Himmelstein McConnell Gribben & Joseph LLP - New York, NY

We recently engaged Elizabeth Donoghue as counsel to represent us in a dispute. Elizabeth picked up our matter quickly and proceeded to guide us expertly and calmly through the process. Throughout our engagement she displayed a human touch by allowing us to express our personal concerns while she remained focused on the development of legal strategy. We are deeply grateful to Elizabeth for her support, and recommend her as highly as possible. Thank you!

I begin this review by stating that I had never hired a law firm in my life, and was fearful and anxious to do so given my lack of experience in dealing with attorneys. I reached out to this firm with questions regarding succession rights to my family apartment in Manhattan. Jesse Gribben responded to my query and offered me a cost-free consultation that very day. He gave me sound advice with absolutely no pressure to retain his services. Months later, when I was faced with the daunting and anxiety provoking task of submitting my application to management, I outreached Jesse who calmly outlined the process, current laws, and potential outcomes to my case. Having access to this knowledgeable and responsive attorney made it a no-brainer to retain his services. His inside-out understanding and explanation of NYS Real Estate Law was extremely calming and reassuring. Jesse was always available for my many questions, and adeptly handled my application with swift resolution in my favor! I recommend Jesse Gribben without hesitation, as you'd be hard pressed to find a more diligent and responsive attorney.

David Hershey-Webb was fantastic. So glad I worked with him. He won me much more than I'd even thought was possible at the start of my case, and his fees ended up being tiny by comparison.

David Hershey-Webb proved to be one of the best attorneys I've ever worked with. I've worked with 6 other attorneys and law-firms in Manhattan for residential and commercial real-estate cases plus business needs over the years. I needed assistance resolving an issue with a large NYC residential landlord with their own in-house legal team; Also navigating the new major revisions to ever-changing NYC rental laws. Worth mentioning, all that in addition to understanding the complex NY courts logistics during the Coronavirus pandemic. From my initial phone call with David to closing my case, I couldn't have asked for a better attorney. His most impressive trait was the level of trust he immediately established. I felt like he was on my team and had my back the second he heard my case and felt he legitimately understood my concern. David never made me feel rushed or that he was too busy or my case wasn't big enough, etc. I really appreciated that. David was also knowledgeable of very specific and somewhat obscure laws pertaining to my case and more importantly how to apply them. I highly recommend the services of David and the team at Himmelstein, McConnell, Gribben, Donoghue & Joseph LLP.

Worst lawyer I ever encountered. I brought a whole group of tenants to him after a building collapse n top of us due to demolition next door. Himmelstein submitted a contingency proposal only to me and I had to forward it to other tenants? In my experience, legal documents usually sent directly to clients. Himmelstein and Gribben pressured everyone to sign it immediately. Everyone did except me because I didn’t like certain clauses and wanted to have another lawyer look at it first. There were issues with his abrupt rude communication style- or not communicating. Himmelstein said he would not be handling any personal issues such as list or damages of property, etc. At the same tine time, he was already being advised by landlord that they , DOB and developers, were going to be stabilizing building. Landlord had little reason to offer any buyout. Himmelstein’s fees were extremely high over $1,200 per hour. Plus there was a clause that if we ever left him he would take 1/3 of any future settlement. Himmelstein “resigned” immediately after I complained about his behavior and problematic issues with contingency agreement, and property issues. I believe he acted in an unethical way. The excellent lawyer that I consulted told me not to sign that agreement and was 100% correct.

I worked with Jesse Gribben on a situation with a landlord and couldn't be more pleased. Jesse was extremely knowledgeable, professional, timely and had a natural skill for cutting through the noise to get down to what mattered to resolve the situation at hand. He was able to show all angles of the situation, the relative pros/cons of each and look at everything from a 360 perspective, while being able to drill down into the details to put things in motion. His knowledge on NYC housing law was unmatched and I'm very happy to have worked with him. I would highly recommend Jesse Gribben without hesitation. The rates are very affordable and fair. While I hope I don't have any situations like this creep up in the future, I'll be calling Jesse if I do. Thanks again Jesse!

I highly recommend Jesse Gribben. Jesse guided me through a negotiation with a very difficult landlord and management company. My goal was to break the lease and recover my security deposit after the apartment became uninhabitable due to the impact of a neighboring construction site that caused a skylight in my bedroom to break and shatter. My own attempts to negotiate with the landlord were unsuccessful, and Jesse skillfully negotiated a satisfactory deal on my behalf. He explained all relevant legal aspects to me with great patience and helped me through a psychologically trying process. I am very grateful to Jesse and highly recommend him!

