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| Fall 2019 Newsletter
Vol. 1, Issue 2
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Welcome to our Fall 2019 Newsletter, which provides a glimpse into developments at the Mattone Institute since January 2019. These activities and achievements were facilitated by countless dedicated alumni in the real estate industry who contributed their time and resources, our Real Estate Fellows and members of the Real Property Law Society who helped coordinate our events, and, of course, the Mattone family, whose vision and generosity made it possible for us to open our doors almost two years ago. Thank you all!
Sincerely,
Robert J. Sein
Director
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During this period, we sponsored eleven events which attracted, in the aggregate, hundreds of attendees. These included:
• A Guest Lecture by Michael Mazzei '88 on January 14, 2019. Mr. Mazzei, one of the leading figures in commercial mortgage backed securities over the past three decades, shared his knowledge with JD and LLM students in our Securitizations and Structured Finance course.
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• An Information Session on January 23, 2019, at which the Director spoke with students about the Law School’s real estate law programs and career pathways in real estate law.
• A “Nuts and Bolts of Residential Real Estate Closings” CLE Weekend on February 9-10, 2019. Our expert attorney panel, which included Vincent Gallo, Joseph Mattone Jr. ‘86, Hon. Philip Straniere, Prof. Jack Clark ‘57, Chris Kidonakis ‘09, Paul Malon ’81 and Catherine Schiavone, taught attorney attendees about residential closing procedures and current hot topics in this area of practice. Attendees earned 16 CLE credits over the course of the weekend. Special thanks to Capital One Bank for sponsoring the event.
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• On February 12, 2019, “Career Conversations: Real Estate Law”, which was
jointly sponsored by the NY Real Property
Law Journal, the Real Property Law Society,
the Irish Law Students Society and the
Jewish Law Students Association. At this
student-moderated event, students shared
experiences and learning from real estate-
focused internship and externship placements.
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• “A Conversation with the Hon. John S. Lansden ’91 about Landlord-Tenant Law” on February 26, 2019. John S. Lansden ’91, the Supervising Judge of Queens County Housing Court, discussed with students the changing nature of landlord-tenant practice in NYC Housing Court, the impact of the 2017 “Right to Counsel” legislation, and sage recommendations for aspiring attorneys based on his many years on the bench.
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• On February 27, 2019, students toured
Hudson Yards, courtesy of Richard O’Toole
‘81, General Counsel of the Related
Companies. Students in attendance got a
behind-the-scenes tour of the Hudson Yards
sales office and a fascinating presentation
by Mr. O’Toole on how this massive project
was acquired, financed and developed.
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• Our Anniversary Celebration was held at
DLA Piper on March 26, 2019. At the event,
students and alumni from all sectors of the
real estate industry and real estate law
practice gathered to celebrate the Mattone
Institute’s first year of operations, and the
Mattone Institute Alumni Leadership Award
was awarded to Pamela McCormack ‘96,
Co-Founder and President of Ladder Capital
Corp and a Mattone Institute Advisory Board
member.
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• On March 27, 2019, the Intellectual Property Law Center and the Mattone Institute co-sponsored a Guest Lecture by Angela Fernandez, Professor of Law at the University of Toronto. Prof. Fernandez provided students and faculty in attendance with a fascinating lecture about her book “Pierson v. Post, The Hunt for the Fox: Law and Professionalization of American Legal Culture” (Cambridge 2018).
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• Together with the N.Y. Real Property Law Journal, we hosted the fourth Recent
Alumni Perspectives Event on April 3, 2019.
Our alumni panelists, representing a
diverse variety of real estate law practice
areas and settings, shared their
professional pathways and career
development pointers with students in
attendance. Panelists included John Chillemi ’15 of Ruskin Moscou Evans & Faltischek LLP; Andreas Christou ’18 of Shiryak, Bowman, Anderson, Gill & Kadochnikov LLP; Kelly Dantuono ’15 of Kelly A. Dantuono PLLC; Andrew Mello ’14 of Romer Debbas LLP; Nicki Neidich ’13 of Belkin Burden Wenig & Goldman LLP; and Al Williams ’14 of Morrison & Foerster LLP.
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• On June 5, 2019, current and past staff
members of the N.Y. Real Property Law
Journal gathered for an Alumni Reception at
Connolly’s Pub, Manhattan, which was
hosted by Journal alumni Thomas Maira
‘96, Max Patinkin ‘13 and Sarah Mannix
’15. The NY Real Property Law Journal and
the Mattone Institute co-sponsored this
event.
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• On July 10, 2019, our Advisory Board met at Morrison & Foerster LLP.
