The New York Real Estate Journal featured Andrew Lieb, Esq. in the Year in Review 2018.
Click here to learn about the best decision that Andrew Lieb made in 2018.
Click here to learn about the best decision that Andrew Lieb made in 2018.
Wednesday, January 02, 2019
Tuesday, January 01, 2019
Game-changing developments are expected to occur in 2019 with respect to therapy dogs (i.e., service dogs and emotional support dogs) and real estate professionals must monitor these developments as they occur to stay on top of their game and avoid facing a lawsuit.
As some background, on April 18, 2018, Governor Cuomo signed S7319 into law. This statute charged "the commissioner of agriculture and markets shall convene a working group to examine the need for statewide standards for therapy dogs." Then, in October 2018, the working group published "A Report from the New York State Therapy Dog Working Group".
The Report is clear to note that "[therapy dogs are not defined in other laws under the Americans With Disabilities Act, Federal Housing Authority, NYS Human Rights Law, or New York City Human Rights Law" and that the current definition found at Article 7 of the Agriculture and Markets Law should be expanded to include "private homes" to its current definition of "any dog that is trained to aid the emotional and physical health of patients in hospitals, nursing homes, retirement homes and other settings and is actually used for such purpose, or any dog during the period such dog is being trained or bred for such purpose, and does not qualify under federal or state law or regulations as a service dog." As such, the definition would be relevant to suit under the New York State Human Rights Law (i.e., discrimination in housing) - Real Estate Brokers, Property Managers and Landlords take notice.
The Report calls for "standards regarding training, evaluation, certification, and identification of therapy dogs... especially in relation to service dogs and emotional support dogs." It is expected that further statutes will follow to enact the recommendations of the Report. It's important for real estate professionals to monitor these statutes as they go from bill to law rather than to learn about their rules from receiving a Summons and Complaint. Remember, the best real estate professionals are on the cutting-edge on changes to the law. Leveraging those changes makes you money.
As some background, on April 18, 2018, Governor Cuomo signed S7319 into law. This statute charged "the commissioner of agriculture and markets shall convene a working group to examine the need for statewide standards for therapy dogs." Then, in October 2018, the working group published "A Report from the New York State Therapy Dog Working Group".
The Report is clear to note that "[therapy dogs are not defined in other laws under the Americans With Disabilities Act, Federal Housing Authority, NYS Human Rights Law, or New York City Human Rights Law" and that the current definition found at Article 7 of the Agriculture and Markets Law should be expanded to include "private homes" to its current definition of "any dog that is trained to aid the emotional and physical health of patients in hospitals, nursing homes, retirement homes and other settings and is actually used for such purpose, or any dog during the period such dog is being trained or bred for such purpose, and does not qualify under federal or state law or regulations as a service dog." As such, the definition would be relevant to suit under the New York State Human Rights Law (i.e., discrimination in housing) - Real Estate Brokers, Property Managers and Landlords take notice.
The Report calls for "standards regarding training, evaluation, certification, and identification of therapy dogs... especially in relation to service dogs and emotional support dogs." It is expected that further statutes will follow to enact the recommendations of the Report. It's important for real estate professionals to monitor these statutes as they go from bill to law rather than to learn about their rules from receiving a Summons and Complaint. Remember, the best real estate professionals are on the cutting-edge on changes to the law. Leveraging those changes makes you money.
Thursday, December 27, 2018
In a decision dated
Nov. 6, 2018, the United
States Supreme Court
broadened the scope of
the Age Discrimination
in Employment Act of
1967 (ADEA) to cover
state and local governments regardless of number of employees. Public employers must
now be advised that they may be liable
under the ADEA, regardless of number of
employees, and face additional exposure
for claims of age discrimination.
Read the full article by Mordy Yankovich, Esq. published in The Suffolk Lawyer here.
Read the full article by Mordy Yankovich, Esq. published in The Suffolk Lawyer here.
The dichotomy between a litigation and a transactional practice is stark. Simply, transactional counsel needs to adhere to the game of hot potato —
don’t get stuck as the recipient of a
notice when the music stops. Instead,
counsel must assert a preservation
right whenever counsel receives a
notice that asserts contrary rights by
the other party. Then, counsel should
consult with litigation counsel to collaborate on how to best achieve the
client’s goal through a hybrid of
leveraging litigation and negotiating
terms.
