Jon has more than 25 years of experience leading complex real estate projects as an Am Law 100 attorney and general counsel to sophisticated real estate companies. His current practice focuses on large-scale mixed-use development projects, sophisticated joint ventures (public and private), complex financing and restructuring, corporate leasing, and real estate and development disputes.
As counsel to some of the best-known real estate developers, lenders, and owner-managers in the United States, Jon is often engaged on high-stakes matters at the intersection of law, finance, business, and policy. He operates as a navigator, translator, and guide — advising on overarching strategy, supervising deal development, framing core issues, and ushering high-stakes projects through to close.
Jon brings an unusual depth of experience to private practice, having served as chief legal officer to Silverstein Properties for 15 years and, prior to that, as general counsel at Fisher Brothers, a multibillion dollar real estate development company, and counsel at Related Companies, the largest privately owned real estate development company in New York. While in-house, Jon played a pivotal role in the planning, financing, development, and operation of some of the biggest development projects and public-private partnerships of the 21st century, including redevelopment of the World Trade Center site after 9/11 and completion of the Time Warner Center on Columbus Circle.
In addition to client work, Jon serves as co-chair of the firm’s Real Estate Practice. He helps lead a national team of more than 75 attorneys and is closely involved in efforts to both recruit and retain top real estate counsel.
Jon is an adjunct faculty member at New York Law School in Tribeca where he teaches a seminar on public and private real estate joint ventures, utilizing the redevelopment of the World Trade Center site and the redevelopment of Forest Hills Stadium as case studies. He also serves on the Selection Committee of the Alexandra Korry Scholarship Fund, awarded to first-generation college and law school students who want to pursue careers in law or public service. Jon currently serves on the executive board of the Penn State Borrelli Institute for Real Estate Studies and the advisory board of the Penn State Cocoziello Institute for Real Estate Innovation.
Jon was instrumental in the revitalization of the historic Forest Hills Stadium in Queens, which had fallen into neglect and disrepair after the U.S. Open Tennis Tournament was moved from Forest Hills to Flushing Meadows. As chair of the Ad Hoc Redevelopment Committee from 2013-2022, he dedicated enormous time and effort to negotiating an agreement among the key stakeholders to restore this unique urban resource, now a thriving concert venue.