A new force in construction and real estate law.

Zetlin & De Chiara has rapidly become one of New York's leading law firms servicing the design, construction and real estate industries. Since its inception, the firm has experienced tremendous growth and has a roster of clients which includes some of the nation's top design, construction and real estate firms.

"Our mission has been and continues to be to provide exceptional legal and business counseling services to members of the engineering, architectural, construction, and real estate industries," said Michael S. Zetlin.

"We formed our firm when the construction industry was in the depths of one of its worst depressions in memory. We figured the market could only improve: it has, and fortunately so has our practice," added Michael K. De Chiara. "We anticipate our growth will continue as the economy and, in particular, the construction and real estate industries continue to recover."

"From the outset, clients have turned to us because we understand their business and their needs," remarked Zetlin. Both of the founding partners have dual legal/engineering backgrounds (Zetlin holds a graduate civil engineering degree, and De Chiara holds a mechanical engineering degree and was schooled in architecture). "In particular," added De Chiara, "our clients demand first-class representation. All attorneys in this firm must be able to satisfy this demand. And our services must be cost effective."

By applying this philosophy to its practice, Zetlin & De Chiara now represents some of the nation's prominent design, construction and real estate firms in complex litigations, negotiations, transactions, ownership transitions and general corporate affairs. While their offices are in New York and New Jersey, clients from across the United States have turned to them for national and international matters.

Formed in 1992 by Zetlin and De Chiara, the firm quickly expanded to four partners with the additions of Raymond Mellon and Carol Patterson, who joined the firm in 1993. In addition to his construction background, Mellon brought substantial real estate and litigation experience to the firm. "I joined with Michael Zetlin and Michael De Chiara early on because we came from a similar background and had a shared vision of the type of firm we wanted to build and the type of service we wanted to give our clients."

Patterson added her expertise as a construction lawyer with extensive experience as a corporate counselor and litigator. "Having known the two Michaels and Ray, I knew that our talents were complementary so we had the potential to form an especially strong organization. The results have surpassed our expectations."

One of the keys to the firm's success has been its constant efforts to keep clients abreast of legal developments that affect their business. For example, Zetlin & De Chiara was at the forefront of advising its clients on the risks, benefits, and structuring of design-build ventures and the advantages of forming Limited Liability Partnerships and Companies under New York's new law.

Another unique feature of the firm is its focus on the construction and real estate industries. All of the partners of the firm are active in the real estate and construction community. They all also serve as members of numerous organizations such as The New York Building Congress, the Real Estate Board of New York, the American Institute of Architects, the American Society of Civil Engineers, and the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, and the Association of Real Estate Women. In addition, the partners take leadership roles in construction related organizations. Mellon serves as general counsel to the Brooklyn Chapter of the AIA; and Zetlin and De Chiara both serve on various construction and real estate related boards.

All of the partners at the firm lecture frequently and have written numerous articles relating to the legal and business concerns of design professionals, contractors and the real estate industry. The partners also are experts on the legal aspects of evolving technologies which are impacting their clients. This Spring, Carol Patterson, who has expertise in copyright law, is giving a lecture on computer aided drawing and design at the national AIA conference.

Last October, Zetlin & De Chiara sponsored their first breakfast seminar called "Privatization in New York City," which featured William Diamond, Commissioner of the Department of General Services. The seminar was a tremendous success, attracting New York's leading design firms, contractors, construction managers and real estate executives. Zetlin & De Chiara plans to hold such informative seminars every six months. An upcoming May event entitled "Is the Economic Environment Ripe for Public/Private Construction," explores the opportunities for the construction and real estate communities to work with the new Republican administration in Albany. The seminar features Ambassador Charles Gargano, whom Governor Pataki has appointed Chairman of the State's Urban Development Corporation; George Marlin, the new Director of the Port Authority, Daniel Tishman, President of Tishman Construction Company, and Dominick Servedio, President of STV, Inc.

The firm, formed after Michael Zetlin and Michael De Chiara successfully defended a major national engineering firm in an out-of-state trial which lasted over six months, prides itself on achieving the best results possible for its clients. By the end of that long but eventful trial, the Michaels had become good friends and discovered they made a very good team. They quickly concluded that they could draw upon their prior training and experience providing Wall Street quality services to an industry desperately in need of first-class representation, but with Main Street budgets. That simple philosophy - providing the highest quality professional services in a cost-effective manner - has fueled the rapid growth of this dynamic firm.