Phillips Nizer Managing Partner and Real Estate Practice Co-Chair, Marc Landis, was interviewed by Brick Underground for an article, published on February 6, titled: “The Big Bad Board: How Do We Replace Our Entire Condo Board?” Marc discusses the process that condominium owners should to take when deciding to replace their board. 

In early September, the Phillips Nizer real estate team, assisted by the corporate practice, closed the sale of 16 multi-family and mixed-use residential properties in the Inwood and Washington Heights neighborhoods of Manhattan on behalf of our client LJJ Funds.  Partners Marc Landis and Brian Brodrick and associates David Rosenberg and Lauren Abecassis staffed the transaction, which was covered by The Real Deal.  To read the article click here. Access requires subscription.
 

Phillips Nizer partners Christopher Aldridge and Marc Landis represented Seabury Capital in negotiating a lease on the 53^rd Floor of Carnegie Tower, at 152 West 57^th Street.  To read the Commercial Observer’s coverage of the lease signing, click here.

Phillips Nizer partners Thomas Fuerth and Marc Landis, assisted by associate David Rosenberg, acted as special counsel to the Battery Park City Authority in connection with the issuance of its 2023 senior revenue sustainability bonds, providing for ongoing infrastructure and other capital improvements in Battery Park City. 

Phillips Nizer Managing Partner and Real Estate Practice Co-Chair, Marc Landis, was quoted in a Brick Underground article, published on October 30, titled: “Does a shareholder need an approval from their co-op Board to get a reverse mortgage?”

Phillips Nizer LLP is pleased to announce that 12 lawyers have been selected to the 2023 New York Super Lawyers list. No more than five percent of the lawyers in New York are selected by Super Lawyers.

On July 18, 2023, New York Governor Kathy Hochul announced a series of executive actions to address New York’s severe housing shortage by promoting housing growth:

• Gowanus Neighborhood Mixed Income Housing Development Program
• Executive Order No. 30 titled "Directing State Agencies, Authorities, and Entities to Prioritize the Allocation of Certain Discretionary Funds to those Localities that Promote the Construction of Housing".

The Phillips Nizer real estate team, supported by the corporate and tax practice groups, recently completed a year-long effort to restructure the ownership of five New York City low-income housing developments on behalf of a long-time client. 

Real estate practice co-leader Marc A. Landis and associate David Rosenberg recently closed the sale of a 2-building mixed-use investment package in the Prospect Lefferts Gardens neighborhood of Brooklyn on behalf of the LJJ NYC Multi-Family Real Estate Fund.  The 75,000 square-foot asset, encompassing 7 stores and 69 apartments, sold for approximately $9 million. 

On June 14, 2023, New York City Mayor Eric Adams introduced his long-awaited proposal, City of Yes: Zoning for Economic Opportunity, intended to promote the City’s economic recovery from COVID-19 by focusing on four key areas.

Phillips Nizer, in its continued efforts to create and support a diverse leadership, is proud to announce the achievement of Mansfield Certification Plus status. 

Best Lawyers® recognized Alan Behr, Jan L. Bernstein, Regina E. Faul, Helene M. Freeman, Michael W. Galligan, Marc A. Landis, Donald P. Perry, Jeffrey Q. Smith, Evan J. Spelfogel, Martin B. Wasser and Elliot J. Wiener. 

Phillips Nizer is pleased to have represented noted fashion designer Reed Krakoff and interior designer Delphine Krakoff on the $36 million sale of their townhouse property located on East 64th Street in Manhattan.  The Krakoffs converted the property from business use (the former home of the New York Observer newspaper) to restore its former glory as a six-bedroom luxury residence.
 

Today, the Special Term for Election Matters of New York State Supreme Court, New York County issued a decision in a petition brought pro bono publico by Phillips Nizer LLP on behalf of former Federal prisoners who were released to home confinement under the Federal “CARES Act”.

Light Nation Media LLC, a New Jersey consulting and fundraising firm, on Friday filed a lawsuit against Doctor Oz for Senate in New Jersey Federal court, alleging that Oz’s campaign breached a contract in order to gain access to a pool of American Jewish campaign donors without compensation.

