By: Adam Leitman Bailey & John M. Desiderio January 1st, 2007 Land transfers date back to biblical times and have been the subject of an inordinate amount of litigation. Of course, the importance and value of land and the necessity for shelter might help to explain many of the disputes. Some, however, are due to human 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
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Using a License Agreement Instead of a Lease
By Adam Leitman Bailey and John M. Desiderio A number of years ago, I sat down with one of the New York’s real estate legends and his company’s general counsel. He was bothered by New York’s eviction process — the loss of rental income, the wasted legal fees, and the incredible amount of time between Full Article…
Despite ‘Jones,’ Ambiguities In Title Chain Can Be Cured
By Adam Leitman Bailey and Dov Treiman When the Supreme Court decided Jones v. Flowers,1 it exacerbated a nagging problem for the title insurance industry – the necessity to do constitutional analysis when examining chains of title. With the current state of the economy, tax foreclosures are increasing. Thus, more properties have these ambiguities in Full Article…
The Limits of ‘Landaverde
By Adam Leitman Bailey and Dov Treiman When in mid-2004 the New York Court of Appeals came down with ATM One, LLC v. Landaverde, 1 it clearly knew that it was stirring a hornet’s nest of controversy. That the Court was affirming an already controversial holding of the Second Department did nothing to lessen the Full Article…
They Do the Crime – And It’s on Your Dime
By Adam Leitman Bailey and Dov Treiman Two State laws make a tenant’s illegal use of rented premises a matter of considerable concern to owners. One law empowers local prosecutors to bring eviction proceedings against both the illegally operating tenant and the premises’ owner; the other makes the owner as liable as the tenant for Full Article…
Lenders can foreclose on properties, even after losing the note
4:57 pm, October 8, 2012 By Adam Leitman Bailey, founding partner, and Jackie Halpern Weinstein, associate, Adam Leitman Bailey, P.C. Prominent real estate attorney Joseph Forte recently wrote about “… the prospect of refinancing nearly $1.8 trillion of existing U.S. commercial real estate debt in the next five years.” In order to complete this task Full Article…
The Most Crucial Commercial Lease Cases
By Adam Leitman Bailey & Dov Treiman For almost two years, the attorneys at Adam Leitman Bailey, P.C have been compiling a list of the greatest commercial leasing cases of all time. The authors have always been fans “greatest” lists—there being something special about choosing the best among so many great people, entertainers, athletes, composers, Full Article…
The Brewing MERS Crisis: Everyone Loses
By Adam Leitman Bailey and Dov Treiman In Homer’s Odyssey, the protagonist, Odysseus, is called upon to sail his crew through the Straits of Messina, passing between two legendary monsters, Scylla and Charybdis. To avoid one, the only option was to approach the other, risking a horrible death in either instance. Odysseus was at times Full Article…