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Ivan is a 1998 Brooklyn Law School graduate and a founding partner in the Okun & Churneftsky, LLP firm.  Ivan honed his litigation skills for six-years (from 1998 through 2004) as an Assistant District Attorney in the Bronx District Attorney’s office where he prosecuted numerous felony offenders, including individuals charged with murder, attempted murder, robbery and burglary. The litigation skills and experience Ivan acquired while prosecuting cases in the high-pressure forum of Bronx Criminal Court helped him become the extremely effective litigator he is today with those litigation skills transferring to and benefitting his clients in prosecuting and defending civil actions ever since.

Since his time in the Bronx District Attorney’s office Ivan has focused his efforts on litigating complex civil and commercial matters and taken countless Landlord-Tenant matters to trial on behalf of both landlords and tenants. Ivan has represented his clients in civil actions in the New York Supreme Court and Civil Court regarding a multitude of issues concerning commercial and residential real estate, including, disputes regarding non-primary residence, illegal sublet and assignment, tenant succession rights, illusory tenancy, non-payment of rent, J-51 rent overcharges, sublets, alterations and deregulation.

Ivan also has vast expertise in negotiating tenant buyouts in both residential and commercial situations.

Ivan has served as general counsel for cooperatives and condominiums throughout New York City, Queens and Brooklyn offering his unique skill set and guidance to cooperative and condominium boards for many years.

Ivan has also applied his litigation skills to his representation of individuals who have been injured due to the negligence of someone else. Ivan has consistently applied the same attention to detail, negotiation savvy and courtroom skill to protect the value of personal injury and property damage claims in a wide range of situations including car accidents, public transit accidents, dangerous property conditions and negligent security.

Ivan is admitted to practice in all trial and appellate state courts in New York.

John is a founding partner in the Okun & Churneftsky, LLP firm.  John serves clients throughout Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, Westchester, and Long Island. His years of experience has enabled him to form hundreds of connections with other Real Estate Professionals, including Real Estate Brokers, Mortgage Professionals, Home Inspectors/Engineers, Architects, Tax Specialists and 1031 Intermediaries to offer you all comprehensive services for your residential and commercial transactions.

He handles all residential co-op, condominium and home closings, along with all forms of commercial transactions involving the purchase, sale and financing of properties and developments.  He has extensive experience in negotiating and drafting residential, store, office, retail, triple net, and loft leases on behalf of both owners/developers and tenants.  John serves as closing agent for co-ops throughout New York City, Queens and Brooklyn and also serves as institutional lending counsel for a number of lenders.  He has years of experience representing lenders in all types of transactions, including residential and commercial closings, document preparation to ensure that the client’s rights are fully protected and in all aspects of lending transactions.

John also represents and assists his clients in all aspects of business formation, management and development, ranging from the creation of a new entity to the sale or purchase of an ongoing business enterprise. John has assisted his clients with contract review and negotiation, employment agreements, shareholder and buy-sell agreements, leases, property acquisitions and compliance with legal and business formalities. John is also well-versed in representing clients in all forms of business transactions, small and large.

John has many years of experience representing owners of Laundromats in the New York, Brooklyn, Queens, Bronx, Westchester and all of Long Island.  John has handled countless purchases and sales of existing Laundromats, negotiation of leases with Landlords for use and occupancy of new Laundromats, assisted with the obtaining of financing and the formation of business entities for the operation of Laundromat businesses.  John’s years of experience in this area has enabled him to form hundreds of connections with Laundromat appraisers, financial analysts, specialty lenders and equipment suppliers enabling John to better serve his clients in this niche area of representation.

John also has extensive experience litigating civil, commercial and real estate matters in the New York Supreme Court and Civil Court.  He has prosecuted and is well-versed in all Landlord-Tenant matters including non-primary residence, sublet and assignment, succession, illusory tenancy and Yellowstone injunctions.  He has substantial knowledge and training in other areas, including second-hand smoke nuisance litigation, defamation, libel, Surrogate’s Court proceedings,and enforcement of by-laws and restrictive covenants in homeowners’ and property owners’ associations.

John also has knowledge, understanding and familiarity with rent control law, rent stabilization and rent regulation and has handled rent overcharge, service complaints, luxury deregulation and Major Capital Improvement (MCI) rent increase applications before the Division of Housing and Community Renewal (DHCR).

His practice areas also include estate planning, trusts and estate administration.

John is admitted to practice before all of the trial courts and appellate courts in the state of New York.  He also is admitted to the bar of the following federal courts: Supreme Court of the United States, and the U.S. District Courts for the Southern and Eastern Districts of New York.

He is a contributor to real estate law publications such as Landlord v. Tenant and Apartment Law Insider and has been published in the New York Journal.