SERVICES

• Civil and Commercial Litigation, including:
  • Commercial and consumer/retail debt collections
  • Car accidents
  • “Slip and fall” injuries
  • Negligence lawsuits
  • Property damage claims
  • Construction and business disputes
  • Civil/Human rights violations
  • Landlord/tenant eviction proceedings  
     
• Zoning, Land Use and Planning, including:
  • Representation of and advising land use applicants seeking -
    • Variances from municipal Zoning Boards of Appeals
    • Site Development Plan or Subdivision Plat approvals from municipal Planning Boards
    • Special Permit Use and other land use approvals before various municipal boards
  • Counseling developers, real estate investors and builders relating to zoning compatibility
  • Providing of legal counsel to municipal land use boards  
     
• Real Estate, including:
  • Closings of single-family and multi-family residential dwellings
  • Sale or purchase of commercial buildings and investment properties
  • Drafting and negotiating of commercial and residential leases
     
• Municipal law, including:
  • Drafting Local Laws and resolutions for governing municipal boards
  • Counseling municipal elected officials and officers, and local government boards, in areas of NYS Town Law, NYS Village Law, NYS General Municipal Law, NYS Municipal Home Rule Law, State Environmental Quality Review Act (SEQRA), NYS Civil Service Law, NYS Freedom of Information Law (FOIL), NYS Open Meetings Law, NYS Public Officers Law, and Local Laws
  • Defending municipalities against civil actions and CPLR Article 78 proceedings
  • Reviewing municipal contracts
  • Prosecuting Local Law and NYS Uniform Fire Prevention and Building Code violations.
     
• Misc.:
  • Business closings (representing purchasers and sellers of businesses)
  • Formation of business entities, such as Limited Liability Companies (LLCs) and Corporations
  • Legal name changes
  • Agency adoptions
    

BACKGROUND:

Graduate of St. John’s University School of Law, Jamaica, New York

Admitted and licensed to practice law in the States of New York and New Jersey, including the United States District Court of the Southern District of New York and the United States District Court of the District of New Jersey.

Mr. Michaels also holds the positions of Deputy Town Attorney for the Town of Orangetown, New York; and Assistant Village Attorney for the Village of Piermont, New York.