Click here to read the full article published in The Suffolk Lawyer.
Click here to read the full article published in The Suffolk Lawyer.
Tuesday, December 11, 2018
A lawsuit is not what you see on TV. On TV, a lawsuit is won by an attorney marching into court with a grand display of showmanship and a cunning tongue. The TV judge hearing the case makes a spot decision and it’s all over and decided before the final commercial break. In reality, a civil litigation takes years and is much more of a chess match than a swordfight. As opposed to this courtroom drama, a real case is typically decided on paper submissions that may be heard months after they are first provided to the court. Additionally, the decision is often made on a technical procedural rule, not on the merits or substance of the litigation.
You see, being right isn’t everything in real litigation. Instead, a real lawsuit is all about knowing how to play the game. The following is a summary of the stages of a litigation, but this chess match isn’t linear and each of the stages can appear out of order and can even reoccur again and again. So, civil litigants need a skilled advocate who is a master of the game if they want a shot at victory. Here is your game board:
You see, being right isn’t everything in real litigation. Instead, a real lawsuit is all about knowing how to play the game. The following is a summary of the stages of a litigation, but this chess match isn’t linear and each of the stages can appear out of order and can even reoccur again and again. So, civil litigants need a skilled advocate who is a master of the game if they want a shot at victory. Here is your game board:
Monday, December 10, 2018
Lieb at Law, P.C., is seeking a junior associate attorney to support the firms widely expanding litigation and transactional practice. This role will work across the firms practice areas. Competence trumps experience and career growth is limited only by your own ability, ambition and desire to learn and evolve. We are looking for a potential star that is intellectually driven, who does not cut corners, has a fresh approach, thinks outside-the-box and can provide tangible fact-driven support.
Desired qualifications:
- Must love technology and use it always, must be comfortable in a paperless office with cloud based systems
- Demonstrated proficiency in legal writing and oral advocacy;
- Dedicated, organized and detail-orientated;
- Ability to leverage substance rather than emotion;
- Experience drafting contracts.
- Transactions: Commercial and Residential Real Estate Purchase and Lease Transactions, Business Transactions and Negotiations.
- Litigation: Commercial Litigation, Real Estate Litigation, Real Estate Brokerage Litigation, Title Litigation, Plaintiff Personal Injury, Landlord/Tenant, Estate Litigation and more.
- Employment Litigation, Compliance and Trainings: Discrimination, Harassment, Retaliation, Wage and Hour, Restrictive Covenants, Family Medical Leave Act, Alternative Dispute Resolution, Appeals; Employee Handbooks and Policies, Sexual Harassment and Discrimination Training, Wage and Hour Audits & more.
- Legal Compliance for Regulated Industries: Outside Compliance Counsel for regulated professions, Policy Drafting, Policy Implementation, Auditing, Corporate Compliance Trainings.
- Estate Planning and Probate: Last Wills, Advance Directives, Trusts, and Probate Administration.
Qualifications:
Candidate must have 1 year of experience at a law firm. Excellent critical thinking, writing, organization and research (Westlaw) skills. Must be technologically savvy and detail oriented.
Lieb at Law is different:
The law firm is a part-owner of a New York State Licensed Real Estate School, Lieb School, which offers in-class and digital courses throughout New York State and Connecticut. Lieb at Law, P.C. attorneys draft curriculum and teach at the school where they have the opportunity to establish themselves as topical experts and drive the future of the real estate brokerage industry. The law firm's sister firm, Lieb Compliance, leverages legal change to enhance business services. Lieb Compliance offers sexual harassment trainings and employment law support services.
About the firm:
The firm was founded in 1977. In 2009, Andrew Lieb acquired control of the firm and transformed its legal services from a general practice to a commercial litigation boutique focusing on real estate and legal compliance for regulated industries.
The firm’s litigation practice is driven by leveraging informational imbalances to win cases. This is a substance first law firm where data drives decision making and strategy.
To achieve the firm’s information focused litigation culture, staff have access to cloud-based legal research platform so the latest cases are available to our legal team everywhere, including within the courtroom. Next, a secure, cloud-based case management system catalogs every thought and action on each client’s matter. As a result, case facts are readily accessible through the stroke of a computer key, instead of being locked away in one attorney’s memory or private paper notes in some desk draw. Finally, enterprise file sharing, storage and collaboration software is utilized to enable the efficient collaboration between attorneys where case strategy and document preparation benefits from fresh and innovative group think.
