Davis+Gilbert is pleased to announce the election of Seth A. Chaikin, Lauren Cutson Janian, Jason E. Pruzansky, Jesse B. Schneider and James R. Serritella to the Partnership, and H. Seiji Newman to Counsel effective January 1, 2017.
“These attorneys demonstrate the highest level of professionalism and dedication to client service, and we are proud to announce this important milestone in their careers,” said Davis+Gilbert Chairman Ronald R. Urbach.
Seth A. Chaikin, Partner, is a member of the firm’s Real Estate Practice Group. Mr. Chaikin focuses on commercial leasing, representing both landlords and tenants in retail and office leasing. He has substantial experience counseling companies on the acquisition, development, sale and financing of commercial property, and his practice includes drafting and negotiating a wide range of agreements, from office, retail, industrial, warehouse and telecommunications leases to purchase and sale agreements and property management, leasing agency and asset management agreements. Mr. Chaikin’s recent representations include assisting the Associated Press in a 170,000-square-foot lease of headquarters space, and Vox Media in a 85,000-square-foot lease – both in New York City. He also recently represented the landlord in a 70,000-square-foot lease to a financial services firm in Jersey City, N.J. Mr. Chaikin received his J.D. from Brooklyn Law School and his B.A. from the University of Michigan.
Lauren Cutson Janian, Partner, is a member of the firm’s Private Client Services Practice Group. Ms. Janian has extensive experience counseling clients regarding estate taxes, gift taxes and generation-skipping transfer taxes. She advises clients with respect to lifetime estate planning, including counseling clients regarding their wills, revocable trusts, irrevocable trusts and related estate planning documents, and post-death estate planning and estate administration. Ms. Janian’s practice encompasses all aspects of complex estate planning for high-net-worth individuals, and she works with a variety of clients, including hedge fund and private equity firm principals, executives and artists. She holds an Advanced Professional Certificate in Estate Planning from New York University School of Law. Ms. Janian received her J.D., with honors, from Washington University School of Law, and her B.A., with distinction, from Washington University.
Jason E. Pruzansky, Partner, is a member of the firm’s Labor + Employment Practice Group. Mr. Pruzansky’s practice focuses on the full spectrum of labor and employment counseling and litigation, including matters involving federal and state wage/hour law, the FCRA, ERISA, WARN, ADEA, ADA, FMLA, Title VII, NLRA, restrictive covenants, employment contract disputes and wrongful termination. His specific experience involves drafting employment and release agreements, and employee handbooks and policies; conducting internal investigations; and counseling employers on labor and employment law issues, including those that arise in corporate transactions and workforce restructurings. He also has deep experience negotiating a wide variety of contracts with his clients’ vendors and service providers. Mr. Pruzansky recently obtained, on behalf of an international media company, dismissal of a disability discrimination action and successfully opposed the plaintiff’s appeal to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. He also successfully compelled arbitration of a former employee’s claim on behalf of a major financial institution in a ruling affirmed by the Second Circuit. Mr. Pruzansky received his J.D., cum laude, from Fordham University School of Law, and his B.A., summa cum laude, from Yeshiva University.
Jesse B. Schneider, Partner, is a member of the firm’s Litigation + Dispute Resolution and Real Estate Practice Groups. Mr. Schneider’s practice focuses on complex commercial real estate litigation including landlord-tenant, construction, lien and foreclosure disputes. His specific experience includes representation of both landlords and tenants in connection with lease disputes, Yellowstone injunctions, constructive eviction matters, mechanics’ lien/foreclosure actions and criminal building violations. Additionally, he is familiar with the unique debtor/creditor problems faced by landlords in situation where tenants file for bankruptcy, and he also works on a number of bankruptcy-related matters involving preferential and fraudulent transfers. Mr. Schneider’s recent litigation successes include litigating and resolving a matter involving a large sublandlord that was the victim of a fraudulent transfer; obtaining Yellowstone relief for a large retail tenant whose landlord tried to improperly terminate its below-market lease; and defending a multimillion-dollar foreclosure action for a landlord in connection with liens filed by a contractor responsible for major property defects relating to a build-out. He received his J.D. from New York University School of Law, and his B.A., summa cum laude, from Brandeis University, where he was Phi Beta Kappa.
James R. Serritella, Partner, is a litigator and member of the firm’s Insolvency + Finance Practice Group. Mr. Serritella’s practice includes a broad range of commercial matters with a particular focus on complex contractual disputes in the financial services sector, bankruptcy litigation and insurance recovery on behalf of policyholders. He has defended claims relating to residential mortgage-backed securities (RMBS) and commercial mortgage-backed securities (CMBS) transactions, as well as preferential and fraudulent transfer claims, and lawsuits commenced by borrowers alleging violations of federal and state consumer protection laws. His current representations include defending a sponsor in RMBS transactions against putback and fraud claims and defending global financial institutions in major Madoff litigation seeking recovery of alleged extraterritorial fraudulent transfers under the Bankruptcy Code and against state law claims of Madoff-related funds. Mr. Serritella received his J.D. from Cornell Law School and his B.A. from Binghamton University.
H. Seiji Newman, Counsel, is a litigator and member of the firm’s Insolvency + Finance Practice Group. Mr. Newman has experience in a broad range of commercial matters, including disputes relating to the financial services and real estate sectors, class actions, bankruptcy and residential mortgage-backed securities (RMBS) and commercial mortgage-backed securities (CMBS) transactions. He practices in federal and state courts, representing a wide spectrum of clients as both plaintiff and defendant. His current representations include defending a sponsor in RMBS transactions against putback and fraud claims and defending global financial institutions in major Madoff litigation seeking recovery of alleged extraterritorial fraudulent transfers under the Bankruptcy Code and against state law claims of Madoff-related funds. Mr. Newman received his J.D. from Fordham University School of Law, and his B.A., magna cum laude, from Pace University.