East Meadow, NY Effective January 1, 2024 Yuliya Viola, Noreen Chen, Kathleen Farrell, Penni Stathakos, and Darren Stakey were elevated to the partnership at Certilman Balin Adler & Hyman, LLP.
Viola was previously an associate. She practices in the Land Use and Zoning and Real Estate Groups, and represents clients in a wide variety of real property, zoning, land use, and environmental law matters. She graduated from St. John’s University School of Law. She earned a Bachelor of Arts, magna cum laude, in International Criminal Justice from John Jay College of Criminal Justice and an Associate Degree in Mathematics from Belarusian State University in Minsk, Belarus.
Prior to joining the firm, Viola was an associate at another Long Island law firm where she concentrated her practice on commercial and real property/land use litigation, zoning matters, municipal and construction law, as well as the representation of design professionals.
While in law school, Viola served as an executive managing editor of the New York Real Property Law Journal. Viola was the recipient of the Dean’s Award for Excellence in Drafting Contracts and the ABA-Bloomberg BNA Award for Excellence in Health Law. In addition, she earned CALI Awards for Academic Excellence in Legal Writing and Research, Health Law, Constitutional Law, Judicial Externship, and State Constitutional Law.
Viola honed her legal skills as a law clerk at two Long Island law firms and as a judicial extern to The Honorable Ira Warshawsky, Nassau County Supreme Court, Commercial Division.
A member of the Suffolk County Bar Association, New York State Bar Association and American Bar Association, she is admitted to practice in New York State and the District Court for the Eastern and Southern Districts of New York.
Viola was named as one of the “Ones to Watch” by the New York Real Estate Journal in 2023. She is also fluent in Russian, Belarusian, and Ukrainian.
Chen was previously of counsel. She practices in the Commercial Lending Practice Group. She concentrates her practice on representation of institutional lenders in multi-family and commercial real estate mortgage transactions. Additionally, she represents lenders in providing financing to condominium boards and home owners associations, secured by the pledge of common/maintenance charges and assessments.
Prior to joining the firm, she was counsel at Newtek Small Business Finance, LLC where she represented the Small Business Administration Preferred Lending Partner in SBA 7(a) business loan transactions. During her representation of the small business lender, she reviewed documents, including but not limited to, purchase agreements for real estate and/or business assets, commercial leases, entity formation documents, title reports for commercial and/or residential real estate, and ALTA policies to ensure that documents are in compliance with SBA Standard Operating Procedures and SBA Authorization.
Chen earned her Juris Doctor from the Maurice A. Deane School of Law at Hofstra University and her Bachelor of Arts, magna cum laude, in Speech-Public Address from St. John’s University. As a Law Clerk, she practiced in the areas of personal injury, medical malpractice, discrimination and worker’s compensation cases.
She is admitted to practice in the State of New York.
Farrell was previously an associate. She is a partner in the real estate group and concentrates in the areas of commercial leasing, asset purchase and sales, and real estate development. She represents clients at the local, regional and national level, including commercial property owners and tenants from independent retail stores to major institutions and businesses. She and her team recently closed a substantial transaction involving the sale of 61 acres in Farmingville.
Farrell earned her Juris Doctor from the Maurice A. Deane School of Law at Hofstra University and was on the Dean’s List. She earned her Bachelor of Arts, cum laude, in Literature and Rhetoric with a minor in History from Binghamton University.
She was co-creator and treasurer of the Veteran’s Legal Assistance Program. This program helped low-income veterans and their families receive free legal advice and representation from private members of the New York State Bar Association and/or law students.
Through the firm’s LIKE (Lawyers Involved in Kids’ Education) program, Farrell donates her time as a mentor to 4th and 5th graders deemed at risk Walnut Elementary School in Uniondale.
Consecutively from 2020 until 2023, Farrell was named to the New York Metro Super Lawyers Rising Stars, as well as its 2020 and 2021 Women’s Edition. She was also recognized with a Leadership in Law Award from Long Island Business News in 2022, and as one of the “2020 Women in Real Estate” by the New York Real Estate Journal and one of the “2020 Rising Stars” by Real Estate Weekly.
A member of the New York State Bar Association, she is admitted to practice in the State of New York.
Stathakos was previously an associate. She practices in the banking and commercial lending practice group. She represents financial institutions in a wide variety of lending transactions, including mortgage loans, line of credit facilities, construction financing, interest rate swap transactions and leasehold financing. Her experience includes documenting, negotiating and closing financing transactions secured by commercial office buildings, multi-family apartment buildings and mixed-use properties.
Stathakos began her commercial lending practice as an associate at a Brooklyn-based law firm, where she represented purchasers, sellers and institutional lenders in commercial and residential real estate matters.
She earned her Juris Doctor, cum laude, from Pace University School of Law, and her Bachelor of Science in Finance, magna cum laude, from St. Joseph’s University. While a law student, she interned at Keane & Beane, P.C., researching issues relating to real estate and land use law, and also clerked for The Honorable Richard Molea, the supervising judge of the New York Supreme Court Ninth Judicial District.
In 2022 and 2023, she was named one of the New York Metro Super Lawyers Rising Stars. In 2023, she was named to the New York Metro Super Lawyers Women’s Edition.
She is admitted to practice in the state of New York and New Jersey. She is a member of the New York State Bar Association, New York City Bar Association and the Hellenic Lawyers Association.
Stakey was previously an associate. He practices in the litigation, real estate, and condominium practice groups, enjoys a robust practice across a variety of legal focus areas, but he primarily represents developers in connection with offering plans and handles civil litigation matters. A former law clerk, Stakey has developed a reputation for structuring innovative solutions to complex legal and regulatory problems. Stakey was inducted into Phi Beta Kappa at Hofstra University and was the 2015 Salutatorian at Touro College Jacob D. Fuchsberg Law Center.
Stakey is admitted to practice law in New York, California, and the District of Columbia. He is also admitted to practice in U.S. District Court for the Eastern and Southern Districts of New York and the U.S. Supreme Court, as well as the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of New York and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit.
From 2019 to 2023, Stakey was named to the New York Metro Super Lawyers Rising Stars.
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