Lieb at Law’s latest research and collaboration tools extend to the firm’s transactional team, which ensures that contractual language is driven by our real life experiential learning from our contractual litigating practice.
Lastly, we publish and teach the law that we practice in order to always stay on the cutting edge. Lieb at Law’s work product is a derivative of embracing education and technology to provide a modern law firm that is at the vanguard of representation.
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To Apply email resume and cover letter to careers@liebatlaw.com
Wednesday, December 05, 2018
Every NYS employer must provide their employees with both an annual sexual harassment prevention training and policy pursuant to Labor Law section 201-g. It is a misdemeanor for Employers to violate the Labor Law and likely will trigger an EPLI insurance provider to disclaim coverage in a prospective sex discrimination lawsuit.
Highlights:
- Sexual Harassment Policies: All employers must adopt and provide a sexual harassment prevention policy to all employees by 10/9/18. If your company already has a sexual harassment policy, make sure that it meets or exceeds the newly required minimum standards.
- All Employees Must Be Trained: Between 10/9/18 and 10/9/19 all employees must be trained and annually thereafter on each employee's anniversary, start date or date selected by employer.
- New Employees Must Be Trained and Provided Policies Immediately: Employers are liable for the actions of employees immediately upon hire, the State encourages training as soon as possible.
- NYC Independent Contractors: The NYC Commission on Human Rights requires employers with 15 or more employees (which includes independent contractors) to provide training to all independent contractors who have performed work for the employer for more than 90 days or 80 hours in a calendar year.
- Policy and Training For Independent Contractors: The State Human Rights Law imposes liability on the employer for their actions and encourages employers to provide the policy and training to anyone providing services in the workplace including contractors, subcontractors, vendors and consultants.
Why Employers Should Not Use NYS Sample Policy:
- It does not address every other protected class under which an employer can be sued for discrimination (e.g., race, religion, color, national origin, sex [including pregnancy], military status, age, marital status, sexual orientation, gender expression or identity, genetic information, disability or any other personal characteristics considered to be a protected class under applicable federal, state or local laws). Updating the policy matters because when sued for discrimination by a different protected class, you will be able to explain that everyone is protected in the workplace.
- It does not list potential remedial measures (e.g., termination, suspension, probation, demotion, reassignment, etc.). Updating the policy matters because employees who do not know the consequences are unlikely to care about changing behavior and, more importantly, without clear expectations an employer can be sued for arbitrarily applying their policy in a discriminatory manner.
- It does not cause an employee to agree to its terms and to acknowledge written receipt of the policy and complaint form, which is required by law. Updating the policy matters because without records you have nothing when faced with a Department of Labor audit or a prospective lawsuit. More so, you can justify termination for cause when an employee violates your policy, which they affirmatively agreed to follow.
Why Employers Should Not Use NYS Sample Training Videos:
- NYS has released videos to comply with the NYS required sexual harassment training under Labor Law 201-g. However, the website for the videos expressly advises that they are non-compliant. "the videos alone are NOT considered interactive. If you are using this video to meet the training requirements, you must also: ask questions of employees as part of the program; accommodate questions asked by employees, with answers provided in a timely manner; or require feedback from employees about the training and the materials presented."
- A system to track that employees took the training in anticipation of a Department of Labor audit;
- A system to track that the sexual harassment policy and complaint form were distributed in writing and agreed to be followed (i.e., clickwrap) by the employee - distribution of these documents is also required;
- A branded policy and training, with both addressing all types of discrimination, beyond just sexual harassment, because the employer may face a discrimination suit on a different protected class and wouldn't want to have to explain to a jury why they only cared about sex discrimination, not the applicable protected class (e.g., race, marital status, disability, etc.); and
- Most importantly, a digital on-demand product because the training needs to be instantly available to new employees (i.e., NYS requires trainings as soon as possible from start date and NYC requires trainings within 90 days of start date)
Why Lieb Compliance Is Your Solution:
Lieb Compliance offers a solution that not only complies with all of the updated regulations but also helps defend prospective litigation.
