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Jonathan I. Epstein is the partner in charge of our Princeton office and a member of the firm’s Real Estate Practice Group. Jon specializes in real estate and commercial litigation. Jon offers a wealth of expertise with over 30 years experience as both a transactional lawyer and a litigator of commercial disputes. Jon’s cross-disciplined practice enables him to provide insights and judgments that can only be gained from the type of broad based experience that Jon brings to every engagement.
Real Estate. Jon’s practice involves all facets of real estate structuring deals, land acquisitions, zoning and planning, financings of real estate transactions of any nature, as well as litigation arising out of virtually any type of real estate venture. Jon counsels developers and lenders, large and small, on the myriad legal issues confronted by clients in today’s regulatory and business environment, from the formation of a development entity through the sale, syndication, workout or restructuring of a real estate transaction. His real estate clients include local, regional and national developers, including the largest shopping center REIT in the country and national residential real estate developers as well as financial institutions, title companies and property managers. Jon represents clients on redevelopment projects and land use applications in municipalities throughout the state, specializing in contested land use cases, as well as regulatory matters before state, county and local government agencies. Jon has also served as counsel for developers on many multifamily housing projects financed through taxable and tax-exempt bond issues, often employing unique and complicated financing techniques.
Commercial Litigation. Jon represents developers, lenders and corporate and individual clients in commercial litigation, with an emphasis on real estate-related matters and all facets of corporate litigation, including oppressed shareholder cases and partnership disputes. He has been lead counsel on many complex cases in state and federal trial and appellate courts, and has argued important cases in the New Jersey Supreme Court. By virtue of the depth of his experience in both litigation and real estate, Jon offers clients a wealth of experience in dealing with problematic real estate projects, land use matters or loans secured by real estate. Jon has successfully represented lenders on substantial lender liability claims and prosecuted numerous large foreclosures. Jon handles various types of commercial cases in the chancery courts, prerogative writ actions and commercial foreclosures throughout the state and for many years represented the largest property manager of multifamily housing in the country as court appointed receiver in one of the most complex foreclosure actions in the history of New Jersey involving 38 apartment complexes securing over $300 million in debt.
Corporate Counseling. Jon also counsels small to mid-sized corporate clients on corporate governance. With support from the firm’s corporate and securities group, he provides pre-litigation counseling and advises corporate clients and board members on issues arising out of day-to-day business operations or corporate transactions. Jon draws on the talents of the Firm’s corporate lawyers to assist on corporate law aspects of the complex shareholder and partnership litigation that he handles.
In General. Jon is the recipient of the New Jersey Commission on Professionalism 2005 Professional Lawyer of the Year for Mercer County. He has been named in Business News New Jersey Who’s Who as one of New Jersey’s top business leaders. Jon was the 2000-2001 president of the Mercer County Bar Association. Before his selection as president, for many years Jon served as a trustee of the Mercer County Bar Association and he is a current member of the New Jersey State and Princeton Bar Associations as well as the Mercer County Bar Association. Jon has also served as a member of the District VII Ethics Committee and as a trustee of the Legal Aid Society of Mercer County and a trustee of the Mercer Bar Foundation. Earlier in his career, Jon was an adjunct professor at Seton Hall University School of Law, where he taught a clinic on civil litigation. He is currently a master in the Mercer County Inn of Court. Jon received his bachelor's degree from Hobart College and his J.D., with honors, from Rutgers University School of Law-Camden. He resides in Pennington with his wife Terri and children Harrison and Hannah. | 