Lee J. Lefkowitz

llefkowitz@zarin-steinmetz.com

(914) 220-9796

Biography

Lee litigates high-stakes regulatory, real estate, land use, constitutional, and commercial matters in State and Federal Court.

Lee guides each case in innovative ways to achieve the tangible results his clients want. He works with clients to develop arguments and strategies that are most likely to succeed in court based on his experience litigating hundreds of lawsuits and appeals.

Lee litigates municipal and zoning matters, environmental cleanup lawsuits, religious and civil rights actions, as well as contract, commercial, property, and business disputes. He has made submissions and argued cases before federal and state courts of all levels, including the Supreme Court of the United States.

Lee received his Juris Doctor, cum laude, from the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law in 2011, where he served on the International and Comparative Law Journal. He also worked as a research assistant in prominent religious rights and religious-land-use cases.

Following law school, Lee completed a fellowship at the New York State Supreme Court, New York County with the Honorable Doris Ling-Cohan, and worked at both local and national firms. Lee obtained his Bachelor of Arts in Math and English, cum laude, from Binghamton University in 2008.

Education

Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law, Yeshiva University, J.D., cum laude

Binghamton University, B.A. in Math and English, cum laude

Admissions

New York

New Jersey

Connecticut

Washington, D.C.

United States District Court, Southern District of New York

United States District Court, Eastern District of New York

United States District Court, District of Connecticut

United States District Court, District of New Jersey

United States Court of Appeals, Second Circuit

Supreme Court of the United States

Notable Work

Represented business owner in multi-faceted environmental case. The matter included a federal lawsuit by a neighboring property owner, a related bankruptcy matter, a property-sale negotiation with a neighboring landowner to redevelop the property, condemnation issues, and negotiations with the NYSDEC for a site clean-up plan.
Represented religious organization in federal court to vindicate their constitutional and civil rights. This included a lawsuit pursuant to RLUIPA seeking to allow operation of a cemetery after a municipality endeavored to prevent the use by a religious entity.
Represented developer in Westchester in efforts to build multifamily housing. When a municipality sought to bar multifamily housing and entrench itself in large-lot single family zoning, Lee guided a litigation asserting violation of the New York Constitution.
Represented developer in Rockland in lawsuitseeking to prevent the developer from building multifamily housing. After a municipality approved a rezoning and subdivision to establish multifamily housing in a Rockland community, neighbors commenced a lawsuit to challenge the actions. Lee defended the establishment of the new housing.
Represented owner of real property in Westchester facing challenge by an opposition group that sought to prevent development of a home on the site. Lee obtained an unanimous decision before the ZBA, affirming the owner’s development rights, and defended several legal challenges seeking provisional remedies.