J.P. Amato joined Rosenberg & Estis, P.C. in 2023 and is an Associate with the firm’s Litigation Department.
Amato’s litigation practice spans a wide and complex range of matters, predominantly in the commercial and residential real estate space. He routinely litigates disputes arising from commercial and residential lease agreements, and has litigated disputes arising from asset purchase agreements, operating agreements, and various loan documents.
Amato has experience in all aspects of litigation, from pre-litigation workouts through and including trial. His work includes reviewing, drafting, revising, and analyzing legal memoranda, including predicate default notices, pleadings, briefs, letters, mediation statements, expert reports, settlement agreements, forbearance agreements, contracts of sale, guaranties, releases, and discovery documents, as well as conducting depositions, oral arguments, and appearing in Court.
Prior to joining Rosenberg & Estis, Amato was an Associate with Ganfer Shore Leeds & Zauderer LLP and Wade Clark Mulcahy LLP. Before pursuing law, Amato worked in a variety of production, talent management, and business roles within the entertainment industry, including with a renowned global advertising and consulting agency.
Notable Work
- Obtained temporary restraining order, preliminary injunction, and ultimately summary judgment against a residential tenant who violated the subject lease’s transient occupancy prohibitions and New York City Local Law 18, also known as the Short-Term Rent Registration Law (Index No. 651781/2023).
- Obtained temporary restraining order against commercial tenant and unauthorized sub-tenant, which were violating the Cannabis Law by unlawfully retailing adult-use cannabis at subject premises, ultimately resulting in the tenants’ voluntary surrender of the premises via settlement (Index No. 653846/2023).
- Successfully opposed commercial tenant’s application for a Yellowstone injunction (Index No. 159392/2023).
- Obtained temporary relocation order against residential tenant, who refused to relocate to permit landlord’s structural repairs (Index No. 713573/2023).
- Obtained summary judgment and a judgment of possession in holdover proceeding against commercial tenant (Index No. LT-321059- 23/NY).
- Obtained temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction against commercial tenant, based on lease violations and life, health, and safety issues at subject premises (Index No. 650370/2024).
- Commenced holdover proceeding against commercial tenant based on illegal and unauthorized cannabis/marijuana retailing, resulting in consent judgment of possession and voluntary surrender of subject premises (Index No. LT-302881-24/NY).
- Commenced nonpayment proceeding against commercial tenant based on illegal and unauthorized cannabis/marijuana retailing, resulting in consent judgment of possession with a money judgment (Index No. LT-308204-24/NY).
- Commenced RPAPL 881 proceeding against condominium board and unit owners, who denied necessary access to perform construction pursuant to Local Law 11 and the New York City’s Façade Inspection and Safety Program (FISP), ultimately resulting in so-ordered stipulation providing access (Index No. 151685/2024).
- Defended a class action lawsuit alleging breaches of the implied warranty of habitability due to alleged elevator-service interruptions in four luxury high-rise buildings in Manhattan.
- Managed large-scale e-discovery of over 200,000 documents in a complex professional liability dispute.
- Successfully defeated a motion to confirm an arbitration award pursuant to Article 75 of the CPLR.
Areas Of Practice
- Litigation
- Commercial Lease Disputes
- Residential Lease Disputes
- Landlord/Tenant Disputes, including Yellowstone Injunctions
- Co-op/Condo Disputes
- Contract Disputes
- Class Action Defense
- Construction Disputes and Adjoining Access Issues
- Partnership and Joint Venture Disputes
Bar Admissions
- New York, 2021
- U.S. District Court Eastern District of New York, 2021
- U.S. District Court Southern District of New York, 2021
Education
St. John’s University School of Law
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- J.D. – 2020
Honors & Activities:
- American Bankruptcy Institute Law Review
- Associate Managing Editor
- Intellectual Property Law Society
- President: New York Court of Appeals Fellow ’18
- Dean’s Scholarship
- IP Honors Scholar
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Syracuse University, S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications
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- B.A. in Television, Radio & Film and Political Science (cum laude) – 2015
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Published Works
- Robert Cosgrove & John P. Amato, Start Spreading the News: A Primer on Cyber Legislation in New York, Data and Security Dispatch, Vol. 6.1, May 2021
- Ira B. Matetsky & John P. Amato, New York Legislature Considers Amending RPAPL § 881, 51 N.Y. Real Prop. L.J. 1, 16-18 (2023)
Classes/Seminars
- Mattone Institute CLE Series (St. John’s University School of Law): “Cannabis Complications in NYC Real Estate,” November 2023
Professional Associations and Memberships
- New York State Bar Association
- New York City Bar Association
- American Bar Association
- Columbian Lawyers Association
- Associate