Harris W. Davidson joined Rosenberg & Estis, P.C. in 2022 and is an Associate with the firm's Litigation Department.
Harris litigates complex commercial matters in federal courts, New York state courts, and arbitral bodies. He represents a wide range of real estate entities, including landlords, fee simple owners, co-op boards, ground lessees, commercial development companies, and joint venturers in disputes, corporate dissolutions, and matters of regulatory compliance. As a sophisticated negotiator, Harris works towards mitigating and eliminating his clients' exposure by achieving successful early resolutions.
When litigation is unavoidable, Harris brings to bear his formidable skills as a trial attorney to put his clients in favorable positions to win. Harris has first or second-chaired 20 jury trials and 23 bench trials. He has also taken and defended over 100 depositions, including depositions of expert witnesses.
Prior to joining Rosenberg & Estis, Harris was an Associate at a boutique commercial litigation firm and an Associate at an AmLaw 100 firm. Following law school, Harris was a prosecutor at the Miami Dade State Attorneys' Office.
Work Highlights
Real Estate Litigation
- Successfully represented numerous commercial landlords in connection with COVID-19 breach of lease disputes and actions against retail and office tenants and obtained multiple million-dollar judgment and settlements on behalf of clients.
- Successfully defended a multi-family property owner in connection with an action for breach of the purchase and sale agreement brought by the developer that purchased the property.
- Successfully represented multiple commercial landlords in connection with actions to recover COVID-19 rent arrears from commercial and personal guarantors of retail and office leases, both before and after the Guaranty Law was declared unconstitutional.
- Successfully defended the depositions of a commercial landlord's security personnel in connection with a wrongful termination action.
- Represented multiple rent-controlled and rent-stabilized multi-family property owners in connection with non-primary residence and succession actions against residential tenants and occupants.
- Represented a co-op board in connection with a derivative action brought by a shareholder of the co-op.
- Represented multiple property developers in disputes with residential holdouts and obtained successful results both in and out of court.
- Represented a warehouse owner and a 1031 qualified intermediary in connection with an action for specific performance and breach of the purchase and sale agreement brought by the property's intended purchaser.
- Represented a fee simple landowner in connection with an action for breach of the triple-net ground lease brought by the developer-lessee and deposed the lessee's project manager.
- Successfully defended a public-private joint venture development in obtaining the dismissal of a mechanics' lien foreclosure action brought by the general contractor of the client's commercial tenant.
- Successfully represented multiple commercial landlords in connection with unlawful conduct actions brought by the City of New York against the clients' retail tenants.
- Successfully represented a premier retail tenant in connection with an action for constructive eviction brought against the client's landlord.*
- Researched and drafted pleadings and motions on behalf of a Fortune 500 company in a high stakes breach of contract and embezzlement JAMS arbitration.*
- Managed the collection and review of over 900,000 documents in a complex business dispute action.*
- Successfully represented a large commercial landlord in connection with judgment collection efforts against its former retail tenant*
- Represented the managing agent of a large Mitchell-Lama co-op in connection with an action for breach of the management contract against the co-op's board of directors.*
- Successfully represented numerous general commercial contractors in connection with mechanics' lien disputes with their subcontractors.*
- Successfully represented a large non-profit housing developer-provider in connection with a defective construction action against its former general contractor.*
Commercial Litigation
- Researched and drafted an appellate brief in a deceptive practices action in Wisconsin state court.*
- Successfully negotiated over 35 favorable settlement agreements in products liability and breach of warranty actions.*
- Researched and drafted a motion to dismiss in a multi-million-dollar fraudulent misrepresentation class action in California federal court.*
- Deposed a high-ranking executive officer in a million-dollar fraud action in New York state court.*
- Drafted a demand letter on behalf of an investor in a securities fraud action in Delaware federal court.*
- Advised a creditor in a New Jersey Bankruptcy Court, drafted a proof of claim, and negotiated with the bankruptcy trustee. *
- Successfully represented a non-profit organization and its principals in connection with a federal civil RICO action in the US District Court for the Eastern District of New York.*
Transactional
- Successfully represented numerous commercial property owners in the negotiation of both licensor-side and licensee-side access agreements for Local Law 11 work and construction work.
- Successfully represented numerous commercial landlords in leasing negotiations with new and existing office and retail tenants.
- Successfully advised a commercial developer regarding an inquiry by the United States Department of Labor.*
*These representations took place during Harris' time associated with another law firm prior to his arrival at Rosenberg & Estis.
Areas Of Practice
- Litigation
- Commercial Lease Disputes
- Co-op/ Condo Disputes
- Construction Disputes and Adjoining Access Issues
- Landlord /Tenant Disputes, including Yellowstone Injunctions
- Contract Disputes
- Partnership and Joint Venture Disputes
- Mechanics’ Lien Proceedings
- Reorganization & Bankruptcy
- 1031 Exchanges
- Leasing
- Ground Leases
Bar Admissions
- New York, 2018
- Florida, 2015
- U.S. District Court Southern District of New York, 2022
- U.S. District Court Eastern District of New York, 2022
Education
- Georgetown University Law Center, Washington, District of Columbia
- J.D. - 2015
- Honors: United States District Court for the District of Columbia, the Honorable Barbara J. Rothstein
- Honors: United States Department of Justice, Criminal Division, Public Integrity Section
- Honors: United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia, Criminal Division, Major Crimes Unit
- Honors: Georgetown Journal of Law and Modern Critical Race Perspectives, Senior Editor
- Honors: Barristers’ Council (Moot Court and Mock Trial) Managing Director
- The George Washington University, Washington, District of Columbia
- B.A. in Political Science - 2012
- Honors: Cum Laude
- Honors: Office of Senator Richard Blumenthal
- Honors: Office of Congressman Jim Himes
- Associate
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