Jesse Gribben worked with me to break my lease. This is the first time, and hopefully only time, that was necessary. In light of the COVID-19 restrictions and travel constraints I needed to move back to my family overseas. Breaking the lease seemed like an impossible task and I did not have high hopes. Jesse was invaluable with his informed and timely counsel, and he successfully managed the whole process of engaging the landlord and their lawyer to achieve an outcome which far exceeded my expectations: a mutually acceptable agreement to cleanly terminate the lease. Jesse's services saved me from enormous headaches and has made it possible to move back to my family, which in this current climate is incredible. Thank you, Jesse.

The matter was settled in our favor, with no angst on our part. It took a while, about 10 months, but I know that legal things can move very slowly. We are very pleased with the settlement. We, of course, are speaking of our lawyer,David Hershey-Webb, and cannot review the firm as a whole, since we dealt with him only.

It was a wonderful experience working with David Hershey-Webb, who has a patient and thoughtful approach that led to a successful outcome in the end.

I'm a client of this firm along with other tenants in my rent-stabilized building. We're dealing with new landlords trying to not renew our leases and take the building for themselves. We're being represented by Jesse Gribben and we are simply grateful and appreciative of his efforts. He's always taken the time to explain our situation and different options, he's been incredibly careful in billing and used our retainer scrupulously, and he's completely defended us and given us our power back with respect to the landlords. He's super honest and explains all the possible outcomes, we have all gained a lot of trust in this situation. It was always clear that the firm was taking our case seriously and thinking about the best way to handle it, we are not big high-paying clients but it felt like we were still important. I'm a lawyer myself (in a nonprofit field) and I gained a new appreciation being on the other side as the client. I would hope that anyone in our position with a landlord problem receives the help of this firm.

Mr. Hershey-Webb helped my wife and I negotiate a deal with a landlord for a rent-stabilized apartment in NYC a few months ago. What began as a seemingly unattainable dream was made a reality through Mr. Hershey-Webb’s diligence, efficiency, professionalism, and experience-based expertise. From our first telephone conversation, I knew we were in great hands. Thanks to Mr. Hershey-Webb and his skillful team, my wife, three-year-old daughter and I are now living in the beautiful Greenwich Village apartment we had only dreamed of. We’ll be eternally grateful to him.

I had a difficult and complex negotiation regarding rent control and relocation for a 90 year old. David Hershey Webb was recommended by a friend for whom he had done an excellent job in a similar situation. W also had an excellent outcome, with the 90 year old relocated to a better situation with a lower rent and status protected. Mr Hershey Webb was available and cheerful while staying tough when needed. I was very satisfied.

David Hershey-Webb, an attorney with this law firm, just successfully concluded a class-action suit for a significant number of rent stabilized tenants at the Lenox Terrace residences in Harlem. Mr. Hershey-Webb is brilliant, tenacious and down to earth. I consider him a Tenants' Rights Hero!

Liz Donoghue was our attorney for a case that lasted over three years. Her attention and care for our case and us as people was more than I could have anticipated. I do wish anyone could be lucky enough to have her or anyone from this firm, if they should ever be put in the difficult situation from a landlord trying to take their home away, as we did.

We've been working with Jesse Gribben for the past five years. He is diligent, thorough, and exceptionally responsive. I'd like to think of myself as a fairly "low maintenance" client (let the experts do the work); but that being said, on the few occasions when I did express questions/concerns, Mr. Gribben followed up almost immediately. Perhaps more importantly, his feedback was direct, comprehensive, and easy to follow. We were working with a fairly difficult counterparty - and Mr. Gribben managed the negotiation process without capitulating to any of said counterparty's baseless arguments. Perhaps most importantly, his fees were fair reasonable; and if there was any discrepancy with regards to billable hours, Mr. Gribben always erred on the conservative side.

I reached out to this lawfirm to get out of a rental agreement, due to Covid. David Hershey-Webb, one of their attorneys contacted me immediately and after a few weeks of communication with the landlord, he was able to get to an amazing solution for all parties involved. He was always responsive and quick in his follow up. I can recommend this firm and more specifically David Hershey-Webb 100%.