Represented emerging New York City general contractor in a dispute with a major Manhattan real estate developer over sums due for construction work performed on four separate apartment buildings in New York City. Prior to the engagement, the developer had engaged in a pattern of wrongful conduct to coerce the general contractor into accepting a small percentage of the sums due and owing. After being retained, mechanic’s liens were filed on all the properties and the developer was convinced that its threats were meaningless. The day after sending the developer’s counsel a draft of a particularly detailed complaint, the developer capitulated and paid the client an $800,000 settlement.
Successfully represented a partner in a series of real estate general partnerships against five other partners in a hotly contested, intra-familial partnership dispute involving nine separate litigations and a dozen partnerships owning real estate worth approximately $60 million. Although the dispute involved issues and accounting records spanning more than four decades, marshaled evidence demonstrated the client had a right to a greater percentage interest in the various partnerships than his other family members. Based on these proofs, negotiated a settlement that protected the client’s partnership interests worth more than $15 million.
Frugis v. Bracigliano, 177 N.J. 250 (2003) Supreme Court of New Jersey decision that established a school board has a heightened duty of care to ensure the safety of its students. The Supreme Court of New Jersey held that, as a matter of law, a school board was responsible for the harm caused to two elementary school students who were molested by their principal where the school board failed to respond to signs of the principal’s sexual misconduct and did not implement any reporting procedures.
RCN Telecom Services, Inc. v. Director, Division of Taxation, 23 N.J. Tax 520 (N.J.Tax Ct. 2007) and RCN of New Jersey, Inc. v. Director, Division of Taxation, 23 N.J. Tax 22 (N.J. Tax Ct. 2006). Twin decisions by the the Tax Court of New Jersey holding, as a matter of law, that millions of dollars of purchases by the cable television provider client were exempt from sales taxes. The result not only was a substantial victory for the client in the instant matter, but created a precedent that will provide a significant financial benefit to all of New Jersey’s cable television providers well into the future. The most recent decision was also profiled in the Sales and Use Tax Monitor.