Peter D. DeChiara

Partner

Peter DeChiara, who has been with the firm since 1989, represents unions and union-affiliated benefit funds in litigation, arbitration, and administrative proceedings. He also provides legal counsel to union clients. In addition, Mr. DeChiara represents unions and funds in employer bankruptcy cases. Prior to joining the firm, Mr. DeChiara was a clerk for Judge Lawrence Pierce of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit.

Mr. DeChiara has represented unions in numerous Chapter 11 cases and in the City of Detroit and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico reorganizations.

He graduated from Columbia Law School in 1988, where he was Editor-in-Chief of the Columbia Journal of Law and Social Problems and a Harlan Fiske Stone Scholar. He graduated magna cum laude from Brown University in 1984, where he was elected to Phi Beta Kappa in his junior year.

Mr. DeChiara has taught labor law at New York Law School and the Rutgers University School of Management and Labor Relations, and legal writing at the University of Chicago Law School. He has published articles on labor law subjects in the Harvard Journal on Legislation, American University Law Review, Rutgers Law Record and Drexel Law Review. Mr. DeChiara was named as a Super Lawyer for Employment and Labor Law on the New York Metro Annual Lists of Super Lawyers magazine from 2010-2023.

Representation Areas

Labor Representation
Bankruptcy & Restructuring
Workplace Litigation

Practice Areas

Litigation, Arbitration, NLRB Practice, Bankruptcy

Education

Columbia Law School, J.D.
Brown University, B.A.,
magna cum laude

Bar Admissions

New York

Court Admissions

U.S. Supreme Court
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit
U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia
U.S. District Court, Eastern District of New York
U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York
U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Michigan
U.S. District Court, Western District of Michigan
U.S. District Court, District of Colorado

Industry Affiliations

AFL-CIO Union Lawyers Alliance