Woods Lonergan PLLC

Who We Are

• Partner-driven New York trial boutique with more than three decades of practice in the New York metropolitan area.
• Focus on resolving high-stakes disputes, typically in the $1M–$100M range, where control of a business, asset, portfolio, or enterprise value is on the line.
• Senior trial lawyers regularly appear in the New York Commercial Division, the U.S. District Courts for the Southern and Eastern Districts of New York (SDNY and EDNY), and select federal and MDL matters nationwide.
• Recognized by Chambers and Partners in the USA Spotlight Guide in Litigation: General Commercial and Real Estate.

What We Do

• Complex commercial litigation and business disputes.
• Partnership, shareholder, and business-divorce litigation.
• Real estate and asset litigation.
• Cooperative and condominium board representation.
• Executive and commercial employment disputes.
• Data breach, privacy, and other complex plaintiff-side litigation.
• Independent conflict counsel and New York trial or local counsel for other law firms.

Who We Serve

Woods Lonergan is most relevant for clients facing high-value New York disputes where the outcome is consequential to the business, asset, or portfolio, including:

• Business owners, founders, and entrepreneurs in middle-market and privately held companies.
• Majority and minority shareholders, partners, and members in closely held enterprises.
• Family offices and families with significant operating companies or real estate portfolios.
• Real estate owners, developers, lenders, and investors.
• Cooperative and condominium boards across the New York City metropolitan area.
• C-suite executives and key professionals in compensation, equity, and restrictive-covenant disputes.
• Regional, national, and out-of-state law firms needing conflict-free New York trial or local counsel.

How We Are Different

• Partner-driven trial teams – clients work directly with senior lawyers; matters are not handed down a large associate pyramid.
• Conflict-neutral structure – the firm is designed to avoid the institutional conflicts that can prevent larger firms from taking certain matters.
• Calibrated for the Commercial Division – deep familiarity with the New York Commercial Division, SDNY, and EDNY.
• Results-aligned economics where appropriate – in select matters, the firm offers hybrid contingency and alternative fee arrangements; specific structures are determined on a case-by-case basis.

Geographic Focus

• Primary focus on Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, and the greater New York City metropolitan area.
• Handles select federal and MDL matters nationwide where New York-based trial counsel is appropriate.

One Grand Central Place 60 East 42nd Street, Suite 1410 New York, NY 10165

Phone

• Main office phone: 212-684-2500

Clients and prospective clients are encouraged to call the office to discuss potential matters or to schedule a consultation.

Website Contact Form

Prospective clients can also contact the firm through the contact form on the website at https://www.woodslaw.com/contact/ by providing:

• Name
• Phone number
• Email address
• A brief description of how the firm can help

The website does not publish specific office hours; callers should confirm lawyer and staff availability before visiting the office.

Media Inquiries

• Media contact email (from the website): nancy.byrne@woodslaw.com

Lists Central, York, Brooklyn, Manhattan, New York City, and Queens as a location. Names New York, United States, and New York City as a service area. Areas beyond these are not published.

The firm serves as trial counsel in complex business disputes in the New York Commercial Division, SDNY, EDNY, and select federal and MDL matters nationwide. Representative commercial matters include:

• Breach of contract claims arising out of supply, vendor, licensing, and distribution agreements.
• Business fraud and unfair-competition claims.
• Disputes between commercial counterparties in manufacturing, supply chain, retail, hospitality, technology, e-commerce, and professional services.
• Commercial lease disputes and enforcement actions.

Partnership and Shareholder Disputes

The firm acts for majority and minority owners, founders, family members, and estate executors in closely held and middle-market enterprises where ownership and control are contested. Matters often involve real estate holding LLCs, family portfolios, and operating companies.

Typical partnership and shareholder disputes include:

• Freeze-outs and minority oppression.
• Deadlock and business divorce.
• Breach of fiduciary duty and self-dealing claims.
• Direct and derivative actions.
• Judicial dissolution and forced buy-outs.
• Valuation and appraisal disputes.

Fiduciary Breach and Corporate Fraud

The firm litigates governance and fraud matters, including:

• Breach of fiduciary duty by officers, directors, partners, or managers.
• Diversion of corporate opportunity.
• Corporate fraud and misrepresentation.
• Tortious interference and unjust enrichment.
• Fraudulent transfer and related claims.

