Litigation

Protecting our clients’ interests at the trial and appellate levels
Our Approach

Our attorneys prosecute and defend lawsuits in federal, state, and municipal courts. We take the time to learn each client’s individual case as though we lived it. Our reputation for high quality oral and written advocacy is one we have cultivated with the courts and our adversaries over decades.

Our litigators are also pragmatic and drive litigation strategy based on a client’s business and individual goals. That means litigating through trial and/or appeal, utilizing alternative dispute resolution such as mediation and arbitration, or advising on settlement strategies. And because we are a full-service firm, we bring our insight as land use, zoning, municipal, transactional, and real estate practitioners when we litigate. Our litigation department is also frequently called upon to litigate commercial and business disputes unrelated to our real estate development practices.

What We Do

  • Article 78 proceedings
  • Appeals
  • State/federal land use constitutional and civil rights
  • Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act (RLUIPA)
  • Fair Housing Act (FHA)
  • Padavan Law
  • Condemnation and Eminent Domain
  • Property and title disputes, including adverse possession/prescriptive easement
  • Contract and business disputes
  • Environmental, including SEQRA and NY Navigation Law
  • Arbitration/mediation
  • Zoning and building code enforcement actions
  • Administrative Hearings
Recent News
Judge Hal Greenwald granted Z&S’s motion to dismiss, which resolved the case in their client’s favor, before any discovery commenced or any answer to the Complaint was filed. Z&S primarily argued that the case was an illegal “Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation,” under New York State’s new “Anti-SLAPP” legislation, which prohibits lawsuits focused on stifling...
Jacob Amir recently secured site plan approval from the Town of Pound Ridge Planning Board for the construction of an innovative art studio as part of the Oberon Foundation for the Arts’ new Artist-in-Residence Program. Designed by Steven Holl Architects, a world-renowned firm whose projects have included the Terezin Ghetto Museum in the Czech Republic...
David Steinmetz and Lee Lefkowitz successfully obtained a discretionary rezoning of a large area at the center of the Village of Piermont’s downtown – the first step towards revitalizing a long-vacant and prominent parcel at the main entry-point to the Village. This clears the way for redevelopment of that site with the client’s proposed 14-unit...