Certilman Balin hires three associates: former Islip assistant town attorney Nicolia, Horowitz and Wells

Certilman Balin Adler & Hyman, LLP has hired three new employees: Christopher Nicolia has joined the real estate and land use/zoning practice groups; Samuel Horowitz has joined the coop/condo practice group as an associate; and Jeffrey Wells has joined the real estate practice group as an associate. Prior to joining the firm, Nicolia served as assistant town attorney at the Town of Islip for two years. He began working at the town in 2009 as a law clerk. In addition to conducting legal research and preparing written memoranda of law on a variety of legal issues relating to municipal law and land use and zoning, he served as counsel for the Division of Land Management; represented the town in all real estate matters; served as counsel to the Town of Islip Industrial Development Agency and the Economic Development Corp.; and worked with elected and appointed officials to meet policy objectives through new and amended legislation. While a law student, Nicolia served as a judicial intern to the honorable Leonard Wexler, United States District Court, in Central Islip. He earned his juris doctor from Touro College Jacob D. Fuchsberg Law Center in 2011 and his bachelor of Business Administration in 2008. While at Hofstra University, he was involved with the Student Government Association, and for the Pi Kappa Alpha Fraternity, he served as Alumni Relations chairman, recruitment chairman and on the financial committee. Horowitz was a legal intern in Certilman Balin's corporate/securities group in 2012 while he was a law student at Fordham University. At Fordham, he served as a staff member of the Environmental Law Review, and he graduated in 2013. He earned a bachelor of arts in History from Columbia University in 2010. In addition to his internship at the firm, throughout his college career, Horowitz has held a variety of internships. He was a private equity intern and a legal intern for Resource America, Inc. He was a summer intern at the New Jersey-based companies, R&B Heathcare Services and Lola Medical. He also was a legal intern in the real estate practice of Adam Leitman Baily, P.C. At Columbia, Horowitz was on the varsity men's golf team, and served as director of marketing and publicity for the University's Pre-Law Society. He was an active member and brotherhood chair of Delta Sigma Phi fraternity, and a weekend volunteer at First Tee of Nassau County. He is admitted to practice in the state of New York. In addition to golf, he enjoys acting, skiing, music and reading. Wells began working at the firm as a legal extern while he was a student at Touro College Jacob D. Fuchsberg Law Center. On the dean's list, he ranked 11th in his class at Touro Law Center, won CALI Awards for Academic Excellence in Real Estate Transactions and Drafting Commercial Documents, and earned his juris doctor in 2013. He also completed internships at the United States Attorney's Office EDNY, at the law firm of Carter DeLuca, Farrell & Schmidt, LLP, at the Office of the District Attorney of Nassau County, and at the Long Island Advocacy Center. After he earned his bachelor of arts in Economics in 2000 from Fairfield University, Wells sharpened his business skills through various positions in the financial industry and as a business owner. He worked two years as a business analyst at Fleet Bank/Quick and Reilly in Manhattan; another two, as an insurance underwriter/licensed broker/ASIG Registered Representative for First Heritage Group; and then for one year as a sales representative at M2 Aerospace, a distributor of private aviation products. From 2006 until 2010, Wells was the owner/president of Long Island Mobile Car Wash, Inc. in Greenlawn. This venture allowed him to combine his business acumen with his interest in automobiles. Wells is a nationally certified high performance driving instructor. In his spare time, he races cars and also plays hockey. He is admitted to practice in the state of New York. Certilman Bali is a full-service law firm with offices in Nassau and Suffolk Counties. Its 14 practice areas include: real estate, real property tax certiorari and condemnation, cooperative and condominium, land use, environmental law, corporate/securities, litigation, commercial lending, labor relations/employment law, bankruptcy and debtor/creditor rights, trusts and estates, elder law, telecommunications law, and criminal law.