In this episode of Inside R&E, Alex M. Estis, a Member of R&E’s Litigation Department, joins Dave Lorenzo, Founder of Exit Success Lab, for a discussion about landlord-tenant leases. Alex shares insights from his recently published article, co-authored with R&E Founding Member Gary M. Rosenberg, titled “Why Should I Call My Litigator To Draft a Lease?”, which appeared in The New York Law Journal's Landlord-Tenant Column on April 2, 2025.

During the conversation, Alex and Dave talk about how it is increasingly beneficial for landlords and tenants to involve the advice and counsel of litigators as well as transactional attorneys when drafting lease agreements. Transactional attorneys handle the lease’s creation, while litigators help ensure the lease is enforceable in court by identifying potential issues and assessing how clauses might be interpreted and can help negotiate the lease by giving practical examples from experiences in Court and real time updates in court rulings which may affect how leases should be drafted.

Alex M. Estis handles all matters of general commercial litigation, including landlord-tenant disputes, breach of contract, transactional disputes, real estate partnership disputes, brokerage commission actions, holdover proceedings, ejectment proceedings, owner occupancy actions, co-op/condo disputes, matters before the New York City Office of Administrative Trials and Hearings, such as the Environmental Control Board and Department of Health as well as the New York City Criminal Court. Alex also handles commercial leasing negotiations and preparation for landlords, commercial tenants and net lessors.

For any questions related to this episode, contact Alex M. Estis at [email protected] or (212) 551-1204.

Click here to stream this episode, or view it here on YouTube.