Law360 Names Kasowitz Practice Group of the Year for Real Estate

Kasowitz Benson Torres has been recognized as a 2021 Practice Group of the Year for Real Estate by Law360, which honors the attorney teams behind litigation wins and major deals that resonated throughout the legal industry this past year.  Winners were selected for their “landmark matters and general excellence.”

Some of the firm’s significant 2021 wins include representing:

• BD Hotels and Chelsea Hotel Owner LLC, owners of the iconic Hotel Chelsea, in successfully ending two years of litigation and 15 days of trial with New York City’s Department of Housing Preservation Development (HPD) prompted by a vocal minority of hostile tenants objecting to the redevelopment of the historic hotel.  After Kasowitz found crucial evidence of an HPD exemption in NYC DOB’s files, undercutting HPD’s jurisdiction over the building, HPD voluntarily dismissed its lawsuit and withdrew related administrative proceedings, including the one against Chelsea Hotel Owner’s principal, Ira Drukier, and NYC DOB lifted the stop work order that had stalled construction for two-plus years.
• 111 West 57th Property Owner LLC in prevailing at the trial court and on appeal before the New York Supreme Court, Appellate Division, First Department, which unanimously dismissed claims of breaches of fiduciary duty and constructive trust involving the 90-story luxury condominium located at 111 West 57th Street in Manhattan, brought by AmBase, a former indirect equity investor in the project.  The Appellate Division also affirmed the cancellation of a lis pendens filed against the property.
• 960 Franklin Ave. Acquisition, owned by Continuum Company and real estate developer Bruce Eichner, in securing an important ruling vacating a temporary restraining order against 960 Franklin Avenue Acquisition in a hotly contested action involving zoning issues surrounding the company’s high profile residential development of two 39-story apartment towers at a former spice factory near the Brooklyn Botanic Garden in New York City. 

Read Kasowitz’s Practice Group of the Year: Real Estate profile.

Kasowitz’s Real Estate Litigation practice, co-chaired by Paul M. “Tad” O’Connor and Jennifer S. Recine, has successfully handled a wide variety of real estate and hotel-related litigation matters on both the plaintiff and defense side, including partnership and joint venture disputes, contract disputes, breach of fiduciary duty and fraud claims, air rights and development rights disputes, investigations, foreclosures, workouts and other restructurings.  We focus on achieving our client’s specific goals, whether by negotiating a resolution, preparing for possible litigation, or litigating a case through discovery and trial.