WILLIAMSVILLE, NY – Iskalo Development Corp. today announced the completion of 2410 North Forest, the company’s newly constructed Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Registered, Class A office building located on North Forest Road at the intersection with John James Audubon Parkway in Amherst. Iskalo Development also announced that anchor tenant HoganWillig Attorneys at Law have taken occupancy of the entire third floor, leaving approximately 50,000 square feet of office space available for lease.

Located at the entrance to the University at Buffalo North Campus, the three-story, 80,000 square-foot office building is one of the first multi-tenant LEED Registered buildings in Western New York, providing an ideal opportunity for companies that lease space to participate in the LEED program. Some of the ‘Green’ amenities the building features include floor-to-ceiling glass to maximize daylighting, automated light sensors to reduce energy usage, and an underfloor air distribution system to provide the highest quality indoor air available.

“We’re excited to see the completion of 2410 North Forest and to welcome our first tenant to the building,” Paul B. Iskalo, president and CEO, Iskalo Development Corp., said. “2410 represents a significant planning effort on our part and reinforces our belief that office space should be viewed as a ‘tool’ for business and not just a place to house one. 2410 North Forest will be of interest to those progressive businesses that understand that the quality of their corporate facilities play a critical role in maximizing the productivity of their employees.”

A recent landmark study completed by the University of San Diego and commercial real estate broker, CB Richard Ellis, revealed that ‘Green’ buildings like 2410 North Forest increase employee productivity while decreasing turnover and absenteeism. Additional case studies have shown examples of companies in ‘Green’ buildings achieving increases in productivity as high as 16%, with each 1% gain in productivity equating to about $3.00 per square foot savings in occupancy costs over traditional buildings. The financial benefits from reduced absenteeism and turnover, as well as increased productivity, substantially outweigh all other fiscal considerations. 

HoganWillig chose 2410 North Forest as an ideal location to consolidate its operations from multiple locations and bring more than 100 employees together under one roof. The new office space will also provide room for their growing practice and demonstrate the law firm’s commitment to being environmentally responsible.

“Though one doesn’t necessarily associate a law firm with environmental leadership, it is a principle we embrace at HoganWillig whole-heartedly and was an important factor in our choosing of 2410 North Forest for our new home,” Corey Hogan, founder of HoganWillig said. 

HoganWillig is a full-service law firm with conveniently located offices in Erie and Niagara Counties. As the largest suburban general practice in Buffalo, they have a skilled team of 39 attorneys, including a physician-attorney, as well as two on-staff Registered Nurses and an extensive support staff to serve their clientele.

Iskalo Development is a full-service real estate development company headquartered in Williamsville, NY, and specializing in corporate and medical office, light industrial, retail and mixed use projects located throughout Western New York. The company prides itself on finding well located, underutilized buildings and repositioning them as signature properties in the marketplace. For more information, visit www.iskalo.com.

HoganWillig has been named as a finalist for this year’s Best Places to Work in the Western New York area. On March 26, 2010, Business First will publish a special section featuring the Best Places to Work.

Tags: Best places to work, western new york

Recent amendments to NY’s DWI law add significant penalties and make it a felony to drive under the influence with a child in the car. 

Before the recent amendments, police officers would often charge a DWI defendant who has a child in the car with misdemeanor Endangering the Welfare of a Child.  Now, it is a felony under the DWI law to drive under the influence with a passenger under age 16 and such action must be reported to the Department of Social Services if the driver is the child’s parent, guardian or custodian. 

In addition, the new law mandates the installation of ignition interlock devices for first time DWI offenders.  An ignition interlock is a that device requires the driver to blow into a mechanism that checks for alcohol; if alcohol is detected, the car’s ignition won’t start and the result is reported to the individual’s sentencing court and probation officer.  Noncompliance and tampering with the device is a misdemeanor. 

It is more important than ever to retain counsel for drinking and driving offenses, as early in the case as possible. 

Tags: DWI, ignition interlock, recent amendments

If you are refinancing or borrowing to purchase a home, loan cost is not the only issue to consider.

There has been a lot of publicity lately regarding the changes to the Real Estate Settlements Procedure Act which are designed to make it easier for borrowers to “shop” among lenders in order to obtain the very lowest cost loans.  I would like to point out that cost should not be your only concern.  Clients who have come to me after their loan closing with problems all seem to have their loans with huge national banks.  These banks, perhaps understandably given the volume they face, have problems tracking payments, loan assignments, and other matters.   One client, who had never been late or missed a mortgage payment, was accused by his national lender of missing one month’s payment.  They told him that if he did not pay it immediately or provide proof that it had been paid, they would begin foreclosure proceedings.  He had to do all of the legwork to prove that they received and cashed the payment, and he still had to wait “up to 45 days” for the bank to agree.  He was told that there were other borrowers in the same position regarding the same month, and that the problem may have arisen from the bank’s purchase of a loan portfolio, but nonetheless, the burden was on him to prove that the lender received the payment.  Similar problems arise when there is a need to prove that a mortgage with the national lender has been paid in full.  Again, it is usually up to the borrower to prove to the lender that he made all of the payments, even if it has been years since his final payment.

I have also seen that national banks (by the way, I do not include HSBC or M&T in this category for the purposes of this entry) have not treated our clients, who are experiencing financial difficulties, in an understanding or humane manner.  Most of our clients are content with the way they have been treated by their small, local lender.  It has been my experience that local lenders are very understanding and willing to help resolve foreclosure and payment issues.   I have not spoken with any big bank client who feels they have been well or fairly treated.

So, if you are refinancing or borrowing to purchase a home, give some additional consideration to your smaller local bank.

Tags: borrowing, loan, mortgage, real estate, refinancing

This is the year 2010, and I encourage lawyers to get out of the habit of using static, outdated words and phrases in their writing. There are so many articles and books about “Plain English” which recite all these subjective guideposts for effective legal writing. I can break them all down into one general rule, which is: If you wouldn’t Say It, don’t Write It.

Hypothetically, if a lawyer is asked by her client, “where is my settlement check?,” I doubt the lawyer would respond by saying, “it is enclosed herewith.” Similarly, if the client asks her lawyer, “what’s going on with my case,” the lawyer probably wouldn’t begin the response with the phrase, “Please be advised…” So, why do we use these words and phrases in our legal writing?

In spite of all the suggestions for great legal writing, too many archaic words and phrases are still in use today. Instead of all the articles about how to revise legal writing, maybe the question should be, why are lawyers so wedded to legalese and why won’t they change. Is it for Formality; Exclusivity; or because of Precedent? Once we answer that question, hopefully we can begin to move away from the herewiths and heretofores and arguendos.

Tags: legal writing, legalese, plain english