NEW YORK — Nicholas Papain, managing partner and trial attorney of the firm Sullivan, Papain, Block, McGrath & Cannavo P.C., was sworn in as the 41st president of the New York State Trial Lawyers Association (NYSTLA) on June 26 . He succeeds Jeff S. Korek of Gersowitz, Libo & Korek.

Papain, a prominent negligence and product liability trial lawyer, played a leading role in a fee proceeding before a national arbitration panel regarding Sullivan Papain's representation of the State of New York in its action against the major tobacco companies that resulted in a record $25 billion recovery for the state.

The Sullivan Papain firm, together with two other New York and three national firms, were awarded an unprecedented fee for their contribution to what authorities hailed as "the most successful legal attack on a major public health hazard in the history of recorded civilization."  He is also responsible for managing the firm's operations, which includes overseeing some 35 attorneys and 65 support personnel.

Papain has pledged to work tirelessly on many different fronts:  protecting patient safety and the rights of those seriously injured through medical malpractice, safeguarding worker safety at construction sites by maintaining New York's Scaffold Law, and defending consumers from insurance lobbies looking to take away rights of those injured in accidents.

NYSTLA was formed in 1953 to ensure that the wrongfully injured have full access to the civil justice system.  NYSTLA and its 4,000 members statewide work to be the voice for the voiceless and protect the rights of all injured people in New York State.