Davidson, Harris W.

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.