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• On Thursday, September 5th, the Mattone Institute, the Real Property Law Society and the NY Real Property Law Journal held a Welcome Reception at the Law School, where students, faculty, and staff gathered together to welcome the new Real Estate Fellows and Real Estate Honors Scholars, and to honor Prof. Vincent DiLorenzo for his contributions to the NY Real Property Law Journal as its faculty advisor.
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We are planning several exciting events this spring semester. While we will send more information in advance of these events to all on our mailing list, please mark your calendars now.
Thursday, September 12th, 5:30–6:30 P.M. Mattone Institute Information Session in Room 2-25.
Friday, September 20th, 11:00 A.M.-1:30 P.M. Grand Central Station Tour and Meeting with the Hon. Alfred Cerullo III.
Wednesday, October 16th, 1:30-3:00 P.M. Fifth Semiannual Recent Alumni Perspectives Event. Location: PDR.
Friday, October 18th, time TBD. Tour of the National September 11th Memorial & Museum, and presentation on legal issues surrounding WTC redevelopment.
Saturday, October 26th, 2:00-5:00 P.M. Rob Sein and Fellows will teach a class on Commercial Leasing to entrepreneurs and small business owners as part of a “Small Business Bootcamp” series at the Chinatown Manpower Project, Manhattan.
Tuesday, October 29th, 12:15-3:00 P.M. A “Real Estate Law at St. John’s”-themed Open House for Prospective Students at the Law School.
Wednesday, October 30th, 6:00–7:30 P.M. Landlord-Tenant Practice in Housing Court – Presentation by NYC Right to Counsel Coalition. Location PDR.
Tuesday, November 19th, 8:30-11:00 A.M. Mattone Institute Conference: “Blockchain Tech and Real Estate: What Real Estate Lawyers Need to Know to Stay Ahead of the Curve”. Location: Paul Hastings LLP, Manhattan.
Saturday-Sunday, February 8-9, 2020: “Nuts and Bolts of Real Estate Closings” Bridge-the-Gap CLE Weekend at the Law School.
Please stay tuned for additional events!
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Congratulations to our new 1L Real Estate Honors Scholars!
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Please join us in welcoming to campus our Real Estate Honors Scholars Meghan Paola (SUNY Binghamton), Olivia Pizzo (Fordham University), William Buzzini (Rabbinical Seminary of America) and Lorena Niyazov (St. John’s University)!
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Congratulations to our new Real Estate Fellows!
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Congratulations to Brandon Auerbach ’21, Andrew Fisher ’20 and Fiona Hogan ’21, who were chosen to be Real Estate Fellows starting fall semester 2019! They join fellow Real Estate Fellows Norah Alimonos ’21E, Joseph Carlo ’20, Steven Cecere ’20, Kayla Rae Dimatos ’20, Mark LoBiondo ’20 and Alexander Woo ’20.
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Congratulations to our Recent Graduates!
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Congratulations to the Real Property Law Society and N.Y. Real Property Law Journal members who graduated this past May! In particular, congratulations to our four inaugural Real Estate Fellows — Nataniel Arabov ’19, Kayla Laskin ’19, Sara Moriarty ’19 and Mikhail Stoliarov ’19 — whose hard work and dedication were instrumental to the early successes of the Mattone Institute and our programs. In the months and years to come, we look forward to watching each of you achieve great things in the legal profession and collaborating with each of you as members of our alumni community.
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Welcome to the Advisory Board!
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Our Advisory Board grew to include five new members, four of whom are members of the newly-formed Emerging Leaders Committee.
In March, we welcomed to the Advisory Board Fredric Altschuler ’72, one of the leaders of the commercial real estate law bar. After earning his B.A. from Syracuse University in 1968, Mr. Altschuler graduated the Law School in 1972. He started his career at Milbank Tweed in the Real Estate Group before joining Breed, Abbott & Morgan in 1981 to help develop a real estate practice. In 1992, Mr. Altschuler joined Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft LLP, where he continues to practice today as Senior Counsel (after more than two decades as a Partner). He has been recognized as one of the country’s leading real estate lawyers by Chambers USA, Super Lawyers, The Best Lawyers in America and Who’s Who Legal.
In June, we established the Emerging Leaders Committee of our Advisory Board in order to recognize the contributions of some of our most supportive more recent alumni. The inaugural members of the Emerging Leaders Committee are Maria Castiglie ’14 of Morrison & Foerster LLP, Stephanie Rainaud ’14 of Holland & Knight LLP, Nicole Woolard ’09 of AECOM, and Max Patinkin ’13 of Paul Hastings LLP.
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• In January, the Mattone Institute awarded a Student Recognition Award to Andrew
Fisher ’20, in recognition of his outstanding contributions to the Mattone Institute and our programming over the preceding year.
