Three remaining family members had been battling in Court for years over a large Upper West Side townhouse. They decided to settle the litigation by selling the townhouse. Each of the three had their own lawyers. But none of the three trusted the other’s lawyers to handle the sale transaction.

All of the lawyers agreed that one firm could handle the transaction competently, efficiently and fairly. They chose Himmelstein, McConnell, Gribben, Donoghue & Joseph.

After the townhouse was listed with one of the top high-end real estate brokers in Manhattan, Paul helped the parties reasonably assess and evaluate the offers that came in. Once the right offer was accepted, they drafted and negotiated the Contract of Sale, working constantly with the input of the broker, selling family members and their counsel. All title issues were worked on to get resolved quickly and satisfactorily. At each step, Paul conferred with each of the family members or their respective counsel.

As the closing date was set, all the selling family members were given estimates of the closing costs and the ultimate final number available for distribution. A key element in representing a seller is to fully inform the client of their costs, such as transfer taxes and recording fees, so that the client knows as early as possible the bottom line figure they will be receiving.

Prior to the closing Paul had each of the three sign as many documents as feasible so as to avoid any unpleasantness if all had to be in the same room together. At the closing, Paul, entrusted with Powers of Attorney from each of the three selling family members, signed the remaining documents as necessary to close.

Finally, at closing, the sales price in excess of $8 million was delivered to our firm’s escrow account and within days distributed to each of the selling family members in accordance with the Court Settlement; and, each of them & their counsel received a full accounting of the money — down to the last nickel.

So with the help of Himmelstein, McConnell, Gribben, Donoghue & Joseph’s transactional team- Paul – an acrimonious situation of warring family members was within weeks turned into a high seven figure sum.