- Complies with both Labor Law 201-g and Local Law 96 (NYS / NYC requirements for sexual harassment prevention)
- Our platform is an interactive video that employees can take at their convenience with a high speed Internet connection. The platform includes a branded sexual harassment prevention policy and complaint form that requires employees to download and review the form
- Our competitors rarely offer an opportunity for employers to require that their employees affirmatively agree to be bound by their policy through a digital clickwrap receipt
- Our content and instructor, Andrew Lieb, who teaches through case studies and practical advice, not theory. Mr. Lieb, Esq is an employment law litigator and is regarded as one of the best legal educators in the country who can make a boring required topic, like sexual harassment prevention, come to life through humor and fun. That is why our trainings have continuously received rave reviews from C-suite executives, who frequently tell us that our trainings have transformed employee compliance into a morale building experience. Simply, employees thank their bosses for hiring Lieb Compliance.
Monday, December 03, 2018
Lieb at Law, P.C. seeks digitally savvy, detail oriented and motivated paralegal. The firm services the New York Metro area, inclusive of the Hamptons and Manhattan and represents sellers, buyers and lenders in residential and commercial real estate closings.
The firm is a paperless office with a focus on technology and substance. Must be friendly, charismatic and organized. We will grow your career and teach you how to reach the next level.
The firm is a paperless office with a focus on technology and substance. Must be friendly, charismatic and organized. We will grow your career and teach you how to reach the next level.
The firm’s sister company is one of the largest real estate schools in the state offering in-person and digital continuing education classes to real estate brokers and salespersons.
Responsibilities:
- Drafting and reviewing contracts of sale
- Ordering and clearing title
- Coordinating with brokers, surveyors, expeditors, lenders and other client-vendors
- Managing client needs
- Coordinating closings
- Maintaining files as always up-to-date through use of case management technology
- New business intake – opening and closing files and tracking / closing potential cases
- Preparing closing statements
- Answering telephones, distributing mail and deliveries, announcing visitors, maintaining office appearance, watering plants, making coffee, and generally helping throughout entire law firm
- Managing closing department calendar
Requirements:
- Must love technology and use it always
- Need to love sales – be charismatic / friendly / hungry
- Required to be self-sufficient and take pride in your work-product
- Success requires a detail-oriented / organized / multi-tasker
- Proficient in Microsoft Word, Excel, and Google Calendar
- Active presence on Social Media
- Minimum of typing 60+ words per minute
- Minimum Associates Degree from accredited college. Bachelor’s Degree preferred
- Cannot be a practicing real estate salesperson / associate broker due to conflicts
Email Resumes to Careers@liebatlaw.com
Thursday, November 29, 2018
According to the NYC Commission on Human Rights Legal Enforcement Guidance on Discrimination on the Basis of Disability, "a “no pets” policy in a lease, should be clear about the availability of and the process for seeking and granting an exception or modification to the policy as a reasonable accommodation."
As should be discerned, using a form lease is very dangerous and landlords need to understand that a properly drafted tailored lease is about exposure mitigation more than anything else.
As should be discerned, using a form lease is very dangerous and landlords need to understand that a properly drafted tailored lease is about exposure mitigation more than anything else.
Monday, November 26, 2018
This is not a politically charged article, but a functional article predicting the future. As a result of the November 6, 2018 elections, New York State no longer has a deadlocked Senate and many bills will now pass.
In 2018, the Democrats gained control of 40 seats and the Republicans gained control of 23 seats in the Senate giving them a majority from the prior 32 / 31 Republican control. Also, the Assembly remains democratic, as it has historically been since 1975. After the elections, the Assembly was 104 / 43 Democratic control.
With both New York State Senate and Assembly being dominated by Democrats, it is expected that more bills will be passed. The New York State Legislature is now less likely to be at an impasse on voting on the passage of bills. As such, stay tuned for updates on proposed bills and their passage, especially those related to real estate and employment law.
In 2018, the Democrats gained control of 40 seats and the Republicans gained control of 23 seats in the Senate giving them a majority from the prior 32 / 31 Republican control. Also, the Assembly remains democratic, as it has historically been since 1975. After the elections, the Assembly was 104 / 43 Democratic control.
With both New York State Senate and Assembly being dominated by Democrats, it is expected that more bills will be passed. The New York State Legislature is now less likely to be at an impasse on voting on the passage of bills. As such, stay tuned for updates on proposed bills and their passage, especially those related to real estate and employment law.
