Hanner Ofer

Attorneys At Law

The Firm

Its Clients

Its Policies

Its Services

The Firm

Hanner Ofer, is a full service law firm founded in 1987. Our partners and associates provide representation and advice in the following practice areas: administrative, banking, cooperative and condominium, corporate, employment, entertainment, estate planning, probate and administration, finance, franchising, intellectual property, international business, public and private securities, publishing, real estate, sports, tax and tort law. our litigators represent the firm's client in all state and federal trial and appellate courts, before government agencies and arbitration and mediation panels. We offer our client the sophisticated legal services of a large firm, combined with practical business advice, close personal attention and sensitivity to client needs and cost control.

Our attorneys are very responsive to the needs of our firm's clients and of the legal profession. We are regularly called upon to appear as lecturers and panelists at seminars sponsored by various bar associations, privately and publicly funded organizations and governmental agencies, in New York, in other cities in the United States and in foreign countries. We have written extensive texts and articles related to our various areas of practice.

Our firm has earned an AV rating from Martindale-Hubbell, the highest rating available for our legal skills and ethical standards.

The firm's attorneys, paralegals and professional support staff are located in modern offices equipped with state-of-the-art technology at 845 Third Avenue, New York, New York, 10022-6601.

Firm Clients

Hanner Ofer, has a diverse client base, ranging in size from large publicly held companies to privately and closely held businesses. The firm provides the same degree of attention and expertise to matters for individual clients as it does to matters for public and privately held corporations, non-profit organizations, cooperatives, condominiums, trade associations and community groups that it represents.

We intentionally maintain a large client base to avoid dependence on any one client for more than ten percent of our revenue.

The firm has an excellent reputation representing commercial businesses, both public and private, from newly to established companies.

Our real estate clients own, operate and develop commercial and residential property across the United States worth billions of dollars, including shopping centers, retail properties, commercial office buildings, apartment complexes, cooperative and condominium buildings and developments.

Our estate practitioners have represented multiple generations of families in estate planning to transfer personal and business wealth with the most favorable estate, gift and income tax consequences.

Firm Policies

* Quality Service

The quality of our work product is of utmost impotance to every attorney and member of our support staff.

*Attention and Response to Client Needs

Every client is provided with close personal attention to its, his or her business and personal matters. We respond quickly to our clients' needs and foster a strong attorney-client relationship by making ourselves available for client telephone calls and meetings, responding promptly to email, keeping our clients informed as their matters progress and providing our clients with copies of documents prepared and received by our firm.

*Advance Planning

We use our knowledge and experience to help our clients plan business and personal transactions and to structure transactions to maximize favorable tax consequences.

*Effective Representation

We are aggressive and meticulous in the representation of our clients, because their interests are our prime concern. We recognize that our clients want and need to have current information as their matters progress, to have ready access to counsel and to participate in decisions concerning tactics and strategy. We help our clients evaluate the costs and potential benefits of such decisions.

*Control of Legal Costs

The work product that we deliver is of the highest quality and equal to that of far larger firms, yet our fee structure and overall costs are often significantly less. Our attorneys are cognizant of the need to control legal costs; we do not overstaff matters and we discuss with our clients available legal alternatives and their projected costs. We prepare cost estimates and issue detailed monthly statements to our clients, so they are aware of the current status of their matters at all times.

Firm Services

*Business and Corporate Services

Hanner Ofer, corporate lawyers provide a board spectrum of business advice and services to the firm's clients.

*Business Formation: We form corporations, limited liability companies, partnerships and joint ventures and assist our clients with mergers and acquisitions.

*Contract Preparation: We negotiate and prepare all types of business agreements, including commercial sales, equipment leasing, asset and stock sales, publishing, entertainment and licensing agreements.

*Corporate Finance: Our corporate finance and securities law group assists our clients in obtaining private and public capital, bank and private secured and unsecured loans, bridge financing and public financing through private and public offerings of securities.

*Employee Relations: We negotiate and prepare employment contracts for officers and key employees, company policy manuals, protect against discrimination and harassment claims and negotiate employee severance agreements.

*Franchising and Distribution: We assist established franchisors, start-up franchisors and franchisees in the preparation of franchise documents, regulatory compliance and dispute resolution.

*International Business: We assist foreign businesses in connection with their United States operations and American firms in connection with their operations outside of the United States. Our expertise in these areas is buttressed by an extensive knowledge of foreign languages, legal systems and business practices. Through membership in international organizations such as EuroJuris and other close contacts with law firms in other countries, we can assist clients on a worldwide level.

*Litigation, Arbitration and Mediation: Our litigators aggressively enforce our clients' rights and defend their interests in all courts and before governmental agencies, arbitration and mediation panels.

*Taxation: Our tax attorneys plan business transactions, anticipate and seek to maximize favorable tax consequences, and provide our clients with sophisticated, yet practical, tax advice. The members of our tax department also obtain private letter rulings on behalf of our clients and represent our clients before the internal Revenue Service, in the U.S. Tax Courts and before corresponding state and local taxing authorities.

*Trademark and Intellectual Property: Our attorneys protect our clients' intellectual protection and provide counseling in the areas of libel and slander, privacy and publicity.

*Financial Industry Services

Hanner Ofer, Financial Services Industry Group provides a full range of legal services to the financial industry, including banks, thrift institutions, credit unions, mortgage bankers, mortgage brokers, investment advisors and other financial services entities.

