Janet Ray Kalson

JANET RAY KALSON is a graduate of SUNY Binghamton (Harpur College) (1978) and Rutgers Law School (1984). She was a Reginald Heber Smith Fellow at Lehigh Valley Legal Services, in Allentown Pennsylvania, where she represented clients in the housing, unemployment, welfare and family law areas. Thereafter she worked as a staff attorney at Brooklyn Legal Services Corporation A, representing Social Security disability claimants at administrative hearings and in Federal Court. Janet worked for the Housing Litigation Bureau of the N.Y.C. Department of Housing Preservation and Development for a decade, where she sued landlords for violating the Housing Maintenance Code and Multiple Dwelling Law. Her trial work at the agency resulted in contempt findings, steep fines and jail sentences for recalcitrant landlords, as well as the correction of many violations. Returning to Legal Services, Janet worked at MFY for five and one half years, representing tenants, SRO tenants and adult home residents in Housing Court, Supreme Court, at the Appellate Division and in DHCR proceedings. In this position, Janet litigated a number of illegal eviction cases as well as non-payments and holdovers, and served as counsel to tenant organizations. She initiated a lawsuit on behalf of numerous adult home residents challenging the closure of their home and the appointment of a receiver, served as counsel to the Brooklyn Manor Residents Council, and helped draft and lobby for legislation creating a private right of action for adult home residents. At Himmelstein McConnell, Janet has successfully defended tenants in countless proceedings, including a fraud case in Supreme Court as well as non-primary residence, owner use cases, succession and breach of lease cases. She has also prosecuted HP proceedings and loft law claims. Janet litigates in the Housing and Supreme Courts as well as at the Appellate Term and DHCR. In addition, she is the Chair of the Civil Court Committee of the New York City Bar Association and a member of the New York and New Jersey bars.