The Honorable John J. Ark served as a Justice of the New York State Supreme Court for 28 years. He has presided over matters in each of the eight counties in the Seventh Judicial District, as well as serving five terms in New York County.

Prior to serving on the bench, Justice Ark practiced law for 19 years while serving 14 years as a Brighton Town Justice, 2 years as an acting Rochester City Court Judge, and 5 years as an Assistant District Attorney for Monroe County. He taught business law at the University of Rochester and tax law at the Rochester Institute of Technology. Justice Ark was also an instructor at the New York Office of Court Administration’s Advanced Judicial Training.

As a court appointed arbitrator and mediator, Justice Ark has been highly effective in facilitating resolutions in an extensive range of cases, including personal injury matters, such as automobile accidents, and negligence/torts, including toxic torts and product liability. Of the more than 700 toxic tort cases that came before him, Justice Ark settled 98% of those matters. The cases included lead paint related injuries incurred by children, brain-injured children, as well as asbestos and mesothelioma-related illnesses. He has settled nearly every type of case including complex trusts, medical, specifically birth-related injuries, attorney and accountant malpractice, land use and zoning, and general torts, including motor vehicle, premises liability, and wrongful death. Justice Ark has resolved insurance coverage issues and numerous other complex commercial and trust and estate matters. Recently, he served as a discovery referee and mediator for a complex product liability case that eventually went to trial, resulting in a $287,000,000 verdict.

Justice Ark’s remarkable judicial career includes eight years serving as a supervising judge overseeing a multitude of toxic torts cases and five years handling matrimonial matters. While serving as a matrimonial supervising judge, he oversaw nearly 20,000 matrimonial matters, disposing of nearly one thousand divorces and related collateral matters. Additionally, Justice Ark has resolved multiple zoning/land use cases, including the permitting of a massive wind power project, the approval of shopping centers, apartment complexes, and a marina. He also presided over the real property tax assessment challenges for most of the major office buildings in Rochester, New York. Justice Ark has decided tax issues relating to apartment complexes, shopping centers, big box stores, a casino/racetrack, a country club, and several multi-million-dollar residences. While sitting in the criminal part, Justice Ark tried scores of major crimes, including nearly two dozen homicides. At his retirement in 2022, he was one of the last remaining New York judges certified to adjudicate a death penalty case.

As both a judge and private practitioner, Justice Ark has significant experience in resolving document-intensive matters involving construction contracts and construction defects. Prior to his retirement from the bench, Justice Ark presided over a case involving both governance and labor issues concerning an oversight board designated by the Rochester City Council and the Rochester School District Board overseeing two billion dollars of renovations on multiple schools. Of particular concern were issues for the contractors in that the schools were built in the 1920s, and the original blueprints were not always available or accurate. As a practicing attorney, Justice Ark represented a car dealer in a dispute over the building of the dealership “store” wherein the build/design contractor remarkably omitted vents for heating and air conditioning.

Justice Ark has had over 30 reported decisions. His vast experience on the bench has given him a wide range of knowledge in many areas of the law. He is known as a hard-working and detail-oriented judge whose evenhanded demeanor makes him highly effective in facilitating the resolution of complex matters. Litigants often choose to waive their right to a jury trial and instead choose Justice Ark to be the trier of fact.

Justice Ark is available to arbitrate and mediate cases in Western and Central New York, including the Greater Rochester area.