Leading NYC real estate law firm positions for continued growth
Rosenberg and Estis, P.C., a leading New York City real estate law firm, has announced a series of personnel changes to best meet the growing legal needs of its diverse client roster. The firm has named two new members while promoting two attorneys to of counsel.
“We are extraordinarily fortunate to have a team of talented attorneys to support New York City’s real estate industry at a time of increasingly complex legal requirements,” said Rosenberg & Estis managing member Michael Lefkowitz. “The skill of these attorneys is an asset to our clients and we congratulate them all on their new positions.”
Jolie Meer, who joined Rosenberg & Estis in 2007, serving as co-chair of the firm’s leasing sub-group, has risen from of counsel to member in the firm’s Transactional Department. Meer’s practice concentrates on commercial real estate law, with an emphasis on leasing, acquisitions, dispositions, and financing.
Meer earned a bachelor’s degree from Cornell University in 2002 and completed a J.D. at Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law at Yeshiva University in 2005. Named to the Crain’s New York’s list of Rising Legal Stars in 2020 and to the New York Super Lawyers Rising Stars List in 2014-15, Meer is regularly requested by the firm’s top transactional clients for work on especially complex matters. Her list of past client services includes working on a wide range of office and retail leases, including representing the landlord on the retail leases at VIA57West, Frank57West and EOS and helping the ground lessee of the Bank of America Tower in New York City secure $1.3 billion in permanent financing via an unprecedented mix of Liberty Bond and CMBS debt, which were combined in a single mortgage instrument.
Prior to joining Rosenberg & Estis, Graham served as an associate with Walsh Markus McDougal & DeBellis, LLP. She holds a bachelor’s degree from Fordham University, earned in 2005, and a J.D. cum laude, which she completed in 2010 at New York Law School. Among other notable work, Graham helped Nightingale Properties and Wafra Capital Partners secure $89 million, via a Commercial Property Assessed Clean Energy loan, to fund energy efficiency upgrades at 111 Wall Street. The C-PACE loan was the first in New York City and the largest in U.S. history. She was also among a team who represented The Durst Organization in the refinancing of the One Bryant Park tower. The deal combined a $950 million commercial mortgage-backed securities loan from Bank of America and $650 million worth of public-assisted financing that dates to a decade ago.
Richard Corde, who joined the firm in 2016, has risen from associate to of counsel in the firm’s Litigation Department. Mr. Corde’s practice involves complex commercial and residential lease disputes, construction litigation, Article 881 proceedings, coop/condo law, and appeals. He also has extensive experience drafting and negotiating construction contracts and license agreements. Mr. Corde regularly appears in state and federal court on behalf of a broad range of clients, including real estate developers, property owners, commercial tenants, cooperatives, and nonprofit organizations.
David Fries, who joined the firm in 2014, has been promoted from associate to of counsel in the firm’s Transactional Department. Fries focuses on commercial real estate and financing transactions, mezzanine finance, joint ventures and partnerships.
Fries received a bachelor’s degree in political science in 2011 from Washington University in St. Louis and earned his J.D. from Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law at Yeshiva University in 2014, where he was an associate notes editor of the Cardozo Public Law, Policy and Ethics Journal. Among his notable clients, Fries has represented the Quinlan Development Group as it acquired, financed and developed a number of rental and condo projects and The Durst Organization in acquisition and financing work for the giant Queens Plaza Park residential development in Long Island City.