Municipal

Hancock & Estabrook represents states, counties, towns, villages, public authorities and fire districts in all aspects of municipal law. We provide services in connection with: board governance, capital construction, eminent domain proceedings, employment and firematics, environmental law, governmental relations, legislation drafting, public bidding and procurement, public finance and tax certiorari matters. We serve businesses, banks, land owners and developers, health care providers and not-for-profit entities by advocating their positions before governmental bodies, and by advancing their legislative and regulatory goals.

Our attorneys rely on extensive experience in government, politics and public service to offer our clients strategic advice, assist with crisis management, and monitor legislative and regulatory activities. Through our skill and experience in litigation, real estate, education, technology, health care, land use and other areas of law, we generate solutions to seemingly insurmountable problems.

Our recent accomplishments for municipal clients include:

• Favorable representation of city against petroleum company for contamination caused by underground storage tank leak;
• Successful representation of power generation facility in tax certiorari proceeding against town, resulting in reduction of client's real property tax assessment by $3.6 million and tax savings of over $1.2 million;
• Successful defense of municipalities in tax base challenges;
• Successful defense of county against complaint for overtime pay sought by deputy sheriffs under Fair Labor Standards Act;
• Successful conversion of city hospitals from municipally-owned facilities to private institutions, resulting in significant financial advantages to hospitals and cities;
• Significant monetary settlement for village in action against contractor and surety for default under construction contract;
• Successful appeal to New York Court of Appeals of district attorney's removal from office on residency grounds resulting in restoration to office.

In addition, our municipal attorneys presently or recently represented:

• A village against fire corporation seeking to sever itself from village's municipal oversight;
• A county in interest arbitration in New York involving bargaining unit of deputy sheriffs; and
• A county in effort to encourage development and construction of new hotel to support county's adjoining conference center.

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