Representative Scale of Matters

• Disputes commonly range from $1M to $100M in claimed value.
• Underlying assets (such as real estate portfolios or operating companies) may be valued significantly higher.

Outcomes vary by matter; prior results do not guarantee future results.

The firm represents individuals and classes in high-value data breach and privacy matters, including cases where cybersecurity failures by corporations, educational institutions, or technology vendors expose sensitive personal or financial information.

Representative aspects of this work include:

• Acting as trial counsel in data breach and privacy class actions.
• Litigating claims involving exposure of Social Security numbers and financial data.
• Pursuing claims against corporate defendants in courts across the United States.
• Serving in court-appointed leadership roles in major national data breach class actions.

Catastrophic and High-Value Plaintiff-Side Matters

The firm also handles select catastrophic or high-value plaintiff-side matters, typically involving claimed losses in the $1M–$100M range. Examples from the website include:

• Catastrophic property damage and business interruption litigation, including infrastructure-related cases.
• Complex recovery efforts in fiduciary breach and fraud schemes involving significant New York real estate assets.

Specific recoveries and results depend on the facts and law in each case. Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome in any other matter.

The firm focuses on executive-level and commercially significant employment matters, often involving high six-figure to seven- or eight-figure compensation or equity stakes. Representative issues include:

• Unpaid bonuses, carried interest, and other incentive compensation disputes.
• Equity and vesting disputes, including forfeiture and repurchase issues.
• Change-in-control and good-reason termination claims.
• Non-compete, non-solicitation, and trade secret disputes.
• Executive employment agreement disputes in court or arbitration.

These disputes are typically litigated in the New York Commercial Division, SDNY, EDNY, or arbitration forums.

Wage and Hour and Worker Protection Matters (Overview)

Based on the website, the firm also handles certain wage and hour and worker-protection matters, including:

• Minimum wage and unpaid overtime disputes.
• Employee misclassification issues.
• Unpaid commissions, bonuses, and prevailing wage disputes.
• Wrongful termination or retaliation claims where termination or adverse action is alleged to violate law or contract.
• Workers' compensation-related retaliation claims.

Specific case strategies and remedies depend on the facts of each matter and the applicable federal, state, and local laws.

Outcomes vary by matter; prior results do not guarantee future results.

The firm's real estate litigation practice covers high-value disputes involving New York properties and portfolios, including:

• Development, joint venture, and portfolio litigation.
• Commercial lease enforcement and related guaranty disputes.
• Quiet title, easement, and land use disputes.
• Partition actions and disputes among co-owners.
• Foreclosure-related litigation.
• Title defects and title insurance disputes.
• Fraudulent conveyance and real estate fraud claims.

These matters often involve assets and developments valued in the tens or hundreds of millions of dollars, with disputes commonly in the $1M–$100M range.

Real Estate Transactions (Overview)

The firm's real estate attorneys advise clients who are buying, selling, leasing, financing, developing, or investing in residential and commercial property, including:

• Office buildings and mixed-use projects.
• Hotels and hospitality properties.
• Residential, industrial, warehouse, shopping center, and luxury properties.

Representative transactional work includes:

• Negotiating and preparing purchase and sale agreements.
• Structuring and documenting leasing arrangements (such as ground leases, build-to-suit leases, office leases, retail and restaurant leases).
• Advising on financing structures, including complex lending vehicles.
• Addressing development issues such as construction contracts, easements, mechanics' liens, and construction-related disputes.

Cooperative and Condominium Board Representation

Woods Lonergan has a dedicated department representing cooperative and condominium boards across the New York City metropolitan area, from pre-war buildings to new developments and large multi-building communities.

Services for co-op and condo boards include:

• General counsel on governance and board procedures.
• Drafting and reviewing bylaws, proprietary leases, offering plans, and house rules.
• Reviewing and negotiating vendor, license, and commercial lease agreements.
• Transfer agent services and review of unit sales and purchases.
• Sponsor and offering plan enforcement.
• Construction defect, Local Law, and access disputes, including Section 881 access issues.
• Litigation involving unit owners, tenants, vendors, and other third parties.

Firm attorneys participate in New York City Bar committees related to cooperatives, condominiums, and real property.

Ask anyway — the agent will say plainly that it is not published rather than guess.