Zachary W. Carter served as the 78th Corporation Counsel of the City of New York from January 2014 through August 2019. As the chief legal officer of the City, Mr. Carter oversaw the Law Department with approximately 1,000 attorneys, who represent the City’s interest in thousands of legal matters facing the City.
In 1993 he was appointed by President Bill Clinton as the United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, the first African-American to hold that office. His office prosecuted the full range of federal criminal cases, including major narcotics, securities fraud and human trafficking. During his tenure , Mr. Carter oversaw civil rights prosecutions against police officers in the Abner Louima torture case and against rioters who killed Yankel Rosenbaum during the City’s Crown Heights riots of 1991.
Prior to becoming the Corporation Counsel, Mr. Carter was a partner in the firm Dorsey & Whitney. He oversaw the Trial Group at the firm’s New York office and was co-chair of the firm’s White Collar Crime and Civil Fraud practice.
Mr. Carter has served as a magistrate judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York and as a judge of the New York City Criminal Court. He served as chairman of the New York City Mayor’s Committee on the Judiciary from 2002 through 2013. Mr. Carter has received the Public Interest Law & Society Award from the New York Lawyers for the Public Interest, the Emory Buckner Medal from the Federal Bar Council and the American Inns of Court Professionalism Award in the Second Circuit.
He graduated from Cornell University in 1972 and New York University School of Law in 1975.