Actively at the helm of the law firm he built from scratch, Adam Leitman Bailey, Esq. practices residential and commercial real estate law. Mr. Bailey is one of two attorneys from a law firm with less than 30 attorneys that has been ranked in Chambers & Partners, honored with a Martindale-Hubbell “AV” Preeminent rating, a Best Lawyers ranking for himself and his law firm and selected by Super Lawyers as one of the New York’s “Top 100” attorney’s a list that included only five real estate law firm’s attorneys.

The internationally esteemed Chambers & Partners has repeatedly selected Mr. Bailey as one of New York’s Leading Lawyers in Real Estate. The Commercial Observer named him as one of New York’s Most Powerful Real Estate Attorneys. After Mr. Bailey’s firm used a forgotten statute to prevail in a landmark case, the Wall Street Journal quoted a prominent New York developer’s attorney who called the holding a “ game changer” affecting real estate nationwide. In another case, the settlement Bailey received was the largest condominium settlement in history for one building, and in another transaction, he obtained the largest government grant ($21 million) for a cooperative in New York history. The Commercial Observer ranked another victory among their “15 Most Fascinating New York Real Estate Cases of the 21st Century.” Most recently, Mr. Bailey secured the largest settlement in New York City history for a property casualty lawsuit.

In 2011, Mr. Bailey wrote Finding the Uncommon Deal: A Top New York Lawyer Explains How to Buy a Home for the Lowest Possible Price. The book gained Bailey the 2012 “First Time Author” award granted by the National Association of Real Estate Editors. Bailey has also been elected a Fellow of the American College of Real Estate Lawyers (ACREL), where he serves on the Insurance and Title Insurance committees , and is a former member of the American College of Mortgage Attorneys (ACMA).

Michael J. Berey, Senior Underwriter for the Manhattan office of the First American Title Insurance Company, has been active in New York's title insurance industry for over 40 years. For almost two decades, he was First American’s Chief Underwriting Counsel for New York State and a Senior Vice-President of the company. In 2014, he received the New York State Bar Association Real Property Law Section’s Professionalism Award, and in 2016 he received the Lifetime Achievement Award of the New York State Land Title Association. He was on the Executive Committee of the New York State Bar Association’s Real Property Law Section from 2000–2014 and on the Executive Committee of the New York State Land Title Association from 2000–2014. He was the Chairperson of the State Bar’s Real Property Law Section’s Task Force on Electronic Recording, the Section’s Webmaster from 2000-2014, and the Chairperson of NYSLTA’s Law Committee from 2010-2013.

A Fellow of the American College of Real Estate Lawyers, and formerly a member of the American College of Mortgage Attorneys, Mr. Berey has Authored numerous articles on issues relating to real property, including New York’s transfer taxes and mortgage recording tax and title insurance, and has been a frequent lecturer. Since 1997, he has authored Current Developments, a regularly issued bulletin on real estate and title insurance-related New York case law and legislation, which is distributed by email. He graduated from Boston College Law School in 1976.

A message from Michael J. Berey:

“I also wish to send my thanks to all the authors who participated in the monumental project. Certainly, for many, it took a great deal of time away from their professional and personal lives, hopefully at not too great a sacrifice to either. My wife survived Adam being a form of pseudo-spouse.

Unlike a law review type article, typically resting in a physical or electronic library, accessed not always by only academics and other authors who publish the same, the chapters in Real Estate Titles, in whatever form accessed, will be often accessed by real estate and title insurance professionals, and others, for at least the next generation.

It was a pleasure to edit this update with Adam. I think we had a lot of fun doing it, even with significant time spent. I, and Adam (I am sure), trust that you are proud of your involvement, as you should be, and, again, we thank you!”