Case Study
Adam Leitman Bailey, P.C. Secures Record Multi-Million-Dollar Settlement for Residential Developer
Adam Leitman Bailey defeats adverse possession claim and sells entire plot of land to plaintiff.
As one of the experts in adverse possession cases in New York, I have never before seen an adverse possession case started by one party with the case ended by that party buying the land he was trying to steal. And that is exactly what happened in this case except that the adversary paid above market value for the land and set a County record per square foot for the sale’s price.
In an absolute victory for our client, a developer of a multi-parcel subdivision in Westchester County, Adam Leitman Bailey, P.C. recently secured an unprecedented multi-million-dollar settlement of multiple lawsuits making an adverse possession claim against its client’s property.
Adam Leitman Bailey, P.C.’s client spent the better portion of the last two decades planning, permitting, subdividing, and constructing a new subdivision on one of the last prime multi-parcel properties remaining in lower Westchester. Despite submitting multiple public notices to the neighbor at key stages of the development process, and as the client began the final portions of the subdevelopment, the neighbor filed multiple suits in three different courts, claiming adverse possession to a small wedge of the final property in the subdivision. The neighbor then proceeded to use this claim to being motion after motion to frustrate construction and force our client to sell the property at a sharp discount. Adam Leitman Bailey vigorously defended the client’s rights at every turn, while allowing it to continue developing the property and marketing it for a multi-million-dollar sale to prospective residential buyers.
In addition to defeating each of the neighbors’ motions for injunctive relief, after extraordinarily detailed papers and more than three hours of oral argument, Adam Leitman Bailey secured a forcefully worded opinion from the Court denying the adversary’s motion for summary judgment and calling into question the entire bases of Plaintiff’s claims. Despite the plain writing on the wall, Plaintiff only ramped up its litigation tactics, filing new motions to still try and force our client to sell him the property for a bargain price. Understanding the strength of Adam Leitman Bailey, P.C.’s defense and the potential weakness of their own claims, the opposing counsel approached to engage in settlement discussion. Although the client was willing to go to trial to secure its rights, Adam Leitman Bailey, P.C. understood that the best way to avoid further costly litigation while taking advantage of the red-hot pandemic Westchester real estate market was to potentially obtain a court-brokered settlement from the intransigent Plaintiff.
We appeared at the Westchester County Supreme Court for the first in-courtroom settlement conference in Westchester County since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. After more than three hours of intense negotiation, the firm successfully secured a multi-million dollar settlement whereby the neighbor agreed to purchase the parcel that was the subject of the neighbors dispute for one of the highest prices ever paid in Westchester for an single undeveloped residential parcel. Based on the strength of its case, and with the assistance of the court, the team avoided expensive litigation and achieved a profit for the client that met their goals.
Adam Leitman Bailey, P.C. Supreme Court Litigation Group Attorneys Adam Leitman Bailey, Eric S. Askanase, and Joshua M. Filsoof secured the victory for and continue to represent the developer in this matter.