Ronald S. Greenberg

On the real estate side, Ron recently obtained a landmark ruling from New York’s highest court permitting Gamma Real Estate’s $100 million-plus tortious interference claims against members of the Pilevsky family and related entities to proceed. The decision was widely reported, including as the lead story on the front page of The New York Law Journal. He also separately represented Citigroup and Gamma in their successful attempts to foreclose on loans exceeding $100 million, in both cases defeating the defaulting borrowers’ attempts to enjoin UCC foreclosures. The borrowers subsequently filed for bankruptcy, and Ron secured judgments on their principals' “bad boy” guarantees, for $126 million and $24 million, respectively. He also obtained a multimillion-dollar judgment for a large telecommunications company after a federal trial on its commercial lease dispute, and then successfully defended the judgment in the Second Circuit Court of Appeals. Ron has achieved a number of significant successes for major developers, including defeating a breach of contract claim asserted by a potential buyer of a multimillion-dollar condominium at a below-market price based on a novel “failure of consideration” theory in one case and, in another, obtaining a judgment in favor of the seller of a $201 million office building, enabling the seller to retain the defaulting purchaser’s $15 million down payment. He has also secured litigation victories in multimillion-dollar rent reset and porters’ wage escalation disputes, and favorable outcomes for Forest City Ratner Companies in several large construction litigations.

Ron’s noteworthy successes have not been limited to the real estate arena. He represented Ken Langone, the former chairman of the New York Stock Exchange’s Compensation Committee, in a lawsuit brought by the New York State Attorney General. The dismissal of the lawsuit was reported on the front page of both The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times (and Mr. Langone subsequently acknowledged Ron in his book). Ron also represented Elizabeth Elting, the co-owner and co-CEO of the world’s largest privately held translation company, in a business divorce trial held in Delaware Chancery Court. Ms. Elting prevailed at trial and in the Delaware Supreme Court, and her adversary was sanctioned $7.1 million for various litigation misconduct. In early 2022, Ron was lead trial counsel representing the Unsecured Creditors Committee of Brazos Electric in a $1.1 billion claim objection Adversary Proceeding in the Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas. Ron also has prevailed in numerous arbitrations, including obtaining defense decisions rejecting multimillion-dollar claims against an insurance company, a dot-com and partners in a hedge fund. Ron also represented the former CFO of Dow Chemical Co. in an action arising out of the CFO’s departure from the company, and a famed Major League Baseball player and a former state senator in separate disputes before administrative tribunals.

Demonstrating his versatility, Ron has been recognized both by Chambers USA for excellence in real estate litigation and by New York Super Lawyers for his accomplished appellate advocacy. Chambers sources describe Ron as a “great litigator” who is “strong,” “expertly savvy” and “highly respected.” They also say he “is extremely knowledgeable, responsive and professional, provides valuable strategic guidance” and is “a fantastic communicator.”