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NEW YORK, NY, June 28, 2022 – Rosenberg & Estis, P.C. has announced the promotion of Zachary J. Rothken to Member and Head of the firm’s acclaimed Administrative Law Department.
Rothken joined the firm’s Administrative Law Department in 2018 as an experienced lawyer in the field, working closely with firm leadership from day one.
Rothken succeeds Blaine Z. Schwadel, who joined Rosenberg & Estis in 1979 and will remain as a Special Counsel with the Administrative Law Department. Rothken will oversee all of Rosenberg & Estis’ administrative law matters, including regulatory due diligence, administrative proceedings before DHCR, regulatory compliance and Article 78 litigation.
“I’m proud to carry on Rosenberg & Estis’ five-decade tradition of comprehensive real estate representation,” Rothken said. “More than ever before, property owners, landlords and other industry professionals need superior representation to deal with a litany of local laws, regulations and pandemic-age challenges.”
“Zachary J. Rothken has a keen eye, a strong legal intellect and a relentless determination to safeguard clients’ best interests,” said Michael E. Lefkowitz, Managing Member of Rosenberg & Estis. “We are pleased that he will offer these skills as he leads the Administrative Law Department at a critical time for the industry.”
Named to the New York Super Lawyers Rising Stars list from 2020-22, Rothken has earned a reputation as a well-regarded expert in rent regulation and its practical ramifications for 21st century property owners.
Rothken’s practice focuses on complex regulatory issues concerning rent stabilization and rent control. He counsels prospective purchasers, sellers and lenders in performing due diligence on properties that are subject to rent regulation.
He also represents property owners in administrative proceedings before DHCR and Article 78 proceedings, including claims concerning rent overcharge, substantial rehabilitation, luxury deregulation and reduction of services.
Rothken, who holds bar admissions in New York, New Jersey and the U.S. District Court’s District of New Jersey, earned a bachelor’s from Yeshiva University in 2009 and a J.D. at Hofstra University School of Law in 2013.
While at law school, Rothken served as Articles Editor for the Hofstra Labor & Employment Law Journal. Rothken also currently serves on the Village of Chestnut Ridge Planning Board. Rothken continues to periodically offer commentary and expertise on the law, including co-authoring a well-received article, published in the New York Law Journal, titled “Commercial Rent Control Effort Defined by Confusion and Unintended Consequences.”
Among Rothken’s notable recent cases are Armstrong, et al., v. Dumbo Lofts, heard in state Supreme Court in Kings County. Rothken attained partial summary judgment against the tenants, including the dismissal of nearly all the claims made by three of four plaintiff-tenants in the case against a Brooklyn landlord. The Court also roundly rejected the parties’ claims that the owner engaged in a scheme to defraud the tenants to overcharge rent despite receiving tax benefits associated with rent-stabilized leases.
In Westchester Plaza Tenants Association v. DHCR, et al., filed in state Supreme Court in Westchester County, Rothken successfully fended off a significant Article 78 proceeding brought by a tenants’ association in a thorny, building-wide service reduction/modification of services proceeding that had a protracted and well-publicized history.