Eight New Jersey real estate attorneys have earned the top individual ranking from Chambers and Partners, the legal research and rankings organization, in its latest guide to the state’s real estate legal market.
The Band 1 honorees:
● Richard Abramson — Cole Schotz (22 years ranked)
● Martin Dowd — McCarter & English (23 years ranked)
● Jack Fersko — Greenbaum, Rowe, Smith & Davis (23 years ranked)
● Alan Hammer — Brach Eichler (20 years ranked)
● Robert Klausner — Fox Rothschild (16 years ranked)
● Nicholas Racioppi Jr. — Riker Danzig (21 years ranked)
● Michael Rothpletz Jr. — Faegre Drinker (23 years ranked)
● Ted Zangari — Sills Cummis & Gross (16 years ranked)
In total, 45 individual lawyers were noted across Chambers’ full New Jersey real estate rankings, spanning four bands, plus a small group of senior statespeople and one up-and-coming attorney.
The category covers corporate matters related to real estate, including mergers and acquisitions of large real estate holding companies, complex fund and REIT transactions, and private equity and public securities work. Chambers distinguishes these lawyers from general corporate attorneys, noting they typically come from a real estate background and understand the underlying asset, giving them a foundation in traditional “dirt law” real estate even as they handle more complex structuring and transactional work — including advising on REITs, or real estate investment trusts.
Chambers, which bills itself as the leading legal data and intelligence partner for lawyers, law firms and in-house counsel, says its rankings are built on a large research operation: more than 366,000 research interviews and surveys with in-house counsel annually, and over 66,000 submissions from more than 10,000 firms worldwide.
Below Band 1, the rest of the list breaks down as follows.
Band 2
● Mitchell Berkey (Chiesa Shahinian & Giantomasi)
● Edward Butler Jr. (McCarter & English)
● Kevin Coakley (Connell Foley)
● David Freylikhman (Greenberg Traurig)
● Christine Li (Greenbaum, Rowe, Smith & Davis)
● Laurie Meyers (Wilentz, Goldman & Spitzer)
● Jeffrey Petit (McCarter & English)
● Allen Popowitz (Brach Eichler)
● Michael San Giacomo (Faegre Drinker)
● Matthew Schiller (Murphy Schiller & Wilkes)
● Michael Woodruff (Faegre Drinker)
Band 3
● Scott Anderson (Giordano Halleran & Ciesla)
● Kenneth Bills (Greenbaum, Rowe, Smith & Davis)
● Andrew Camelotto (FBT Gibbons)
● Thomas DaCosta Lobo (McCarter & English)
● John Galluccio (Fox Rothschild)
● Joshua Greenfield (Riker Danzig)
● Christopher Hopkins (Wilentz, Goldman & Spitzer)
● Todd Lehder (Wilentz, Goldman & Spitzer)
● Mark Levenson (Sills Cummis & Gross)
● Philip Markowitz (Chiesa Shahinian & Giantomasi)
● Brad Molotsky (FisherBroyles)
● Rachel Mynhier (Troutman Pepper Locke)
● Grace Shin (Sherman Atlas Sylvester & Stamelman)
● Jennifer Solberg (Day Pitney)
● John Stewart (Cole Schotz)
● Joseph Whitney (Faegre Drinker)
Band 4
● Rand Agins (Lasser Hochman)
● Thomas Denitzio Jr. (Greenbaum, Rowe, Smith & Davis)
● Jonathan Goodelman (Cole Schotz)
● Leo Leyva (Cole Schotz)
● Jody Saltzman (Greenberg Traurig)
● Stephen Urban (Connell Foley)
● Simone Wilson-Brito (McCarter & English)
Senior Statespeople
● David Gordon (Wilentz, Goldman & Spitzer)
● Jeffrey Hugh Newman (Sills Cummis & Gross)
Up and Coming
● Charles Wilkes (Murphy Schiller & Wilkes)
