Real Estate Litigation
Our Clients
Lewis & Kaplan represents local, national and international real estate owners, developers, investors, architects and property managers. Clients range in size from large corporations with real estate interests worldwide to closely-held companies with more select holdings. We represent both for profit entities, such as developers of shopping malls, office towers and mixed-use properties, as well as nonprofit organizations, including one of the world’s preeminent universities.
We work closely with all of our clients to understand their priorities and to create strategies that will achieve their goals, advance their interests and resolve their disputes. Our attorneys have the skill and experience to negotiate prompt and creative settlements that are favorable to our clients and, when necessary, to engage in aggressive litigation and take a case all the way to trial. Whatever the forum, Lewis & Kaplan seeks to resolve its clients’ real estate disputes as quickly and cost-effectively as possible.
Our Practice
Lewis & Kaplan understands the complexities of the real estate business. We represent clients in disputes concerning the acquisition, financing, permitting, design, development, construction and leasing of real estate. Whether our client is a developer of a project whose permit request has been denied by an administrative agency, the owner of a large shopping mall faced with a defaulting retail tenant, or a prominent architectural firm in a dispute with a property owner, we know that our clients’ time and resources are best spent in the real estate business. The best resolution of any real estate dispute is the one that is both favorable and prompt.
Lewis & Kaplan has considerable breadth and depth of knowledge and experience in virtually every area of real estate litigation, including the following:
| • |
Zoning, Permitting and Land Use |
| • |
Construction and Design |
| • |
Commercial Leasing |
| • |
Title, Easements and Adverse Possession |
| • |
Contract Disputes |
| • |
Financing and Acquisitions |
Our Cases
Lewis & Kaplan represents its clients in the Land Court, Superior Court, Appeals Court, and Supreme Judicial Court; in the federal courts; and before arbitrators and mediators. Some of our recent engagements include:
| • |
Defense of permits for a planned $85 million mixed-use waterfront development on Boston Harbor. |
| • |
Representation of real estate developers and investors in commercial lease disputes involving office towers, shopping malls and other properties. |
| • |
Representation of an architectural firm in a $20 million project involving claims of malpractice and unpaid fees. |
| • |
Representation of a large university in several real estate disputes in Cambridge, Massachusetts. |
| • |
Defense of a real estate trust on Martha’s Vineyard against a medical and rehabilitation facility’s claimed exercise of a purchase option. |
| • |
Representation of an architectural firm in a dispute involving a 170,000 square foot athletic complex. |
| • |
Representation of a leading international nonprofit organization in a commercial lease dispute. |
| • |
Representation of a retail business in a dispute with its landlord and the Department of Environmental Protection over oil and hazardous waste contamination. |
| • |
Representation of a conservation foundation in a title dispute involving a wildlife corridor. |
| • |
Defense of a leading national developer and operator of apartment complexes against premises liability claims. |
| • |
Representation of an owner of a waterfront estate in a zoning challenge by an abutting property owner. |
| • |
Representation of developers and owners in disputes with contractors, subcontractors, vendors and suppliers. |