About the Practice
Smith Gambrell & Russell proudly represents over 200 cooperatives and condominiums in the New York area. Our clients include some of the city’s finest buildings and range in size from 300+ units to 3. Collectively, our attorneys have decades of experience dealing with cooperative and condominium issues. The goals of our practice are to provide economical and efficient assistance, keeping it simple where possible while at the same time providing innovative approaches when appropriate, and giving all of our clients the benefit of our experience and sophisticated skills. When litigation is necessary, clients can rest assured knowing that our attorneys have successfully handled some of the leading cooperative and condominium related litigation in New York. SGR also has extensive experience in other practice areas that we make available to our cooperative and condominium clients when needed, including construction law, insurance law, labor practices, and trusts and estates.
How SGR can assist:
Governance Matters
- Interpreting, enforcing and amending governing documents
- Developing policies and procedures and documents to address specific issues such as alterations, subleasing, guest policies and the use of building facilities
- Preparing for and conducting owner and shareholder meetings
- Answering board liability and indemnity questions
Litigation and Dispute Resolution
- Claims and defaults involving owners or shareholders
- Sponsor disputes
- Construction defects and disputes
- Disputes with commercial tenants
- Noise, easement, access and other disputes with neighboring properties
Revenue Sources
- Mortgage financing and refinancing and lines of credit including condominium association loans
- Sale of air rights or other development rights
- Sale, lease or license of space (commercial, hallway, rooftop or other common areas)
- Flip tax and sublet fee policies and procedures
Building Maintenance and Improvement Contracts
- Preparing and negotiating service and repair contracts
- Preparing and negotiating contracts for major projects, both simple and complex, structural and cosmetic, with general contractors, construction managers, design-builders, architects and engineers
- Preparing and negotiating easement, license and access agreements with neighboring properties
Shareholder and Unit Owner Issues
- Complaints and issues with and between shareholders or unit owners
- Transfers and changes in ownership, including those involving estates and heirs, trusts and personally/family-owned entities, and related matters, including third-party guaranties, conditional consents, and escrows
