• Food and Drug Administration
• Federal Trade Commission
• Internal Revenue Service
• NYS Department of Taxation and Finance and other State and local taxing authorities
• Immigration and Naturalization Service
• Department of Environmental Conservation
• Environmental Protection Agency
• NYS Department of Health
• NYS Department of Social Services
• NYS Insurance Department
• Equal Employment Opportunities Commission and the New York State Division of Human Rights
• NYS Liquor Authority and Alcoholic Beverage Control Boards

• MMG attorneys are admitted to practice before all four Appellate Divisions and the New York State Court of Appeals, as well as the Second, Third and Fifth Circuit Courts of Appeals and the United States Supreme Court.
• MMG attorneys have experience in all phases of appellate work, including settling and compiling records on appeal, drafting and filing appellants' and respondents' briefs on appeal and appellate advocacy.
• MMG attorneys are also experienced in motion practice at the appellate level, including motions to impose or vacate stay orders, to expedite appeals, for permission for leave to appeal, and other relief.
• MMG attorneys have significant appellate experience in municipal law, health law, statutory interpretation, personal injury law (including serious injury threshold issues), construction law (including labor law issues), employment discrimination, environmental law, immigration law and criminal law.
• Edward J. Markarian served as Confidential Law Clerk to Hon. Richard D. Simons, an Associate Judge of the New York State Court of Appeals, and as legal assistant to the Appellate Division, Fourth Judicial Department. Sharon Stern Gerstman served as Confidential Law Clerk to Hon. Joseph D. Mintz, retired Supreme Court Justice of the Eighth Judicial District.

• Formation and counseling, business and professional corporations, limited liability companies and general, limited liability and limited partnerships
• Negotiation and drafting of partnership and joint venture agreements and shareholder agreements
• Formation, organization and counseling of not for profit corporations and IRC §501(c) tax exempt entities
• Advice on all forms of debt and equity financing, including bank financing, private placements, venture capital, industrial development, public financing and transactions with commercial lenders
• Negotiation and drafting of business agreements, including warranties, sales, distribution and licensing agreements, equipment and real property leases and other forms of commercial agreements
• Real estate development, including zoning, planning, construction, environmental and financing
• Franchising, trademarks and service marks, copyrights and other intellectual property matters
• Mergers, acquisitions and sales of businesses, including negotiation and structuring of transactions, dissolution and plans of liquidation
• Business and tax planning for business owners, including continuity and succession of ownership and estate planning
• Employment related agreements, including employee benefit plans, deferred compensation arrangements, employment agreements, confidentiality and non-competition agreements, and business immigration
• Labor and employment relations including collective bargaining and arbitrations, representation before the Division of Human Rights, Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and other Federal and state agencies and courts

• Specialty finance for business including federal, state, regional and local development programs providing incentives and inducements for company expansion and job retention activities
• Representation of lenders and borrowers in all types of commercial lending transactions
• Bankruptcy matters and litigation
• Mortgage and mechanics lien foreclosure
• Commercial litigation in all Federal, New York State and local courts

• Contracts between owners, architects, engineers, contractors and construction managers
• Construction finance and insurance
• Mechanics liens and public improvement liens
• Bonds and suretyship, Miller Act and state contract litigation
• Trust fund claims
• Warranty and breach of performance claims
• Public bidding and award of contracts
• Delay and interference claims
• Dispute resolution through arbitration and mediation

• Lifetime conservation and management of assets
• Health Care Proxies and Living Wills
• Powers of Attorney
• Guardianships
• Medicare, Medicaid and Long Term Care Insurance analysis, appeals and litigation
• Adult Care Facilities and Alternate Living Arrangements
• Hospital discharge and nursing home admissions
• Hospice and End-of-Life Issues
• Liens and recoveries by government agencies and third party creditors
• Public Education, Workshops and Seminars for individuals, associations, employees and providers

• Employment discrimination
• Employment contracts, consulting contracts and non-compete agreements
• Employee handbooks, personnel policies and equal employment policies
• Enforcement of non-compete agreements
• Compliance with government requirements, wage and hour, veterans rights, equal employment opportunity
• Compliance with Americans with Disabilities Act
• Breach of contract and statutory claims in state and federal courts
• Representation before Division of Human Rights and Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
• Dispute resolution through arbitration and mediation

• Estate planning, including wills, testamentary substitutes, revocable and irrevocable trusts, insurance trusts, qualified personal residence trusts, family limited partnerships, charitable remainder trusts; qualified domestic trusts, lifetime property transfers, transfer of closely held corporations, retirement plan distributions, beneficiary designation advice, method of holding title to principal residence and other assets, state residency issues, gift tax, estate tax and generation skipping transfer tax planning, powers of appointment, disclaimers and asset protection
• Estate administration, including probate proceedings in New York and other states, post-death financial and tax planning, right of election against a will, assistance to executors, record keeping, estate accountings, distribution of property and close-out of estates
• Estate litigation including will contests, judicial settlement of fiduciary accounts, and recovery of assets belonging to a decedent
• Trust administration including investment and tax planning, record keeping, and trust accountings
• Living wills and health care proxies
• Tax returns, including estate, gift and fiduciary income tax returns, IRS and New York State audits and appeals

