Before joining Sokoloff Stern, Ms. Fortunato was Senior Counsel at the New York City Law Department, where she defended the City against multimillion-dollar tort lawsuits involving catastrophic personal injuries, wrongful death, and large-scale property damage, saving the City in excess of $100 million dollars. Ms. Fortunato’s successes included the defense of cases involving steam pipe explosions, water and gas main breaks, fallen trees, negligent driving and roadway design, reckless operation of emergency vehicles, medical malpractice, negligent supervision in schools, child abuse (including sexual abuse under the Child Victim Act), and police excessive force, false arrest, false imprisonment, and malicious prosecution.