those corporations; compliance and training with the NYS Public Authorities Accountability Act (PAAA); and intergovernmental agreements.

Bar Associations

  • Bar Association of Erie County, Real Property Law, Environmental Law, and Municipal Law Committees Member
  • New York State Bar Association, Corporate Law, Real Property Law, Environmental Law, and Municipal Law Sections

Selected Memberships & Affiliations

  • New York Water Environment Association
Experience

Representative Experience

  • Serves as lead attorney representing several business and not-for-profit corporations in various corporate matters, including real estate development; compliance; service agreements; negotiating and preparing contracts and leases; training boards of directors; preparing and updating by-laws; and advising on inquiries, investigations, audits, and other federal and state regulatory agency proceedings.
  • Serves as lead attorney in negotiating and completing the settlement of federal and state claims involving various environmental laws and other compliance matters on behalf of municipalities and public-benefit corporations through consent decrees and administrative orders.
  • Served as lead attorney for a national company’s litigation, including appeals to the Rhode Island Supreme Court and US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, successfully establishing the client’s contract rights.
  • Served as lead attorney for a national company’s litigation to ensure its ability to do business in New York State. Challenged by the attorney general and various county clerks, but successfully appealed to the NYS Court of Appeals.
  • Served as lead attorney defending a municipality against claims from approximately 250 residents who alleged personal and property damages arising from environmental contamination, including a structured settlement of those claims.
  • Served as lead attorney representing a state public authority to acquire approximately 120 acres of land adjacent to its airport, including a settlement of multi-year eminent-domain litigation and damage claims for interference with business and the use of commercial and industrial real estate and environmental contamination.
  • Served as lead attorney and negotiated a unique public-private partnership between a state public authority and an international company to manage the authority’s public-water system.
  • Served as lead attorney for a municipality to spin off its public-water and wastewater services to a state public authority. Drafted state law, created a public authority, and negotiated complex acquisition, operation, management, and intergovernmental agreements.
  • Serves as lead attorney representing a residential hamlet and the Town of Pomfret to establish a water district and to finance improvements pursuant to NYS Town Law, including SEQRA compliance, governmental permitting, and USA Rural Development Agency finance. 

Prior Experience

  • Hiscock & Barclay, LLP, Partner

Selected Community Activities

  • Legal Aid Bureau of Buffalo, Inc., Board of Directors Member
  • Police Athletic League of Buffalo, Inc. Board of Directors Member
  • Rotary Club of Buffalo, Inc., Board of Directors Member and Former Board President
  • Buffalo Rotary Foundation, Former Board President
  • Saint Mary’s School for the Deaf, Inc., Former Board Director and Officer

Selected Honors

  • The Best Lawyers in America®: Buffalo "Lawyer of the Year": Land Use and Zoning Law and Real Estate Law, 2025
  • The Best Lawyers in America®: Environmental Law, 2024–2025; Land Use and Zoning Law, 2023–2025; Real Estate Law, 2023–2025
  • ALM Top Rated in Energy, Environmental, and Natural Resources for Environmental, Real Estate, Land Use, and Corporate
  • Barclay Damon LLP, Clifford H. Wilson Award for Excellence in Mentoring
  • Martindale-Hubbell AV Preeminent Peer Review Rated for Very High to Preeminent Ethical Standards and Legal Ability
Knowledge

Selected Speaking Engagements

  • New York Water Environment Association Conference, "Update: NYS Freedom of Information Law"
  • Buffalo Niagara Association of Realtors Agents' Day & Trade Show, "Best Practices and Ethics"
  • Bar Association of Erie County Environmental Law Committee, “The New ASTM Phase I Standard and Its Conformance to All Appropriate Inquiry Under the Federal Requirements” CLE
  • New York State Bar Association, "Current Developments With MERS in New York"
  • New York Water Environment Association Conference, “Building Infrastructure Through Public Private Partnerships”

Selected Media

Selected Alerts & Blog Posts

Featured Media

Alerts

Second Circuit Upholds New York State's Ivory Law, but Holds Display Restriction Unconstitutional

Alerts

$175 Million of Federal Funds Available for Electric Vehicle Chargers in New York State

Alerts

USFWS Issues Final Guidance on Northern Long-Eared Bat and Tricolored Bat

Alerts

IRS Guidance Excludes VA Service-Connected Disability Benefits From Certain Income Determinations for Qualified Residential Rental Projects

Alerts

Second Department: Objective Evidence Required to Establish Trivial Defect Defense

Alerts

NYS Department of Health Issues Consumer Protection Guidance on Payments for Health Care Services

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