Despite advances in design and more stringent regulations, errors persist in the design process. The discovery of a potentially catastrophic design error after the completion and delivery of a project presents an array of ethical and legal issues for the design professional and attorneys who represent them. Ultimately, the questions before the design professional are whether he or she has an ethical or legal duty to warn of the error, and what must be done to satisfy that duty. 

Zetlin & De Chiara LLP Associate Max Rayetsky has been named to the Advisory Board of the Mattone Family Institute for Real Estate Law at his alma mater, St. John’s University School of Law.   He was also selected as an inaugural member of its Emerging Leaders Committee.

A new industry coalition, The Alliance for Fair and Equitable Contracting (AFFECT), a group  comprised of the General Contractors Association of New York, the New York Building Congress, the Associated General Contractors of New York State LLC, the Building Trades Employers Association and the American Council of Engineering Companies of New York filed suit in the US District Court for the Southern District of New York seeking relief from the “draconian contractor debarment regime put in place by the New York legislature and the MTA, culminating in publication of renewed “emergency” regulations in the New York State Register on November 6, 2019.” The challenged law and related regulations also apply to design professionals and other consultants who contract with the MTA.

Roy Schwartz, Principal at Zetlin & De Chiara LLP, was spotlighted in a profile in Real Estate Journal's One to Watch Spotlight.

Zetlin & De Chiara LLP Associate Chengdong (C.D.) Xing has been named  secretary to the Asian Affairs Committee of the City Bar for a term ending July 2021.

Fluent in both Mandarin and English, Mr. Xing represents owners/developers, designers, architects, engineers, and contractors in a wide variety of legal matters including construction contractual risks and dispute resolution. He is one of the handful of China-U.S. dual-qualified lawyers practicing construction law, with a focus on complex litigation.