In over sixty years litigating civil cases, EHADP has appeared as counsel of record in over 1,000 lawsuits, which have generated more than 500 published opinions from State and Federal courts, including the N.Y. Court of Appeals, Appellate Division, Supreme Court, and Surrogate’s Court, and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit and the Eastern and Southern District Courts of New York.
Our caseload involves diverse subject areas, but we are selective in the cases we bring and defend. Before taking any case, our litigation team will analyze all feasible claims and defenses to determine whether litigation is an appropriate solution.
If the firm accepts a case, our litigators engage in all stages of civil litigation – pleadings, discovery, motions, trials and appeals – and approach each case the same way, whether it involves $100 million property, a mid-sized business, or a relatively minor personal dispute. We meticulously plan, research, and draft thorough and well-supported complaints, answers, and motions. We methodically prepare for all of the essentials, twists, and turns of trials. And, we brief our cases and appeals to a rigorous standard of professional advocacy.
As a result, the firm’s cases have generated decisions that have established rules of law and become seminal precedent in the areas of land use and zoning, title disputes, real estate litigation, surrogate proceedings, and commercial law. A sampling of some leading decisions resulting from cases handled by the firm include:
- Graff v. Billett – Court of Appeals opinion establishing right to limit broker commissions by contract to payment only on passing of title
- Gordon v. Rush – Court of Appeals opinion establishing when “SEQRA” claims can become ripe for judicial review
- Long Island Pine Barrens Society, Inc. v. Planning Bd. of Brookhaven – Court of Appeals opinion addressing “cumulative impact” review under SEQRA
- East Hampton Union Free School Dist. v Sandpebble Bldrs., Inc – Court of Appeals opinion establishing the standards for pleading a corporate “veil piercing” claim
- Ittleson v. Barnett – Appellate Division decision addressing rules governing defaults of option contract
- Friedenberg v. State of New York – pair of Appellate Division Decisions establishing standards governing regulatory takings against the NYSDEC for wetland regulations that take property without just compensation
- Chanos v Madac, LLC – Appellate Division decision establishing standard for justiciability and ripeness of title disputes
- Macklowe v East Hampton Town Trustees – Appellate Division decision establishing applicability of common-law title rule of ambulatory shoreline boundaries to a beach grass boundary
- Matter of Talmage – Appellate Division decision in surrogate court proceeding establishing standards for applications to terminate life estates and sell property