Litigation and Appeals Practice Group

The Firm represents clients in a wide variety of complex civil litigation in federal and state trial and appellate courts, including those in Nassau and Suffolk Counties, as well as the greater New York Metro area.

The Litigation and Appeals Practice Group provides comprehensive litigation services from the inception of a case through trial and appeal. Our litigation services include the following:

• Pre-action investigation and assessment of claims and defenses
• Preparation of pleadings (complaints, answers, replies and third-party practice)
• Preparing and responding to pre-answer motions
• All phases of pre-trial discovery, including document and e-discovery and the conducting and defending of depositions
• Motions for summary judgment
• Representation at court conferences, hearings and arguments
• Representation at trial and on appeal, if necessary
• Negotiation and structuring of settlements

COMMERCIAL LITIGATION

The Firm attorney's litigate contract, tort and statutory claims arising from business transactions and operations in the trial courts throughout the New York Metro area, including the Long Island counties of Nassau and Suffolk. Contract litigation involves litigating disputes arising from the following types of agreements:

• Contracts for the purchases and sales of real property, business assets, securities, and goods and services
• Commercial leases (including summary proceedings to recover possession of real property and related Yellowstone injunctions)
• Commercial loan agreements
• Promissory notes
• Mortgage foreclosures
• Security agreements
• Guaranties
• License agreements for real and personal property (including intellectual property)
• Employment and confidentiality agreements
• Shareholder, partnership, operating, joint venture and other similar ownership agreements
• Insurance policies (coverage matters)

The Firm also represents clients in cases involving torts and statutory claims arising from business activity, including, without limitation:

• Direct and derivative actions for breach of fiduciary duty
• Actions relating to the internal governance of business organizations
• Actions for accountings, conversion, unjust enrichment, and constructive trusts
• Actions for tortious interference with contractual relationships and business opportunities
• Aiding and abetting claims arising from breaches of fiduciary duty, conversion, and interference with contracts
• Claims involving unfair competition and misappropriation of trade secrets
• Claims of fraud, misrepresentation, deceptive business practices, and fraudulent conveyances
• Claims for defamation, arising from business-related activities
• Actions by owners to dissolve corporations, partnerships, limited liability companies, limited liability partnerships, and joint ventures

REAL PROPERTY LITIGATION

The Firm litigates cases related to all aspects of the ownership, sale, leasing, mortgage financing, taxation, use, development, and environmental cleanup of real property throughout New York, but primarily in the New York Metro area, including Long Island. These matters include:

• Adverse possession, trespass and ejectment claims
• Boundary line disputes
• Rights of first refusal
• Express, implied, and prescriptive easements
• Enforcement and extinguishment of restrictive covenants
• Trespass/ejectment actions (above and below ground)
• Commercial landlord/tenant disputes
• Mortgage foreclosures
• Mechanic’s lien foreclosures
• Lien priority disputes
• Constructive trusts involving real property
• Fraudulent conveyances involving real property
• Nuisances
• Loss of lateral support arising from excavation, underpinning, and shoring activities
• Tax liens

LAND-USE LITIGATION AND CIVIL RIGHTS

In addition, the Firm represents municipal and private clients in all aspects of land-use litigation, with much of its practice centered on Long Island and New York City, including, without limitation, Article 78 proceedings to review municipal land-use determinations under SEQRA (State Environmental Quality Review Act) and civil-rights litigation arising from municipal land-use determinations. The Firm has also represented clients in land-use actions brought under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 et. seq., alleging the following:

• Infringements of freedom of speech, freedom of assembly, and freedom of religion under the First Amendment of the United States Constitution
• Unreasonable searches and seizures under the Fourth Amendment of the United States Constitution
• Improper taking of property and deprivation of due process under the Fifth Amendment of the United States Constitution
• Deprivation of due process and equal protection under the Fourteenth Amendment of the United States Constitution

The Firm also represents clients in land-use claims brought under the federal Religious Land-Use and Institutionalized Persons Act, as well as the New York State Constitution.

MUNICIPAL LITIGATION

The Firm represents municipal clients, including counties, towns, villages, fire and special districts in connection with real property, tax, land use, contract, labor and environmental litigation.

• Article 78 Proceedings
• SEQRA Litigation

ENVIRONMENTAL LITIGATION

The Firm represents clients in environmental actions brought under state and federal law to clean up contaminated properties on Long Island, New York City and the Greater New York Metro area. This includes:

• Chemical regulation and right-to-know
• Environmental compliance and enforcement
• Environmental and toxic tort litigation
• Superfund and natural resource damages litigation

CONSTRUCTION LITIGATION

The firm represents general contractors, subcontractors, design professionals and homeowners in construction litigation matters, including:

• Mechanic's lien foreclosures

NEW YORK AND FEDERAL LABOR AND EMPLOYMENT LITIGATION

The Firm represents clients in a variety of matters relating to labor relations and employment law. The Firm's attorneys have extensive knowledge and experience in employment and labor matters, including those relating to the following matters:

• Claims of discrimination
• Violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA)
• Wage and labor claims by employees, including hour violations
• State and federal Labor Department or agency investigations and audits

Jon A. Ward heads the Firm’s Long Island Litigation and Appeals Practice Group. For a partial listing of representative matters handled by the Practice Group, click here.