Herrick Secures Decisive Appellate Win for Developer in Land Use Dispute with City of Long Beach

November 2017

Herrick just helped achieve another crucial appellate victory on behalf of a major real estate developer in its long-running dispute with the City of Long Beach, illustrating why the firm is so often go-to counsel for clients involved in high-stakes disputes with government agencies.

This latest win paves the way for our client’s $50 million-plus lawsuit against the City to proceed to trial on the damage phase, exposing Long Beach taxpayers to a potentially crushing award as a direct result of the irresponsible and illegal behavior of public officials who allowed local politics to interfere with a property owner’s right to develop its property.

Last week, the New York State Appellate Division, Second Department rejected the City’s request to reargue its appeal of a ruling issued earlier this year finding that the City had defaulted in serving an amended answer to our suit and failed to proffer a legally sufficient excuse for its default. The court also refused to grant the City permission to further appeal to the New York Court of Appeals.

The decision, covered by Newsday and the Long Beach Herald, was the City’s last opportunity to try to overturn the default judgment involving its failure to respond to our client’s allegations that it illegally revoked zoning variances and a building permit, breached written agreements and violated federal law, in an effort to pander to the whims of neighboring opponents of the client’s planned residential development project.


For more information, please contact Scott E. Mollen at +1 212 592 1505 or [email protected].

© 2017 Herrick, Feinstein LLP. This alert is provided by Herrick, Feinstein LLP to keep its clients and other interested parties informed of current legal developments that may affect or otherwise be of interest to them. The information is not intended as legal advice or legal opinion and should not be construed as such.