Phillips Nizer’s Managing Partner and Real Estate Practice Co-Chair Marc Landis was once again named to City & State's Law Power 100 List

Good News for Co-op Boards and Managing Agents for the New Year: Changes to Housing Stability and Tenant Protection Act Benefit Co-op Corporations.  On December 22, 2021, Governor Hochul signed legislation exempting co-ops from many of the onerous restrictions in the Housing Stability and Tenant Protection Act of 2019. These revisions will allow boards and their agents to represent the shareholders’ interests more effectively in operating their buildings.  

Best Lawyers® recognized Alan Behr, Jan L. Bernstein, Helene M. Freeman (Copyright Lawyer of the Year), Michael W. Galligan, Marc A. Landis, Donald P. Perry, Jeffrey Q. Smith, Evan J. Spelfogel, Martin B. Wasser and Elliot J. Wiener. 

NYS DOL has provided guidance to employers on the immediate requirements for compliance with the NY HERO Act, as previously covered in our last alert.  By August 5, 2021, employers must have adopted airborne infectious disease exposure plans.  Employers face a $50 per day penalty in place for failure timely to adopt a plan.  Employers can create a plan following NYSDOL standards or use a Model Plan created by the NYSDOL.

Rivals say candidate conducted a ‘push poll’ spreading negative information about candidate Alvin Bragg; Farhadian Weinstein camp defends survey as standard

Phillips Nizer Managing Partner Marc Landis was elected to the Ally Law 2021-2022 Executive Board 

On May 5, 2021, Governor Andrew Cuomo signed into law the New York Health and Essential Rights Act (NY HERO Act), which is intended to protect workers from airborne infectious diseases in the workplace.  The law will require employers to comply with minimum standards for workplace safety, which are to be developed, implemented and enforced by the NYS Department of Labor (NYSDOL) and the New York Department of Health (NYSDOH).  These standards, once implemented, will address testing, PPE, social distancing, hand hygiene, disinfection, and engineering controls. 


 

On May 5, 2021, Governor Andrew Cuomo signed into law the New York Health and Essential Rights Act (NY HERO Act), which is intended to protect workers from airborne infectious diseases in the workplace.  The law will require employers to comply with minimum standards for workplace safety, which are to be developed, implemented and enforced by the NYS Department of Labor (NYSDOL) and the New York Department of Health (NYSDOH). These standards, once implemented, will address testing, PPE, social distancing, hand hygiene, disinfection, and engineering controls.

Marc Landis is the firm's managing partner and co-chairs the real esate practice.  

Researchers, Realtors and industry action groups argue that the rippling economic effects from changes made to Section 1031 would be a blow to the real estate industry and investors. 

"For our inaugural Lawyers in Real Estate Awards, we chose 50 attorneys from around the U.S. and representing a variety of disciplines. They were selected for excelling in their practices as well as their contributions to the community."

U.S. News - BestLawyers® recognized Phillips Nizer LLP as one of the nation's "Best Law Firms" for 2021. The annual rankings are presented in three tiers. A total of eleven areas of the firm's practice were recognized nationally and in the New York City metropolitan area.  The rankings were announced on November 5, 2020.

We are proud to congratulate our selected attorneys.

Best Lawyers® recognized Alan Behr, Jan L. Bernstein, Helene M. Freeman, Michael W. Galligan, Marc A. Landis, Donald P. Perry, Jeffrey Q. Smith, Evan J. Spelfogel, Martin B. Wasser and Elliot J. Wiener. 

The coronavirus pandemic has brought the United States office market to a near halt, and the path to recovery is as uncertain as ever, experts say. “I believe the second theory has gone a lot further than the first theory at the moment,” he said. “That is a function not only of employer considerations — feeling they need less space and would like to spend less when times are tough — but also the employees who prefer operating remotely more often than not. There are people who have cabin fever or would like to be able to function without kids underfoot, but a lot of people are functioning well.” 

Marc Landis Landis chats with Law360 about how the firm has evolved since its inception, its operation during the coronavirus pandemic and his goals for the firm's future.

As the firms are plotting their future, Marc Landis, managing partner of roughly 70-lawyer Phillips Nizer LLP, wanted to remind the firm leaders that succession planning is not a "one-time exercise."

The New York-based firm, which was founded in 1926 by attorneys Louis Phillips and Louis Nizer, has already gone through several generations of leaders, Landis said.

"Succession planning, particularly in the law firm setting, is very much an art rather than a science," Landis said.  "The relationships among attorneys at a firm, relationships between attorneys and clients, are all very personal and very specific nad need to be treated as such."

