Stein and Ziegler make 2012 Super Lawyers List - Kurland named Rising Star

Howard Stein and Brian Ziegler from Certilman Balin Adler & Hyman, LLP have been named to the 2012 New York Super Lawyers List, and Jason Kurland has been named to its Rising Stars. Stein (Dix Hills) is partner-in-charge of the Real Estate Practice Group where he concentrates on matters related to real property acquisitions, sales, leasing, development rights, real estate finance and loan workouts for retail, industrial, office, hotel and residential developments. He is Chairman of the Board of Governors at Touro Law Center as well as an Adjunct Professor of Real Estate Law. He is also a Charter Member of the Law School's Builders Society. In 2011, Stein was appointed by the Suffolk County Executive to serve on the Suffolk County Judicial Facilities Agency, a New York State authority which oversees the construction of the new Suffolk County jail. He is a member of the President's Counsel of Big Brothers Big Sisters of Long Island and was the recipient of their Presidential Award. In 2007, he received The Harry Chapin Humanitarian Award from Long Island Cares, Inc. In addition, he is a Board Member of the Association for a Better Long Island and the Institute of Real Estate at Hofstra. Stein is a 1975 graduate of the University of Rochester where he now serves as a member of their George Eastman Circle and earned his law degree from Case Western Reserve University in 1978. He is admitted to practice in the State of New York and the U.S. District Court, Eastern District of New York. Ziegler (Woodsburgh) is the partner-in-charge of the Corporate/Securities Law Practice. He was named to the Super Lawyers list in 2011, as well. He represents clients in the areas of mergers and acquisitions, joint venture transactions, finance, private placements, license agreements, executive compensation and employment agreements, taxation and general business counseling. Ziegler serves as outside general counsel to a variety of different businesses and is regularly called upon to advise corporations of all sizes, family owned businesses, limited liability companies and partnerships. A cum laude graduate of the Wharton School of Business of the University of Pennsylvania, he holds both a Juris Doctor and a Master of Laws degree in taxation from the University of Miami School of Law. He is a member of both the New York and Florida Bars. An active member of the Long Island community, Ziegler is the Village Justice for the Village of Woodsburgh, NY. He is the former Co-Chair and current Leadership Council Member of the Mentoring Partnership of Long Island and a co-founder and participant in the firm's mentoring program known as LIKE (Lawyers Involved in Kids' Education). The Super Lawyers review and selection process includes a statewide nomination process, peer review by practice area and independent candidate research. The selected lawyers have attained a high degree of peer recognition and professional achievement. Only five percent of lawyers in the New York metro area are named to the list. Lawyers nominate lawyers who are 40 or under, or who have been practicing for 10 years or less. The lawyers are ranked by point totals and those with the highest point totals are named to the Rising Stars list. No more than 2.5 percent of the lawyers in the state are named to the list. Kurland (Melville) is a partner in the Real Estate Practice Group and represents a number of clients in the sales, acquisitions, joint ventures and redevelopment of all types of commercial real estate including office buildings, hotels, apartment buildings, industrial facilities and shopping centers. Kurland has particular expertise in structuring loan workouts, as well as assisting clients in obtaining benefits from the various Industrial Development Agencies throughout New York City and Long Island. Mr. Kurland also practices with the Estate & Tax Planning Group. In that capacity, he has represented the Putnam Avenue Family Trust, the high-profile winner of the Connecticut Powerball $254.2 million lottery in 2011, which was the largest Powerball jackpot in the state of Connecticut and the 12th biggest in Powerball history. He also represented the $336.4 million Rhode Island Powerball jackpot winner, which was the largest Powerball jackpot won in that state and the third largest in the United States. Mr. Kurland is on the Board of Directors of the Interfaith Nutrition Network, serves as an Associate Board Member of the Association for a Better Long Island, and has been involved with the Lawyers Involved in Kids' Education (LIKE) program, which is affiliated with the Long Island Mentoring Partnership. He is a member of the New York State and Nassau County Bar Associations and the Long Island Real Estate Group. Mr. Kurland earned his Bachelor of Arts Degree in Business/Government from Skidmore College in 1996 and a Juris Doctor from The Hofstra University School of Law in 2000. Certilman Balin Adler & Hyman, LLP has grown into Long Island's second largest 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.