*Chartering and Licensing: We obtain charters for new banks, thrift institutions and trust companies. We prepare Federal Reserve Board notices to become a bank holding company and FDIC applications to acquire control of a bank. We obtain licenses from regulatory agencies to allow our clients to engage in regulated businesses such as mortgage banking, mortgage brokerage, money transmitting and check cashing.

*Securities: We represent publicly traded financial institutions in public and private stock offerings, including offerings registered with the SEC as well as exempt offerings. We also assist publicly traded clients in their periodic reporting and compliance obligations, including 10-K, 10-Q and 8-K filings, compliance with SEC proxy regulations and Sarbanes-Oxley corporate governance requirements.

*Retail Banking: We also commercial mortgage loans for both large and small lenders and we provide compliance review and program design services for consumer loan products to assure compliance with federal and state laws affecting consumer lending. We assist clients in complying with federal and state regulations affecting deposit relationships, such as the Truth-in-Savings, Expedited Funds Availability, and Electronic Funds Transfer regulations.

*Mergers and Acquisitions: we have represented many financial institutions in merger and acquisition transactions, branch purchases and sales, and other similar transactions, providing both regulatory and corporate legal work to complete the project, and securities work when needed.

*General Corporate Services: With our Business and Corporate Services Group, we can provide legal services for all types of general business matters for financial institutions, from negotiating branch leases to defending employment discrimination claims, and from designing executive compensation programs to handling commercial litigation and foreclosure work.

*Real Estate Services

Hanner Ofer real estate attorneys provide a sophisticated and broad spectrum of real estate advice to our clients.

*Cooperative and Condominium Law: We give comprehensive and practical legal advice to approximately 100 cooperative corporation boards of directors and condominium boards of managers. We represent investors in the acquisition, management and sale of large blocks of apartments. We have negotiated and prepared hundreds of cooperative and condominium offering plans on behalf of tenant groups and developers.

*Purchase and Sale: We serve as general counsel to substantial real estate owners and investors and assist in the purchase and sale of office buildings, apartment houses, shopping centers, commercial and industrial use properties and other developed and undeveloped real property.

*Mortgages and Finance: We represent owners and lenders in the financing and refinancing of real property. Through economic use of attorney and paralegal staff, we close substantial institutional, government-subsidized and private mortgage loans on industrial, commercial and single and multi-family residential properties in a cost effective manner for borrowers and lenders.

*Leases and Contracts: Our attorneys prepare commercial, office and residential leases, license agreements, management contracts and contracts for the construction, restoration and repair of buildings.

*Creation of Real Estate Entities: Our attorneys create the appropriate entity and operative agreements for real estate ownership, investment, management and development to suit our clients' needs, including preparation of operating, partnership, shareholder, joint venture and site development agreements.

*Environmental Issues: We evaluate potential environmental law problems of real property and assist our clients with environmental law compliance.

*Premises Liability: Our clients include owners, lessees and operators of commercial and residential property, and we have represented them in a board spectrum of cases involving claims for personal injuries and property damage arising from incidents on their premises. Although these cases generally are predicated upon allegations of a dangerous or defective condition on the premises, the facts and circumstances giving rise to such claims are infinitely variable.

*Real Property Tax Assistance: Our attorneys assist the firm's clients to obtain tax abatements pursuant to local laws, tax reductions in real estate tax certiorari proceedings and assist with gains, transfer and other real property tax compliance.

*Zoning and Building Code and Regulatory Compliance: We are familiar with local zoning law and building code requirements and represent clients before the Board of Standards and Appeals, the Building Department and other public agencies.

*Regulatory Compliance and Government Agency Representation: We assist our clients with regulatory compliance and to obtain the benefit of programs supervised by government agencies such as the New York City Housing Preservation and Development Department, the New York State Empire Development Corporation, the New York State Dormitory Authority and the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development.

*Debt Relief: Our attorneys are expert in real estate workouts, debt restructuring, sponsor default issues and in minimizing the adverse tax consequences from such transactions.

*Real Estate Disputes: Our litigation department zealously represents our clients' interests in all types of real estate matters, including brokerage and commission claims, construction contract disputes, easement disputes, commercial and residential landlord-tenant litigation, disputes between cooperative corporations and tenant shareholders and unit owners and condominium associations, mortgage foreclosures, nuisance abatement actions, real estate ownership and partnership disputes, sales contract disputes, and toxic mold cases.

*Specialized Services for Individuals

Hanner Ofer represents individual clients in business, employment, estate, family, real estate, income tax and litigated matters.

*Business: We negotiate and prepare employment, severance, independent contractor, partnership, joint venture, limited liability company shareholder agreements.

*Real Estate: Our attorneys have represented thousands of individuals who have purchased or sold houses, condominiums, cooperative apartments, and who have financed or leased residential or business property.

*Estate Planning and Administration: We prepare comprehensive estate plans for our clients, including pre-marital and separation agreements, wills and trust documents. We represent estate beneficiaries and fiduciaries in probate and in estate and trust administration proceedings.

*Litigation: As trial and appellate counsel, we represent individual clients in commercial, employment, estate, matrimonial, real property, tax and many other types of litigation.

*Taxation: Our tax department provides a full range of tax services to individual clients, including developing tax strategies for business transactions, property acquisitions and dispositions, obtaining private rulings from federal, state and local tax authorities and representing our clients before the internal Revenue Service, the United States Tax Court as well as state and local taxing authorities, tribunals and court.

Hanner Ofer is prepared to advise and assist you with your legal matters and welcomes any questions that you may have.

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