Landis said a law firm is not like an automobile factory where if all the workers left one day, the new employees would be immediately able to pick up the work by using the same machines and making the same cars. 

"The attorneys' relationships with their clients are based on the clients having confidence in their knowledge, their brainpower, their judgment and a willingness to really understand the client's needs," he added. 

By now, you’ve undoubtedly heard from many businesses who have switched to remote operations, cancelled unnecessary in-person meetings and business travel, etc. We’ve been implementing our plan in stages over the last two weeks, and have done the same. The health of our attorneys and staff, as well as our clients, contacts and friends, always comes first.

Phillips Nizer Managing Partner Marc Landis weighs in on challenges facing the legal industry during Managing Partners Roundtable at the NYSBA's annual meeting.

Phillips Nizer is the law firm member representative in the New York metropolitan area.

Phillips Nizer's newest attorney, partner Ed Schauder, is the feature of a Law360 article published today. Ed, who practices in corporate and business law, as well as intellectual property, will chair our firm's Sports Law Practice.

Ed's quote:

That really excites me, that I’ll be able to offer current clients, prospective clients comprehensive service, but also be helpful to others that are representing people now, and be able to leverage my skill set to offer more services to the firm’s existing clients as well,” he said in a phone interview. “I’m already hitting the ground running.

Ed brings expertise, Ed brings a network of current and former and prospective clients that will benefit not only from the legal services that Ed provides, but that our firm can offer across the board...I’m really excited that Ed will be part of our team. In his first week here, we’ve already seen quickly that there will be great synergies with Ed’s work and the rest of our work.

Seventeen Phillips Nizer attorneys were announced on September 13, 2018 as selected for inclusion on the 2018 New York Metro Super Lawyers and Rising Stars lists. Attorneys represented a cross-section of several practice areas and industry teams.

Read "Target, Aldi, Big Lots eyeing Toys R Us real estate" published here in Retail Dive.

The firm elevated two female attorneys to partner and named a female co-chair for its real estate practice. It also added Asian-American and African-American partners. And of five associates who joined in 2017, four are female, one is African-American and one is Asian-American...In assembling a diverse workforce, Landis said it’s important to take a broad view. So look to hire and promote younger partners, lesbian and gay partners, and partners with different political views..."

"I don’t want anyone to get the wrong idea. We happily bring in talented men and people who are not of color as well,” he said. ”I want to emphasize that while we have promoted many people into leadership roles and leadership opportunities, we haven’t discarded our senior people.”

It was announced on September 20, 2017, that sixteen Phillips Nizer attorneys were selected for inclusion on the 2017 Super Lawyers list. Alternative Dispute Resolution, Banking, Business Litigation, Entertainment, Intellectual Property, and Trusts & Estates practices were represented.  

FinCEN has begun to close loopholes, such as 'all-cash' deals involving wire transfers used by residential purchasers that can be linked to money laundering. Individuals involved in the purchase of luxury residential real estate using an LLC or corporate entity are required to be disclosed by certain title insurance companies according to FinCEN's new rule. Commercial real estate deals may be next on FinCEN's radar.

Says Marc: "While the focus remains on luxury real estate, they’re foreshadowing [a focus on] commercial real estate...They’re continuing to broaden the things that they’re going to look at."

Read The Real Deal article here.
 
Read our Legal Alert from January 2016 here.

Click the link for details regarding this program or to register for the conference.

There will be lower income tax rates for some; potential interest rate increases for all. | Read the article here (subcribe or login via LinkedIn)

Marc and Karen's topic is entitled, "De-mystifying the Spooky Stuff:  Due Diligence and Legal Issues Across Different Property Types".  

On September 21, 2016 it was announced by Super Lawyers® that twenty-three Phillips Nizer attorney were selected for inclusion on the 2016 Super Lawyers and 'Rising Stars' lists.  This is the second consecutive year the firm has had twenty-three lawyers recognized.

The 90-minute webinar will provide real estate counsel with an overview of the latest developments in title insurance coverage and explain best practices for evaluating and negotiating coverage, exclusions and endorsements under American Land Title Association (ALTA) policies.  For further details regarding the webinar and to register, click here. 

