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kessler@fixspin.com
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Education
- Allegheny College, B.S., summa cum laude (1976).
- Cornell Law School, J.D., magna cum laude (1979).
Admissions to Practice
- 1980, New York
- 1980, U.S. Bankruptcy Court, Western District of New York
- 1980, U.S. District Court, Western District of New York
- 1996, U.S. District Court, Northern District of New York
- 2003, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York
- 2003, U.S. Court of Appeals, Second Circuit
Practice Areas
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Karl Essler is a Principal with Fix Spindelman Brovitz & Goldman. He is a Martindale Hubbell, AV Peer Review Rated attorney (highest rating) and is also listed in the Upstate New York edition of Super Lawyers. Mr. Essler’s practice focuses on the areas of land use and zoning, litigation-primarily real property litigation, and real property transactions.
Mr. Essler appears before municipal boards for all aspects of land use and zoning approvals, such as rezoning, site plan and subdivision approval, and special use permits and variances, and handles legal challenges to these approvals, including Article 78 proceedings. He also handles real property litigation such as title, boundary and easement disputes, lease litigation, condemnation, tax certiorari, and environmental matters. Mr. Essler also negotiates and prepares commercial real estate purchase contracts and leases.
Prior to joining Fix Spindelman Brovitz & Goldman, Mr. Essler was an Associate with Harris Beach Wilcox Rubin & Levy from 1979-1986. He has been with our firm as a partner since 1986.
Mr. Essler has represented several telecommunication providers seeking municipal approvals for telecommunication towers, resulting in obtaining approvals for approximately 100 sites. He also has represented a national telecommunication provider in development of initial cell tower network for all of Western NY, including site identification, lease negotiation, title review and obtaining all zoning approvals, which in some instances involved successfully bringing litigation against municipalities.
Also among Mr. Essler's significant achievements is his successful representation of a municipality in both administrative and legal proceedings to prevent development of a major quarry operation in an area potentially affecting municipal water supplies. These protracted proceedings involved several arguments before the Appellate Division.
Mr. Essler has maintained a long-time affiliation with the YMCA, including approximately 20 years of service on its branch Board of Managers and two terms as Board Chair. He served as coordinator of the firm's United Way campaign for 15 years and has given more than 20 years of service in a variety of officer positions with a local non-profit musical organization. Professionally, Mr. Essler is a member and past Co-Chair of the Executive Committee on Land Use and Planning of the New York State Bar Association. He is also the recipient of the 2005 Special Achievement award from his non-profit client, Housing Opportunities, Inc., for work that included successful litigation in obtaining approvals for affordable housing project in Livonia, NY as well.
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