By Adam Leitman Bailey and Brandon M. Zlotnick Adam Leitman Bailey, P.C. successfully represented a longtime client, which manages over properties in Manhattan, during the course of an investigation by the Office of the New York State Attorney General (“OAG”). The client has produced responses to a subpoena served by the OAG in early 2024, Full Article…
About Adam Leitman Bailey
Actively at the helm of the law firm he built from scratch, Adam Leitman Bailey, Esq. practices residential and commercial real estate law. Among New York’s most successful and prominent real estate attorneys, Mr. Bailey is one of two attorneys from a law firm with less than 30 attorneys that has been ranked in Chambers & Partners, honored with a Martindale-Hubbell “AV” Preeminent rating, rated by Best Lawyers for himself and his law firm, and selected by Super Lawyers as one of New York’s “Top 100” attorneys, a list that included only five real estate law firms’ attorneys that year.
One New York State Judge wrote that Adam Leitman Bailey “was the best trial lawyer I saw in my nine years as a Judge in New York City” while another stated that he had known Bailey for fifteen years and “that he is a brilliant lawyer and innovative who always worked zealously on behalf of his clients.” The Commercial Observer named him as one of New York’s Most Powerful Real Estate Attorneys. Real Estate Weekly recognized him as “one of the most respected commercial real estate attorneys in not only New York City, but arguably the country.”
The New York Times referred to his legal strategy and legislation proposed in one case as “novel,” in addition to remarking on another case in which “Adam Leitman Bailey fought on…grinding through excruciating detail and obscure Perry Mason moments.” After Mr. Bailey’s firm used a forgotten statute to prevail in a landmark case, the Wall Street Journal quoted a prominent New York developer’s attorney who called the holding a “game changer” affecting real estate nationwide. Dateline NBC referred to Mr. Bailey as “aggressive, tenacious and smart” in asking him to share his negotiating secrets on its nationally syndicated television program. Mr. Bailey’s advocacy has prevailed in numerous important trials and cases before various courts and trial venues, including Housing, Civil, and New York State Supreme and Federal Courts, as well as various New York Appellate tribunals.
Adam Leitman Bailey has successfully defended a number of leading title companies and lenders in the nation and prevailed in numerous trials and settlements involving commercial and residential building owners, tenants, real estate developers, real estate brokerages, insurance companies and cooperative and condominium boards. In addition, Mr. Bailey has favorably represented a number of tenant and homeowner associations as well as commercial and residential tenants, garnering millions of dollars in compensation and rent abatements for these associations and individuals. For clients facing landlords who leave buildings in disrepair, Mr. Bailey has an unusually successful track record of getting those residential towers, apartments, and stores repaired and all services restored.
Adam Leitman Bailey has also applied his expertise in closing various real estate deals and commercial leases. He has been named to the Board of Editors for Commercial Leasing Law & Strategy and has a regular real estate column in the New York Law Journal. Bailey’s lease-drafting skills received national attention when BlumbergExcelsior, the nation’s leading form distributor, responsible for over 70 percent of the residential leases signed in the United States, tapped Bailey to draft a new set of residential and office leases for purchase nationwide. BlumbergExcelsior’s principal remarked that Bailey’s lease drafting skills were “remarkable.”
His success as cooperative and condominium general counsel earned Adam Leitman Bailey recognition in “Who’s Who in Real Estate” by Habitat Magazine. Mr. Bailey authored his first book, Finding the Uncommon Deal: A Top New York Lawyer Explains How to Buy a Home for the Lowest Possible Price (Wiley, 2011). This guide through the purchasing process for first-time home buyers became a New York Times bestseller and is available for purchase worldwide. Mr. Bailey has also been elected a Fellow of the American College of Real Estate Lawyers (ACREL), where he serves on the Insurance and Title Insurance committees, and is a former member of the American College of Mortgage Attorneys (ACMA).
Adam Leitman Bailey’s Personal Website
Adam Leitman Bailey, P.C. Youtube
Cooperative Board Minutes Minimum Requirements to Reject a Cooperative Purchase Application
By Adam Leitman Bailey and John M. Desiderio How is a co-op applicant to know whether a rejection decision was made for legitimate corporate purposes, or because of one or more board members’ unlawful motivations? The first place to look would be the co-op’s minutes of its board meetings. Adam Leitman Bailey and John Desiderio Full Article…
The High Cost of Ignoring Habitability
By Steven R. Wagner, Of Counsel, Adam Leitman Bailey ERIC BATT, AS ADMINISTRATOR OF THE ESTATE OF ROBIN SIEGAL V 77 BLEEKER STREET CORP., ET AL. WHAT HAPPENED In 2014, two leaks within seven months damaged Robin Siegal’s co-op apartment and its contents. One leak was from a sprinkler head that froze and burst in Siegal’s Full Article…
Whether Co-op Boards Can Reject Purchasers for a ‘Too Low’ Sales Price
Adam Leitman Bailey and John Desiderio discuss ‘Stromberg v. East River’ which provides new guidance on when co-op boards may consider sale price in rejecting a purchaser without losing protection under the business judgment rule. In 2022, in a prior article, the authors concluded: “Until there is a clear holding by an appellate court that Full Article…
When Is a Breach of a Real Estate Contract ‘Material’?
Adam Leitman Bailey and John M. Desiderio explain how New York courts decide whether a buyer’s or seller’s failure to meet a real estate contract obligation is a “material” breach that justifies remedies such as forfeiture of a deposit, rescission, or specific performance. Whether a default is deemed “material” often determines whether a purchaser forfeits Full Article…
Establishing ‘Time Is of the Essence’ and Performing at a ‘Time Is of the Essence’ Closing
As the authors noted in our first article on Time of the Essence (TOE) Closings, “real estate closings may be the most basic and common real estate experience, but the familiarity ends once a provision of the contract of sale has been breached.” See Bailey and Desiderio, Enforcing the Contract—Obtaining Down Payment or Specific Performance (New York Law Full Article…
Recovering Damages From Water Diversion
The history of real property law is replete with litigation over how one property owner’s assertion of its rights to control and adapt their property impacts their neighbors. These cases usually involve damage to a neighboring property resulting from acts of so-called trespass—which might better be termed a nuisance—one of the most common being damage Full Article…
Coop Estate Requirements
By Rosemary Liuzzo Mohamed Our firm represents several Coop buildings in New York City in connection with closing the sales of their units. When the seller of a unit is the shareholder’s estate, we are often asked for coop estate requirements to sell. Here is a brief but thorough summary of what most coops will Full Article…











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