Our attorneys represent hospitals, nursing homes, assisted living residences, physicians and other health practitioners in a broad range of legal matters, including:

• Affordable Care Act implementation and compliance
• HIPAA compliance
• Tax and corporate advice to exempt organizations
• Advice to physicians and physician groups, including contracting with hospitals and other facilities, payment issues and relations with insurers, practice group agreements and business relations, and staff credentialing
• Medical staff matters, including representation of providers and professionals in disciplinary and credentialing matters, advice regarding New York State reporting obligations and the National Practitioner Data Bank reporting requirements
• Patient care issues, including advice to providers and individuals regarding placement problems, appointment of guardians, health care proxies, MOLSTS, Medicaid applications and appeals, medical treatment orders, surrogate decision-making, termination of care orders, confidentiality, ethics and professional conduct issues
• Critical care decision-making, including advice to hospitals, nursing homes and physicians

• Identify and protect intellectual property rights, including:
  • Trademark selection, clearance, and prosecution
  • Trade dress protection
  • Copyright registration
  • Trade secret identification, and development of procedures to maintain trade secrets
• Negotiate and draft agreements involving intellectual property, including:
  • Licenses
  • Assignments
  • Non-Competition Agreements
  • Confidentiality and Non-Disclosure Agreements
  • Work-for-Hire Agreements
  • Software Development Agreements
  • Sales, Manufacturing, Distribution, and Product Development Agreements
  • Joint Venture and Collaboration Agreements
  • Franchise Agreements
• Enforce and defend intellectual property rights in infringement, unfair competition and commercial litigation, trademark opposition and cancellation proceedings, and domain name disputes

• Defend lawyers against Bar complaints and charges of professional misconduct
• Represent lawyers in disqualification proceedings
• Advise New York lawyers and law firms regarding issues of professional responsibility, including matters that involve potential conflicts of interest or other ethics issues
• Assist law students and applicants for admission to the Bar, particularly assisting in resolving character and fitness issues
• Serve as consultants and opinion witnesses in civil cases and attorney disqualification proceedings

Those arenas of activity involve the same body of law -- the law governing lawyers. Consequently, they require the same knowledge, experience and resources, if one expects to practice in the field successfully. We possess the knowledge, the experience and the resources.

• Trial and appellate practice before all New York State and Federal courts
• Business litigation, including contract litigation, unfair competition, and construction litigation
• Personal injury litigation, including automobile negligence, slip and fall, product liability, and workplace accidents
• Insurance Law, including insurance defense and insurance coverage issues
• Administrative hearings, proceedings and appeals before and against federal, state and local government agencies
• Family Law, including adoptions and guardianships
• Commercial and consumer collections, including mortgage and lien foreclosure
• Alternative dispute resolution including arbitration and mediation
• Bankruptcy and insolvency litigation

• Municipal regulation of land development, including zoning, subdivisions and site plan approvals, special permits, zoning variances, and related proceedings under the State Environmental Quality Review Act (SEQRA) and National Environmental Policy Act
• Industrial development agency financing
• Municipal finance, including budgetary problems, borrowing through issuance of bonds or notes, lease-purchase agreements, or other types of debt instruments and the expenditure or investment of municipal funds
• Preparation of, and operation and financing of activities under, inter-municipal agreements for the provision of joint services
• Local government contracts generally, including such matters as competitive bidding requirements, state and federal requirements relating to public works contractors, and conflicts of interest in municipal contracts
• Preparation of local government charters, local laws and codes of ethics and problems arising from their application
• Municipal annexation proceedings
• Local government eminent domain proceedings
• Local government employer-employee relations, including employment discrimination cases
• Litigation on behalf of or against local governments

• Personal injury litigation, including automobile negligence, slip and fall, product liability, workplace accidents, car accidents, pedestrian accidents, truck accidents, accidental death, brain injury, wrongful death cases, medical malpractice, product liability, and catastrophic injury.

• Commercial lending, including construction, industrial development agency financing and U.S. Small Business Administration financing
• Commercial land and building acquisition sales
• Commercial leasing
• Residential purchases, sales, mortgages and refinancing
• Purchases and sales of apartments, commercial buildings, plazas, warehouses, manufacturing facilities and marinas
• Representation of lenders and borrowers in residential and commercial transactions
• Commercial landlord-tenant litigation
• Preparation of condominium and homeowner association offering plans
• Land use issues, including site plan subdivision approval, zoning variance approval, preparation of declaration of covenants and restrictions, preparation of easements
• Housing code violations
• Title insurance
• Title defense and litigation
• Mortgage foreclosure
• Tax-deferred exchanges
• Commercial real property and lending litigation

• Expertise in federal, state and local tax law
• Representation of client before the IRS, the Tax Court, and the New York State Department of Taxation
• Employee benefits and executive compensation matters
• Trusts selection, creation, guidance, and administration
• Personal tax advice and planning
• Advice regarding corporate, partnerships, LLC, LLP, and closely held business matters
• Estate planning
• Mergers, acquisitions, and joint ventures
• Tax-exempt organizations
• Business succession matters
• Wealth transfer guidance