• In March, at our Anniversary Celebration, we had the honor of presenting Pamela
McCormack ’96, Co-Founder and President of Ladder Capital Corp and a Mattone
Institute Advisory Board member, with the Mattone Institute Alumni Leadership
Award
• In July, Kayla Dimatos ’20, one of our Real Estate Fellows, was awarded a 2019
American Immobiliare Scholarship. This marks the second consecutive year in which
a St. John’s Law student won this prestigious scholarship, which is intended to recognize the next generation of Italian-American leaders in the field of commercial real estate finance.
• In July, the Mattone Institute awarded a Student Recognition Award to Michael
Gherardi ’20, in recognition of his outstanding contributions to the Mattone Institute
and our programming over the preceding year.
• In July, Steven Cecere ’20, one of our Real Estate Fellows, was designated the 2019 Timothy J. Meehan Fellow. This award is presented on an annual basis to the Real Estate Fellow with the highest cumulative grade point average in real estate courses.
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Real Property Law Society
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Our Real Property Law Society is the student-run affiliate of the Mattone Institute. It is run by a student Executive Committee. Executive Committee members coordinate RPLS programming and serve as student ambassadors for the Mattone Institute and our real estate law programs. Congratulations to the Executive Committee members for the 2019-20 academic year, who were selected last spring: Brandon Auerbach ’21, Heather Lewin ’21, Joe Carlo ’20, Steven Cecere ’20, Kayla Dimatos ’20, Michael Gherardi ’19, Alexander Woo ’20, Matthew Fischman ’21, and Thomas Kane ’21.
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Real Estate Finance: Commercial
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This fall, we are for the first time offering Real Estate Finance: Commercial, one of our new advanced courses aimed at teaching students interested in real estate the doctrine and skills they will need to succeed in practice after graduation. It is taught by commercial real estate finance expert Meryl Diamond ‘99, a partner at Alston & Bird LLP and a member of our Advisory Board.
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St. John’s Law students continued to author and publish notes, papers and articles on a variety of real estate-related topics. This year, their work has included:
• Kayla Dimatos ’20, Statutory Possessory Rights of New York Loft Law Preempt
Section 363 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code, January 28, 2019 (published on ABI Law
Review Case Blog)
• Kayla Laskin ’19, Airbnb & Landlord Tenant Law: Not Such a Short Term (Rental)
Issue, September, 2018 (published on Journal of Civil Rights and Economic
Development Blog)
• Kayla Laskin ’19, Is AirBnB Polluting the Big Apple? The Impact of Regulating
Short-Term Rental Services in New York City (to be published in Journal of Civil
Rights and Economic Development)
• Mark LoBiondo ’20, A Lender Can Secure Priority of its Lien So Long as it Satisfies
its Burden under the UCC, January 28, 2019 (published on ABI Law Review Case Blog)
• John Piontkowski ’19, 5 Pointz: The Conflict Between Moral Rights and the
Individual Rights of Property Owners, November 27, 2018 (to be published in NY Real Property Law Journal)
• Mikhail Stoliarov ’19, An Interview with Bruce DePaola, Esq., March 23, 2019
(published in Commercial Division Online Report)
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Our work is fueled by our ever-expanding connections with students, alumni and others in the real estate industry. If you have not already been involved with our programs and activities, we invite you to do so!
Students interested in real estate law are encouraged to join the Real Property Law Society. As a member of the Real Property Law Society, you will be notified of real estate-focused events and will have access to the resources posted to the RPLS TWEN site. Please contact any member of the Executive Committee or Rob Sein in order to sign up. In addition, if you are contemplating real estate law as a career path, Rob Sein is happy to meet with you to discuss your academic planning and pre-professional development. In order to schedule a meeting, please email him at seinr@stjohns.edu.
Prospective students, please consider attending our real estate law-themed Open House on October 29th. In addition, the Admissions Office offers open houses monthly and tours daily. Check the schedule and reserve your space at https://www.stjohns.edu/visit-campus, or call 718-990-6474 to schedule an individual appointment with our admissions team. Rob Sein would also be delighted to meet or speak with you to discuss our real estate law programs in more detail. Please feel free to email him at seinr@stjohns.edu to schedule a time to meet or speak.
Alumni and friends, please consider helping advance our mission by attending our programs; hiring a St. John’s Law student or graduate; hosting a site visit, meeting with students, or collaborating on our programming. Please contact Rob Sein at 718-990-7372 or seinr@stjohns.edu to learn more about how you can get involved. Please also consider a financial donation to help support our programming. To learn more about how you, or your firm, can financially support us, please contact Brian Woods, Associate Dean for Alumni Advancement at 718-990-5792 or woodsb1@stjohns.edu. Or make an online donation.
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