Prominent Group of Land Use Attorneys Joins Kramer Levin's Existing Group, Augmenting Leading Practice in New York City

PROMINENT GROUP OF LAND USE ATTORNEYS JOINS KRAMER LEVIN’S EXISTING GROUP,
AUGMENTING LEADING PRACTICE IN NEW YORK CITY

NEW YORK, July 11, 2005 – Kramer Levin Naftalis & Frankel LLP announced today that a group of six land use professionals, led by Paul D. Selver, has joined the firm’s distinguished land use practice.  The group, which came from Paul Hastings Janofsky & Walker LLP includes partner Selver, one of the City’s most respected and well-known land use attorneys, counsel Elise Wagner, special counsels Valerie G. Campbell and Jeremiah (Jed) H. Candreva, associate Sheila Pozon, and planning and development specialist Marcie Kesner. 

They join the existing preeminent practice at Kramer Levin that is already the most active and deeply experienced in New York City.  The group was created by counsel Samuel (Sandy) H. Lindenbaum, who is widely regarded as the dean of the New York land use bar.  The group also includes partner and department chair Michael T. Sillerman, partner Gary R. Tarnoff, counsel Jeffrey L. Braun, special counsels Albert Fredericks and James P. Power, and planning and development specialist Robert E. Flahive.

“The combination of our two groups creates a land use practice that is unparalleled in terms of the breadth of its experience and the range and depth of its expertise”, said Sandy Lindenbaum.  “This newly expanded group will help our clients capitalize on the new development and reuse opportunities available in the City by offering them advice and guidance at the most sophisticated level.”  Paul Pearlman, Managing Partner at Kramer Levin, added, “We are very pleased to have Paul’s exceptional team join us.  We can leverage our capabilities even more effectively with this larger group, taking advantage of the tremendous resources this combination gives us.”

The combined group represents both established developers and more recent entrants into the New York real estate market, cultural and educational institutions, and corporations.  Members of the group are among the most respected land use practitioners in the New York metropolitan area.  Indeed, members of the group have been recognized in peer group surveys conducted by Chambers USA and Best Lawyers in America as among the best in the land use field.

“The current real estate market and favorable development climate in New York City have created an unprecedented demand for land use expertise,” said Paul Selver.  “I look forward to merging our practice with Kramer Levin’s and collaborating with my new colleagues in meeting this demand.”

The expanded Land Use group will be co-chaired by Messrs. Sillerman and Selver and will continue its close collaboration with the Kramer Levin Real Estate and Environmental departments, the firm said.  Together the three practice areas offer an integrated, full-service approach to handling the complete range of transactional, tax incentive, environmental and land use issues facing participants in every area of the real estate acquisition and development field.