Practice Areas

Real Estate / Commercial / Residential

Schwartz & Livoti, LLP can assist you in all of your commercial real estate matters including:

• Purchase agreements and sale agreements;
• Residential and Commercial Leasing;
• Foreclosures;
• Real Estate Litigation;
• Title Claim Matters;
• Landlord Tenant Issues;

Schwartz & Livoti, LLP can also handle all of your residential real estate transaction needs including:

• Home Ownership Issues;
• Draft and Review Real Estate Contracts;
• Prepare and Review Loan Documents;
• Title Issues;
• Representation at Purchase, Sale and Loan Closings;
• Representation of Home Owner Associations; and
• Residential Landlord Tenant Disputes.

You can trust the attorneys of Schwartz & Livoti, LLP with all of your commercial and residential real estate transaction needs.

Purchases/Sales
Residential real estate requires the buyer and the seller to first sign a written contract in order to buy or sell a home. Once the contract has been signed, the buyer is given time to conduct a title search of the premises and to obtain the necessary financing to make the purchase. The transaction then proceeds to the closing. At the closing, a real estate deed passes ownership from the seller to the buyer. In exchange, the buyer pays the seller the balance of the purchase price. The real estate deed is then recorded.

Buying and selling commercial property presents different challenges from buying or selling residential property especially because the parties are generally not using standard form agreements much more complex documentation. Agreements and their terms vary from transaction to transaction and may differ depending on whether they are drafted by the buyer or the seller in the deal. However, most sales involve many of the same issues.

If you are thinking about purchasing or selling real estate, let the experienced attorneys of Schwartz & Livoti, LLP help you through the process.

Bank loans/Closings
A real estate closing, which marks the final procedure for transferring ownership of property, involves the signing and recordation of real estate transaction documents. A closing involves the sale or transfer of a party's interest in real estate through payment of the purchase price, delivery of a deed or other instrument of title, and finalization of any collateral matters. In most cases, the purchase price, or at least a portion of it, is financed by a bank through a note and a mortgage.

If you are closing on real estate, contact Schwartz & Livoti, LLP today to let our experience successfully guide you through the closing process.

Loan Workouts
A loan workout is a consensual routine worked out by a lender with a delinquent borrower to put the loan-repayment back on track. It often includes rescheduling the loan over a longer payback period to effect smaller installment amounts. However, the possibilities are limited only by the creativity and willingness of the parties.

If you have fallen behind on a loan, contact the attorneys of Schwartz & Livoti, LLP to explore your options.

Litigation / Personal Injury

A personal injury claim may be pursed by an accident victim who suffers physical or psychological injury. The most common claims arise from traffic accidents, work-place accidents, highway accidents, assaults, at home injuries, and holiday accidents. Such claims can include negligent and intentional torts, including malpractice. An injured party is entitled to compensation if he or she proves that the defendant breached the applicable duty of care owed to the victim and caused the victim’s injuries. Wrongful conduct causing false arrest, invasion of privacy, slander, libel, defamation, and other bodily injuries are also considered personal injuries.

If you have been harmed or injured in any manner in an accident or due to someone else’s negligence, please contact Schwartz & Livoti, LLP to ensure that your rights are promptly protected and you obtain compensation for your injuries.

Corporations, Partnerships and Limited Liability Companies
If you are planning a business or investment venture you should consider forming a corporation, partnership or limited liability company as the vehicle through which the enterprise will operate. An operating agreement, stockholders agreement or a partnership agreement involves one or more persons who create the business entity. The simplest type of partnership is a general partnership; however, there are other partnership types including joint ventures, which are formed for a specific or limited purpose or for a limited period of time. Limited liability partnerships (LLP) are essentially the same as limited liability companies (LLC) except that an LLP is specifically designed for use by certain professions and the limited partners must remain passive investors whereas an LLC's members may be actively involved in the entity's management, control, and partnership agreement conditions.

If you are planning to form a corporation, partnership or a limited liability company, contact Schwartz & Livoti, LLP to handle all of your needs.

Wills/Estates Disputes
In a will, a person or testator expresses, in writing, what he or she wants done with his or her property after he or she dies. Most states require wills to be signed by the testator and witnessed by two people. Probate is a court proceeding in which final debts are settled and legal title to property is formally passed from the deceased person or decedent to his heirs persuant to the terms of his or her will. Probate proceedings take place in the probate court or surrogate court in the county of the decedent's legal residence at the time of his death. If a person dies intestate, meaning without a will, state law determines how to distribute his or her property.

A person contests a will by filing the relevant documents with the probate court. The person normally must be an interested party such as an heir under the will or at law and must contest the will during the probate proceedings. Wills can only be successfully contested based on certain grounds such as incapacity, fraud, or undue influence. Unhappiness with the proposed distribution of property is not a valid ground. If you are involved in a will or estate dispute, contact the attorneys of Schwartz & Livoti, LLP today to learn your options.

Medical Malpractice
Physicians or other healthcare providers are liable for wrongful acts, omissions, breaches of fiduciary duty, or malpractice due to negligence when providing professional services to patients. A malpractice plaintiff must establish that the provider had a duty to the plaintiff that was breached because the services performed did not meet the required standard of care. Moreover, a plaintiff must establish, by way of expert testimony, that the negligent conduct caused the harm to the patient.

Specialized knowledge of malpractice causation and trial procedures is essential to a successful outcome. The attorneys of Schwartz & Livoti, LLP have acquired this specialized knowledge through decades of experience with malpractice suits and they have successfully litigated numerous medical malpractice suits.

Federal & State Criminal Trials
When certain conduct is dangerous to citizens or deemed damaging to society as a whole, it is termed a crime and is punishable by fines and/or imprisonment. Statutes are enacted to deliver justice to the victim. A person suspected of criminal activity is charged and can be convicted based on his or her admission of guilt or after trial. The overall process consists of investigation, arrest, conviction, and sentencing. At all stages, the person is entitled to certain fundamental rights including the right to an attorney and to a speedy trial.

If you are faced with criminal charges, you can count on the attorneys of Schwartz & Livoti, LLP to provide you with an aggressive defense. The firm will ensure that all of your legal rights are secured throughout all stages of the criminal process.

Asset Protection

The foundation of sound asset protection planning is the cost-effective avoidance of unnecessary exposure of personal assets to the claims of potential creditors. At its simplest, this planning begins with "umbrella" liability insurance, married couples' ownership of their homes in tenancy by the entirety as opposed to joint tenancy, and basic "exemption planning" by the preferential holding of assets in forms that are exempt from judgment execution. At a somewhat greater level of complexity, this planning includes the maximum cost-effective use of limited liability entities. At its most complex, this planning will also involve the use of irrevocable offshore and domestic asset protection trusts with trust "protector" provisions although even an ordinary revocable grantor trust, if fully funded, confers an exceptional measure of asset protection after the grantor's death.

In the financial planning area, asset protection also requires judicious diversification of investments with an attention to the possibilities of foreign investments and precious metals as a hedge against the declining dollar.

Our asset protection services include:

• Estate planning
• Business-succession planning
• Creating limited liability entities
• Establishing trusts
• Drafting wills, healthcare proxies, living wills and powers of attorney
• Providing tax-saving strategies
• Establishing family limited partnerships