Legal team for Gateway has link to board leader
No ethics issues found as fight for funding revs up
By: Colleen Wilson
NorthJersey.com
USA Today Network - New Jersey
..... The law firm representing the Gateway Development Commission in court to werst free federal money frozen by the Trump administration - and the attorney of record from that firm - have a direct relationship with a co-chair of the commission, which oversees a $16 billion rail tunnel constructions program.
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Gurbir Grewal, a partner at New York-based Milbank LLP, is the attorney of record representing the bistate agency in the U.S. Court of Federal Claims, where the agency is suing the Trump administration for allegedly breaching their contract and freezing $205 million in payments.
..... Grewal, a former New Jersey attorney general, is the first cousin of Balpreet Grewal-Virk, a co-chair of the Gateway commission representing New Jersey.
..... Gateway officials retained Milbank in late January [2026] as lead litigation counsel, a step that did not require a board vote because the contract was valued below $300,000.
.... Molly Beckhardt, a spokeswoman for the Gateway commission, said Grewal-Virk proactively sought guidance from the agency's chief ethics and compliance officer and acting genre la counsel, which did a "through review" and determined that the matter did not rise to the level of being a conflict of interest requiring recusal. "In order to avoid the appearance of impropriety, Co-Cheif Grewal-Virk has voluntarily elected to recuse herself form all discussions, decisions and board actions related to GDC's contract with Milbank, including its approval, the assignment of work to Milbank, and approval of fees, invoices, or budgets," Bechardt said in response to questions from NorthJersey.com .
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"There are very few law firms with the expertise and experience required for this legal matter. When I learned Milbank was being considered, I voluntarily recused myself from the procurement process so GDC could focus on hiring a firm with the best qualifications and capabilities to fight for this project in court," Grewal-Virk said in a statement.
The legal teams
..... Beyond Grewal, two Milbank partners will lead the legal team representing the Gateway commission in the federal claims court: Neal Katyal, a former acting U.S. solicitor general, and Colleen Roh Sinzdak, a former assistant to the solicitor general in the U.S. Department of Justice. "The Milbank team has a stellar reputation as a litigation and appellate firm, and its partners include top legal professionals with the specific expertise and experience needed to litigate this rare type of case. They are one of few firms with a demonstrated track record of success in cases like GDC's," Beckhardt said.
..... Milbank is also defending Hoboken and Newark after they were sued by the trump administration last year [2025] over their immigration policies. A spokesperson for Milbank did not respond to a request for comment.
..... Several attorney from Mayer Brown LLP will support the Milbank team, Beckhardt said.
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Mayer Brown is one of three "on-call" law firms approved via a competitive bid precess in 2019.
..... Oral arguments in this case were scheduled for March 12. [2026]
Lawsuits drag while construction stops
.... The Gateway commission sued the Trump administration on February 2 [2026] because the federal government froze the commission's access to federal funds September 30 [2025] in what is largely seen as a form of political retribution President Donald Trump is imposing on Democratic foes.
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The Gateway commission began drawing on a 4500 million credit facility to cover constructions costs while the agency worked with the federal government to resolve those issues and restore the funding, but that money ran out last week [02/06/2026] and the administration refused to life the suspension of funds.
..... In addition to the Gateway commission's lawsuit, the states of New York and New Jersey sued the Trump administration in U.S. district Court for the Southern District of New York. the federal judge in that case ordered the administration to unfreeze the dollars while the case plays out but granted the federal government a stay until February 12 [2026] so they can appeal her decision to the 2ndU.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.
..... Meanwhile, nearly 1,000 workers were laid off last week [02/06/2026] and an estimated $20 million is expected to be spent per month to secure the five active project sites and store heavy equipment.
..... Pieces of tunnel boring machines are supposed to be getting assembled right now so they can start digging through the Palisades rock-face this spring, [2026] but instead they sit disassembled and covered in snow in North Bergen. A second digging machine is on its way and will have nowhere to be stored if the first machine isn't assembled.
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Grewal-Virk's decision to proactively recuse herself form this matter comes in stark comparison to a peer on the board, Jamey Barbas.
..... Barbas voted to approve a delivery partner contract with the Gateway commission in February 2024 and failed to disclose that she previously worked for one of the firms involved in that contract for 12 years and still had an employee stock ownership plan valued at around $2 million, according to a report in NorthJersey.com last month. [01/2026] Months later Barbas was rehired by that engineering firm, Parsons Corporation, to be a senior project manager on the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway project in New York.
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Barbas began recusing herself from maters involving Parsons around the time she started interviewing for the job there.