Steven Cramer

Steven Cramer is a partner at Rich, Intelisano & Katz, LLP. He focuses on the areas of commercial, construction and real estate litigation and arbitration, as well as negotiating and drafting construction contracts, access agreements, and other documents. Mr. Cramer’s clients include property owners, developers, contractors and subcontractors, private equity funds, design professionals, sureties, cooperatives and condominiums, and other businesses as well as individuals. Mr. Cramer was recognized as a "Super Lawyer" in the field of Construction Litigation in 2010.

Prior to Rich, Intelisano & Katz, LLP, Mr. Cramer served as a partner at Bauman Katz & Grill LLP, and an associate at Ross & Cohen and Zetlin & DeChiara, where he worked in commercial litigation, arbitration, and contract negotiation.

Mr. Cramer earned his Juris Doctor from Brooklyn Law School, where he was a Carswell Scholar. He earned his Bachelor of Arts degree from St. John’s College in Annapolis, Maryland. He also attended the University of Maryland’s Graduate School of Architecture for two and a half years. Mr. Cramer is admitted to practice in the State of New York and is also admitted to practice before the United States District Courts for the Southern and Eastern Districts of New York and the Second Circuit Court of Appeals. He is a member of the Association of the Bar of the City of New York (where he has served on the Construction Law Committee), and the New York State Bar Association, where he is a member of the Commercial and Federal Litigation Committee and previously served on the Committee on Construction Law. Mr. Cramer is President of the Board of Lydia Johnson Dance.

Mr. Cramer’s experience includes the following areas:

• Representation of property owners in negotiation and drafting of construction contracts for a range of projects, including renovations and new construction. Cramer has recently negotiated contracts for owners conducting renovations of Manhattan and Brooklyn townhomes as well as a major developer in negotiation of a construction management agreement and related documents for a $100 million project in Manhattan.
• Representation of property owners in a diverse range of litigation arising from construction, including matters related to insurance, funding, disputes with contractors, design professionals and suppliers.
• Representation of developers and owners in negotiation of access agreements setting forth the terms of access needed to allow construction to proceed on neighboring properties. Cramer represents both the parties undertaking construction and neighbors to construction. He has been involved in numerous actions under RPAPL 881 and related litigation arising from access issues, and has represented owners in negotiations with the Department of Buildings concerning access issues. He has worked with experts to evaluate the impact on neighboring buildings of underpinning, tie-backs, piles, secant pile walls and other engineering techniques.
• Representation of general contractors in a broad range of claims, including contractual disputes with subcontractors, owners, neighbors, design professionals and others. Many of these cases require an understanding of a variety of construction techniques and methods, and the ability to understand construction drawings, as well as various theories of damages and methods of damage calculation.
• Representation of subcontractors and trade contractors in a broad range of disputes with general contractors, neighboring owners and others, including disputes concerning project management and compliance with construction schedules and contract documents. Cramer is currently representing a subcontractor in a multi-million dollar claim against a general contractor and owner.
• Representation of design professionals in the negotiation of contracts as well in contractual disputes with owners, contractors and subconsultants.
• Representation of property owners seeking to recover for major property damage caused by neighboring construction. Clients have included owners of an historic cast-iron building in lower Manhattan, a commercial and residential building in mid-town Manhattan, and brownstone homes in Brooklyn. The successful recoveries in these actions depended on determining the responsibility of numerous parties contributing to the damage, analysis of structural and geotechnical conditions, use of a range of experts, and coordination with City agencies, including the Department of Buildings and the Landmarks Preservation Commission.

Mr. Cramer’s reported cases include: Corporate Electrical Technologies, Inc. v. Structure Tone, Inc., 2020 N.Y. Slip Op. 30085 (U), 2020 WL 118730 (Sup. Ct. N.Y. Co. 2020); Stewart v. Yorrick, 2020 WL 2789925 (Sup. Ct. Kings Co. 2020); W&W Glass, LLC v. 1113 York Ave. Realty Co., 113 A.D.3d 563 (1^st Dep’t 2014); Staples, Inc. v. W.J.R. Associates, 2020 WL 1260191 (E.D.N.Y. 2010);Betal Environmental Corp. v. Local Union Number 78, 123 F.Supp 2d 156 (S.D.N.Y. 2000),78, 162 F. Supp.2d 246 (S.D.N.Y. 2001), 39 Fed.Appx. 688 (2^nd Cir. 2002); Lynbrook Glass & Architectural Metals, Corp. v. Elite Associates, Inc. 238 A.D.2d 319 (2^nd Dep’t 1997).