A residential co-op building shareholder questions whether all shareholders are being treated equitably when opportunities arise to offer their apartments for film and television shoots, which is "tradition" in their building. One upper floor co-operative shareholder was denied by the board's president the ability to offer their apartment to a location scout. Instead, the board president relayed the offer to an apartment shareholder on the first floor.  Read the article here.

The article highlights the apparent cooling of wealthy Chinese on Manhattan’s luxury residential market, which may be a result of the enforcement of a law in China forbidding the transfer abroad of more than $50,000 per person annually and oversupply at the top of the market.  Another concern could be FinCEN’s recent announcement of new rules regarding the collection of names and other identifiable information of luxury residential buyers in Manhattan, which begins on March 1st.  Says Marc, “People who have legitimate needs for privacy but are concerned that their information may not be secure may back away from investing…”  
 
Read the article here.

Ref: Legal Alert

In January, the U.S. Treasury's Financial Crimes Enforcement Network’s (FinCEN)’s announced new rules for purchasers of luxury residential real estate in excess of $3 million in New York County (Manhattan) and in excess of $1 million in Miami-Dade County. FinCEN's new mandatory disclosure requirements of certain title insurance companies representing these purchasers go into effect on March 1, 2016.

Ref: Legal Alert

Mr. Landis will participate on the panel, "Tips for Structuring the Leadership Role of Managing Partner Implementing a Leadership Structure in Law Firms", during in the Law Practice Management (LPM) Day Leadership Development Conference on January 28.  The panel will address several topics, including the "Necessity for Defining Management Philosophy and Position of Managing Partner within Firm Structure — Firm Size; Single/Multiple Offices, etc." and "Danger Areas that Managing Partners Should Avoid."
 
The LPM Day is co-sponsored by the NYSBA Committee on Law Practice Management, the Committee on Attorney Professionalism and the Lawyer Assistance Committee.

Purchasers can no longer remain anonymous. FinCEN will now collect their names and other identifiable information of buyers in a database.

Marc expects that the order by FinCEN of title insurance companies will be extended beyond the 180 days of the current mandate. He also believes that there is the potential for this request to expand to other locales where high-end residential markets exist, including Los Angeles, Silicon Valley and Boston.

Ref: Legal Alert

No longer will buyers, including individuals and limited liability companies, be anonymous. 

According to Marc, he expects FinCEN will extend the requirement to other cities and in suburbs, and he believes places such as Los Angeles, San Francisco and Seattle are prime targets -- as well Hawaii.  "If they're [FinCEN] looking for places where high-end investors are looking to spend their money, that's going to be on the list as well."

Ref: Legal Alert

Phillips Nizer was honored to announce that twenty-three of its attorneys were recognized as 2015 Super Lawyers® and Rising Stars. Attorneys who were recognized represented over a dozen practice areas. The annual Super Lawyers® lists are a result of confidential peer review and independent research.

In an announcement on September 23, 2014, twenty-six Phillips Nizer attorneys were recognized on the Metro New York 2014 Super Lawyers® and Rising Stars lists. Twenty-two partners, senior counsel and counsel were selected as Super Lawyers.  Four counsel and associates were selected as Rising Stars.  The 2014 selections crossed all major practice groups.  The annual Super Lawyers® lists are a result of confidential peer review and independent research.

Nineteen Phillips Nizer attorneys were selected by Super Lawyers® and recognized in the 2013 New York Super Lawyers - Metro Edition publication.  As was the case in 2012, attorneys selected represented several practice areas. The Firm achieved a significant increase in the number of honorees, including one recognized as a "Rising Star".  Each year, attorneys are nominated across various legal practices and vetted through a process of confidential peer review. Independent research by the publisher is an important component before one can be selected as a "Super Lawyer".

Phillips Nizer was honored with the selection of twelve of its attorneys for the 2012 New York Super Lawyers – Metro edition. The attorneys were recognized across seven practice areas — Alternative Dispute Resolution, Entertainment Law, Environmental Law, Estate Planning & Probate Law, Family Law, General Litigation, and Real Estate Law.

Thirteen Phillips Nizer attorneys represented across seven distinct areas were recognized as 2011 "Super Lawyers". Super Lawyers®, a publication of Thomson Reuters, reviews nominations of attorneys across various legal practice areas.  Those ultimately selected as "Super Lawyers" were vetted through a process involving peer review and independent research by the publisher.