Carolyn Rualo Named as a New York Law Journal Trailblazer
In May 2019, attorney and partner Carolyn Rualo, of Adam Leitman Bailey, P.C., was named a Trailblazer by the New York Law Journal. She has been recognized for her unconventional approaches in handling complex landlord-tenant negotiations with the New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development and has been acknowledged for her innovative and forehanded outlook on the upcoming rent regulation reform. Congratulations Carolyn!
PIONEER SPIRIT Carolyn Rualo, a partner in the landlord-tenant group at [Adam Leitman Bailey, P.C.] often negotiates on a client’s behalf directly with the New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development. It’s faster – and usually more effective, – than rushing to a judge for a temporary restraining order and then trying to settle a dispute in court. The direct approach, however, can be tougher than litigation. “It’s not an easy thing to get a city employee – or the right city employee – on the phone. Part of the art is getting in front of the right people, then communicating your cause quickly.”
TRAILS BLAZED Rualo leans toward unconventional approached whenever possible. That’s how she helped a client, the owner of half a dozen apartment buildings heated by a single boiler. A malfunction left the buildings without heat or hot water. The city said it would send its own contractor to perform emergency repairs, but the city contractor’s fees could have been three times the market rate. Rualo made her case over the phone to the city employee overseeing the later, pointing out that her client had already started the repairs which would be completed shortly. The city backed down. “It can save my client a good amount of money in ligation later.”
FUTURE EXPLORATIONS Rualo is gearing up for major reform in the state’s rent regulation laws, due out this summer. Currently a landlord can invest in major capital building improvements or improve individual apartments by renovations to increase the legal rent or convert a regulated unit to a market-rate unit. Whatever happens, Rualo expects the new laws to substantially change the way her clients run their businesses and approach new investments so much so that she must continue to be innovative and resolve legal issues in untraditional ways.