Andrew J. Turro

Andrew J. Turro is a Member of Meyer, Suozzi, English & Klein, P.C.’s Litigation & Dispute Resolution Department, Employment Law practice and heads the firm’s Equine & Racing Law practice, which was featured in Long Island Business News in February 2015. Mr. Turro has extensive experience in state and federal appellate and trial litigation, in both the civil and criminal areas. His litigation practice covers a broad range of complex commercial, civil, employment, criminal and labor-related matters. Mr. Turro represents professionals (i.e., lawyers, doctors, and other medical care providers) in professional disciplinary proceedings as well as businesses and individuals before various state and federal agencies. Mr. Turro’s practice also includes several substantial equine law matters in which he has represented both individuals and professional groups before the New York State Gaming Commission (formerly the Racing and Wagering Board) and the New York State Courts.

Mr. Turro has represented large international companies as well as local businesses and individuals. An accomplished litigator, Mr. Turro has achieved successful results for his clients in several seminal cases impacting on issues involving landowner liability, the valuation of a municipality’s tax assessments on environmentally impaired properties, such as Superfund sites, and attacks on the legality of regulations promulgated by governmental agencies. In his employment law practice, Mr. Turro represents clients in a variety of State and Federal matters, including employment discrimination claims arising under Title VII, the ADA, and the State Human Rights Law as well as Minimum Wage/Overtime claims under the Fair Labor Standards Act and New York State Labor laws. Mr. Turro also provides advice to clients in connection with employment contracts, severance agreements, comprehensive restrictive covenants, and a variety of commercial contracts. He has also authored numerous articles covering topics including the valuation of contaminated real property, the nature and scope of various legal privileges recognized by the courts, and on various employment-related legal issues.

In addition to his litigation experience, Mr. Turro also acts as general outside corporate counsel, advising corporate clients on a broad range of legal matters including employment issues, business strategy matters, and compliance with local and federal rules and regulations.

Notable experience includes:

• Successfully prevailed before the New York State Appellate Division, Third Department, in a challenge on behalf of a race horse trainer, which resulted in the dismissal of entire case in which the NYS Gaming Commission alleged over 1,700 drugging violations.
• Prevailed in a New York State Supreme Court election law case involving the New York State Thoroughbred Horsemen’s Association.
• In a case of first impression prevailed on appeal before the New York State Court of Appeals in a challenge against a municipality’s real estate valuation of environmentally contaminated property.
• Prevailed on appeal before the New York State Appellate Division, Second Department, in defending property owner against claim of landlord liability based upon the intentional shooting of tenant.
• Obtained favorable result on behalf of medical doctor before medical disciplinary board.
• Obtained favorable result from New York State Appellate Division, Second Department, reducing disciplinary sanctions imposed on practicing attorney.
• Obtained favorable resolution on behalf of numerous municipal employees based upon racial and ethnic discrimination against New York City Fire Department, Sanitation Department and Police Department.
• Acts as general outside corporate counsel to a substantial recycling business, provides ongoing oversight of all legal affairs of the company, including employment, regulatory, acquisitions, operating agreements, independent contractor agreements, and related matters.

Mr. Turro also coordinates the pro bono program at the Meyer, Suozzi firm. Under his supervision, the firm’s pro bono program has become involved in a wide range of matters providing legal assistance to numerous local not-for-profit and charitable organizations (i.e., Island Harvest, the Long Island Arts in Education Roundtable, the Nassau County Museum of Art), legal organizations designed primarily to address the needs of persons of limited needs (i.e., Nassau/Suffolk Law Services Committee, Inc. and the Nassau County Coalition Against Domestic Violence), as well as individuals such as families and students with special education needs.In 2013, Mr. Turro was named an Access to Justice Champion by the Nassau County Bar Association for his dedication in providing legal representation on a pro bono basis.

From 2001 through 2012, Mr. Turro also served as a member and the Chairman of the Nassau County Board of Ethics, the Board that reviews and issues opinions on conflicts of interest and other ethical issues involving county workers. Mr. Turro also serves as a member of both the Nassau County Bar Association’s Ethics Committee and Grievance Committee and previously served as Chief Assistant Counsel to the Governor’s Judicial Screening Committee for the Second Department. From 1994 through 2014, Mr. Turro was also an adjunct member of the law faculty of New York Law School where he taught upper level appellate writing and advocacy courses.

Active in civic and community affairs and groups throughout the Long Island area, Mr. Turro has been a member of the Nassau/Suffolk Law Services’ Executive Committee and Advisory Council. Mr. Turro also sits on the Advisory Board of Island Harvest. He previously served as a committee member of the Rockville Centre We Care Fund, as a Deputy Village Attorney to Rockville Centre, and as a coach in the Rockville Centre Soccer Club and the Rockville Centre Little League.

Before joining Meyer, Suozzi, English & Klein, P.C. in 1987, Mr. Turro served as an Assistant District Attorney in New York County and clerked for the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit. At the Manhattan District Attorney’s office, Mr. Turro split his time as a felony trial prosecutor and as a member of its Appeals Bureau. As an Assistant District Attorney, Mr. Turro was responsible for investigating and prosecuting felonies from grand jury presentation through verdict and for the briefing and oral argument of felony appeals in the state appellate courts and of federal habeas cases before the Second Circuit. At the District Attorney’s office, Mr. Turro also headed the office’s pro bono Appellate Program. During his tenure as a federal law clerk at the Fourth Circuit, Mr. Turro worked extensively reviewing civil rights claims arising under Section 1983 and Title VII, administrative determinations of federal agencies, and direct criminal appeals.

In 2019, Mr. Turro was recognized as one of the Long Island Herald’s Top Lawyers of Long Island. In 2019, 2021, 2023 and 2024 he was named to the New York Super Lawyers list. Mr. Turro is rated “AV Preeminent” by Martindale-Hubbell, the highest level in professional excellence. In 2016, Mr. Turro was named a “Top Ten Legal Eagle” from Long Island Pulse Magazine as one of the ten top attorneys on Long Island. Mr. Turro has also been the recipient of the Touro Law Center Pro Bono Attorney of the Year Award (2004) and of the Nassau/Suffolk Law Services’ Partner in Justice Award. In 2014, Mr. Turro was named a finalist in SmartCEO’s ESQ Awards for the Industry Practice: Equine and Racing Law.