If you are an owner of a property which saw a significant decrease in net operating income in 2020 and didn’t see a commensurate decrease in your property’s assessed value, you may want to consider challenging your commercial property tax assessment. More specifically, if your property is a hotel, restaurant, or retail location, it’s even… Read More

Property taxes rank right up there with root canals, necessary evils all property owners must face. The COVID-19 crisis has put an unprecedented strain on commercial property owners in New York State. Business owners are seeing reduced income and rent while having to comply with expensive COVID-19 related health compliance measures. This unfortunate combination has… Read More

Our Partner and conservation ambassador Phillip Oswald weighs in on recent decision from the Third Department. This decision from the Third Department is a great win for conservation. The matter of Darwak vs. City of New York, involved John J. Darwak who owns approximately 403 acres of undeveloped land.  In September 2017, the City of… Read More

On Monday, November 23rd NYS Forward Loan Fund (“NYFLF”) opened an economic recovery program for small businesses, non-profits, and small residential landlords across New York State.  Our practice runs deeper than the law, we’re business owners too, so we broke this new offer down for your review. What is the offer? The NYFLF offers five-year… Read More

Members of our Business Law team, like Jamie Batt are joining with members of our Family Law team, Beth DiPirro and Keli Iles-Hernandz to create a fertility law practice to work with people who are navigating the rollercoaster ride of surrogacy as the NYS laws change. The laws for surrogacy in New York are changing… Read More

Matt Miller and our Labor & Employment team once again providing timely information for NYS COVID restrictions. Effective November 20, 2020, Governor Cuomo put parts of Erie County into an “Orange” zone under his micro-cluster initiative.  This meant that, pursuant to Executive Order 202.68 and related Empire State Development guidelines, certain non-essential businesses, including all… Read More

Marco Cercone, has been a member of the Daemen College faculty since 2012, teaching Litigation, Contracts, Adv. Litigation, and Intro to Legal Skills. Marco is highlighted in this months Faculty Profile. What inspired you to pursue your career? “Since I was a little boy, I’ve always wanted to be a lawyer. My pediatrician was actually the… Read More

Veteran’s Day is a day where we honor those who have served our country and risked great sacrifice. At Rupp Baase Pfalzgraf Cunningham though, we honor them every day. On our team we have 7 veterans, 2 of which are managing partners in different locations. We’ve seen firsthand how the character traits of a veteran… Read More

The surrogacy laws in New York are changing. Family Law and Business Law practice areas join forces for surrogacy clients. Beth DiPirro, Keli Iles-Hernandez, and Jamie Batt are prepared to help NYS couples and surrogates navigate the layered and often emotional process of surrogacy. The team provides Patrick Connelly of Buffalo Business First insight about… Read More

Buffalo Games had been in business for 30+ years. Just like our firm, the company has grown rapidly since their opening. Today they are an industry leader in puzzles, games, arts and crafts, sensory & educational toys. We are so proud of our client and friend Nagendra Raina and his team for all their innovation,… Read More

The pandemic as caused all businesses to rethink their practice, office adjustments had to be made for the safety of employees. David Pfalzgraf, joins the discussion with Patrick Connelly and other local Managing Partners on COVID scanning, office space, and technology upgrades in our functioning COVID world. In an ever-changing world during this COVID-19 pandemic… Read More

Insurance company faces potentially millions of dollars in fines with NY DFS’s first enforcement of its cybersecurity regulations. With security breaches up 64% since 2014, the FBI has reported a 400% increase in cyberattacks during the COVID-19 pandemic. With the global average cost of a breach being $3.86 million, it has never been so vital… Read More

Every year Buffalo Business First announces the top attorneys in Buffalo, NY as chosen by their peers. Every year we are incredibly proud to see some of our attorneys named to the list. This list is a great honor as it is a award given in part by other peers. To be selected, an honoree… Read More

Fifteen of our attorneys were named Western New York Super Lawyers, or Rising Stars! We could not be more proud of these attorneys for the work they put into the practice of law. The Super Lawyers award is a peer-nominated, and committee-determined award. This makes it an exceptional award because it validates that those in… Read More

Please join us for an informational seminar! Our friends at the Niagara Frontier Chapter of the Construction Financial Management Association are hosting a Labor & Employment online seminar where partner, Matt Miller will provide insight into and discussion on the major impacts the COVID-19 pandemic has had on the world of employment law, and will… Read More

On August 28, 2020, the Constitutional Law team at Rupp Baase, consisting of Tony Rupp, Phillip Oswald, and Chad Davenport, filed a class action lawsuit on behalf of all New York State restaurants and venues that seek to hold weddings up to the 50% venue capacity limit in place for ordinary dining.  The class action follows… Read More

Tony Rupp spoke to WIVB about a trial court win regarding a couples wedding during COVID-19.  BLASDELL, N.Y. (WIVB)– Joe and Alysa Gryzbowski were originally going to get married at the Avanti Mansion, but they said all the uncertainty with not knowing how many people they could invite made them reconsider. The downside is the couple… Read More

Tony Rupp spoke with Anderson Cooper on August 18th 2020 regarding representing a New York couple over their right to hold a 175 person wedding during the pandemic given the current restaurant guidelines. “Why is New York saying you can’t hold a wedding, when the venue itself and all of the attendees at the wedding… Read More

It’s a federal court win! Congratulations to the newlyweds!  Rupp Baase is proud and honored to have secured an order in federal court enjoining enforcement of the 50-person limit on weddings.  Our constitutional law attorneys, Tony Rupp, Phillip Oswald, and Chad Davenport successfully argued a likelihood of success in establishing that the 50-person limit violates… Read More

Jamie Batt joined Buffalo Business First Virtual Executive Forum on Succession Planning as a panelist. Click link below to read the key takeaways. They agreed: If you haven’t started succession planning, start now by developing long-term goals and then draw a roadmap to achieve those goals. In its simplest terms, it is like a planning… Read More

Rupp Baase Pfalzgraf Cunningham is proud to welcome Elizabeth Holmes as a Partner Attorney in our Project Development and Environmental, Business Litigation and Construction practice groups. With years of both civil and criminal litigation experience Elizabeth is well known in the Buffalo legal community representing clients in land-use matters before municipal boards and through supreme… Read More

The COVID-19 pandemic has brought about huge changes in the medical industry. One of these changes is a shift to telehealth. What will this shift in care mean for physicians and healthcare plans? Join partner attorneys, Jamie Batt and Fred Cohen as Rupp Baase hosts a complimentary webinar Wednesday, June 24th 12:30pm-1:30pm with a panel… Read More

COVID-19 Business Reopening Webinar – June 11 at 9:00 AM The COVID-19 pandemic has changed the business world as we know it. As more businesses start to reopen it is important to understand the New York State safety guidelines and how to ensure you keep your employees safe. Does your business need a written safety… Read More