Lee S. Wiederkehr is a founding member of the firm and a member of the firm’s Executive Committee and Commercial Litigation practice group.
He has acted as lead counsel in a wide variety of complex commercial and real estate cases at the trial and appellate court levels. A creative and thoughtful litigator, Mr. Wiederkehr has defended cases involving property valued in excess of $100 Million, and has argued a number of ground-breaking cases in the state and federal courts of New York in a career that has spanned more than five decades.
Mr. Wiederkehr’s clients include the area’s largest title insurance companies, major financial institutions, real estate developers, Manhattan parking garages, and other commercial enterprises. He has been qualified as an expert witness in several disciplines including title representation and defense. Lee frequently lectures on topics such as mortgages, mechanic’s liens, and title claims, and has chaired and presented countless continuing education seminars for the New York Bar Association and other organizations.
REPRESENTATIVE EXPERIENCE
• Mr. Wiederkehr successfully defended a major title insurance underwriter, at the trial and appellate court levels, in claims alleging $45 Million of damages stemming from fraud relating to the sale of mortgages on the secondary market, securing a reversal from the Appellate Division, First Department that was affirmed by the New York State Court of Appeals.
• After successfully defeating a “baseless” claim for title by adverse possession, successfully commenced and prosecuted the client’s claim for malicious prosecution resulting in a settlement at trial of $23 Million.
• Participated in a team of selected attorneys in the successful trial against a municipality based upon the City’s wrongful termination of acquired property rights. The Court’s determination resulted in an award in excess of $100 Million, after trial. The judgment was favorably resolved on appeal, via settlement, through the granting of additional development rights and payment of $75 Million.
• Secured a Yellowstone Injunction for a major New York City garage in litigation brought by its landlord to terminate the garage’s lease resulting in a favorable lease buy-out of $1.35 Million.
• In an action to declare null and void a transfer of certain real property on Staten Island, obtained an order of Summary Judgment at the trial court level dismissing the Complaint on the grounds that the firm’s client was a bona fide purchaser for valuable consideration. The determination was affirmed on appeal.
• In one of New York State’s leading cases analyzing the common law doctrine of adverse possession, successfully argued at the Appellate Division, First Department that the purported adverse possessors of real property entered the property as acknowledged squatters, and therefore their subsequent possession could not rise to possessory or ownership rights.
MEMBERSHIPS
• Westchester County Bar Association
• New York State Bar Association
