Legal Counselor, Order St. Andrew | New York, New York
- Chairman, Legal Committee, Order St. Andrew
A native of Chios, Greece, Christopher Stratakis is a graduate of Drexel University (B.S., 1951) and the New York University School of Law (J.D., 1955). He is a senior partner of Poles, Tublin, Stratakis & Gonzalez, LLP, a law firm he joined in 1960. He has been practicing admiralty and corporate law ever since. Prior to joining his law firm, he was general counsel to National Shipping & Trading Corp., a New York shipping company.
He has acted as the legal adviser (pro bono) to Panchiaki “Korais” Society, the Order of St. Andrew, Archons of the Ecumenical Patriarchate, the office of the Greek Consular Harbor Master of New York (emeritus) and the New York Shipping Corporation Committee. His extensive community involvement includes longtime service to the Greek Orthodox Church in the United States. He is a member of Leadership 100 and an Archon of the Ecumenical Patriarchate. In addition to being its legal counselor, he is also a member of the National Council and Chairman of the Legal Committee of the Order of St. Andrew.
He is the recipient of several awards, including St. Paul’s Award (1976) and Layman’s Award (1991), Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of North America and South America; Medal of Merit for Greek Diaspora, Government of Greece (1974); member of the Holy Sepulchre, Patriarchate of Jerusalem (1993); the Ellis Island Medal of Honor (2001), and several awards from Drexel University.
He has been for several years as the advisory board chairman of the Center for Byzantine and Modern Greek Studies in Queens College and is a member of the Board of Governors (emeritus) of Drexel University. His concern about ethics in business led him and his wife, Mary, in 2003 to endow the Christopher and Mary Stratakis Chair in Corporate Governance and Accountability at Drexel University’s LeBow College of Business. They have three children and three grandchildren.
