Practice Areas

REAL ESTATE AND LENDING
We have skilled attorneys who provide counseling, transactional and litigation services for a myriad of matters including:

• Real Estate development and siting;
• Purchase and Sales contracts and new construction contracts;
• Leasing;
• Title analyses;
• Commercial lending transactions;
• Residential lending transactions; and
• Bond financing.

We handle routine and complex commercial and residential real estate transactions involving financing, leases, mortgages, purchases/sales and construction contracts for individuals, businesses, corporations, not-for-profit organizations and hospital centers.

LAND USE AND ZONING, MUNICIPAL AND ENVIRONMENTAL LAW
The attorneys in this group provide counseling, advocacy and litigation services involving a broad spectrum of matters relating to:

• Land use and zoning;
• Local municipalities;
• New York State Environmental Quality Review Act (SEQRA);
• New York City Department of Environmental Protection permitting and real estate purchases;
• Connecticut Siting Council;
• Due diligence;
• Brownfields development;
• Environmental compliance and permitting;
• Environmental insurance and coverage;
• Administrative, regulatory, enforcement and cost recovery actions;
• Hazardous substance/waste and petroleum regulation, cleanup investigation and litigation; and
• Toxic tort defense.

Through our thorough understanding of local and state development, land use, siting, and zoning processes as well as local, state and federal environmental laws and regulations, we are able to assist our clients including municipalities, individuals, businesses and corporations in achieving their goals. Our attorneys regularly appear before regulators and local planning and zoning boards, environmental boards and commissions, at public hearings and routinely defend government compliance, enforcement and cost recovery actions.

LITIGATION
Our litigation attorneys and paralegals are skilled and experienced in all aspects of the state and federal court systems including appeals, arbitrations, mediations and trials. Matters on which we provide litigation counseling and service encompass a wide variety of topics including personal injury, product liability, toxic torts, civil rights, business and commercial disputes, environmental law, real estate, land use, zoning, criminal defense, health care law and insurance coverage.

Notwithstanding our considerable litigation capabilities, we strive to limit our client's potential exposure and to avoid unnecessary costs, while achieving favorable results by offering preventative counseling; fully and thoroughly investigating and analyzing matters at the outset; and by utilizing alternative dispute resolution techniques where appropriate, including mediation or arbitration.

BUSINESS/CORPORATE LAW
Our business and corporate law practice includes extensive work in the following areas:

• Structuring and forming entities such as corporations, partnerships, limited liability companies and limited liability partnerships;
• Sales of businesses including asset purchase and stock purchase agreements;
• Buy/sell agreements between business owners;
• Employment agreements including restrictive covenants such as, non-competition agreements;
• Contracts for the sale of goods and services;
• Leases;
• Succession Planning; and
• Financing transactions.

HEALTH LAW
In the Health Law area, we provide practical, results-oriented legal counsel on a level which typically cannot be found outside of major metropolitan areas such as New York or Boston. However, we charge a lot less than competing metropolitan health care firms.

Our experience comes from our serving, since the mid 1980s, as general counsel to hospitals, physicians and other health care providers. Matters in which we have substantial experience include:

• Hospital affiliations with regional and national health care systems;
• Physician group practice formation and restructuring, including succession plans;
• Purchase and sale of medical practices and other health care businesses;
• Health care contracts, including provider agreements, exclusive contracts with hospital based physicians, joint ventures, recruitment agreements, leases, construction contracts and management services agreements;
• Medical staff and hospital bylaws;
• Advice re: health care laws and regulations, such as the anti-kickback statute, Stark, IRS intermediate sanctions and antitrust;
• Physician disciplinary proceedings, including fair hearings;
• Employment contracts and employee disputes;
• Ethical issues such as consent to treatment, treatment over objection and guardianship proceedings;
• Health care financing (tax exempt and taxable);
• Corporate compliance plans;
• General counsel to hospitals, nursing homes, ambulance companies, laboratories, diagnostic and treatment centers, home health care agencies, durable medical equipment companies, radiology service providers, radiation therapy centers, ambulatory surgery centers and physical and occupational therapy practices;
• Negotiating managed care contracts; and
• Litigation and arbitration related to health care matters

MATRIMONIAL AND FAMILY LAW
The firm's family law practice encompasses broad experience in all types of matrimonial actions in New York and Connecticut. Particularly, our attorneys are experienced in the following areas:

• Contested and uncontested divorces;
• Legal separation agreements;
• Child custody disputes;
• Child support actions under the Uniform Interstate Family Support Act;
• Post Judgment modification or enforcement actions;
• Qualified Domestic Relations Orders (QDRO's);
• Prenuptial/Antenuptial agreements; and
• Mediation.

As a general practice law firm, we provide full service to our clients. During or after a divorce, many clients will need to make or revise a will, create an estate plan, buy or sell real estate or other personal property. Our attorneys can easily fulfill all of our clients' legal needs due to the firm's diversified practice areas while simultaneously providing cohesive and personal service to the client.

TRUSTS AND ESTATES
The attorneys in this group, supported by a staff of experienced paralegals, offer estate, financial and tax planning for a wide range of individuals including owners of small businesses, executives of public and private companies and professionals. Our Trusts and Estates law practice includes extensive work in the following areas:

• Wills;
• Powers of Attorney;
• Living Wills and Healthcare Proxies;
• Revocable Trusts;
• Irrevocable Trusts;
• Estate Planning;
• Medicaid Planning;
• Probate proceedings; and
• Probate litigation.

INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY AND TECHNOLOGY
Our intellectual property and technology practice offers all types of clients, located both domestically and abroad, a variety of services with regard to patent, trademark, copyright, trade secret information technology and internet related issues. Such services include:

• Trademark clearance, prosecution and enforcement;
• Copyright clearance, prosecution and enforcement;
• Patent, trademark and copyright licensing;
• Patent, trademark and copyright litigation; and
• Drafting and negotiating commercial contracts for clients in the technology healthcare and manufacturing arenas, including:
  • Vendor outsourcing agreements
  • Software and hardware licenses
  • Maintenance, development and implementation agreements
  • Marketing and advertising agreements
  • Marketing and advertising agreements
  • Internet and e-Commerce related agreements