Richard J. Sobelsohn

Biography

Richard J. Sobelsohn is a Professor of Practice at Brooklyn Law School. He has practiced law for more than 20 years and has a sub-specialty in sustainable building law and is a recognized authority on green buildings. Professor Sobelsohn is co-leading the development of a new Brooklyn Law School Masters Degree program in Sustainability and Future Cities.

When he began his legal career, Professor Sobelsohn worked as a solo practitioner while at the same time running an adult business school specializing in real estate, insurance and accounting. He then went in-house as general counsel to a real estate development firm and after working about four years in-house, Professor Sobelsohn worked at the law firms Stroock, Stroock & Lavan, Kaye Scholer (now Arnold Porter Kaye Scholer LLP), and Moses & Singer, where he advised developers, corporations, financial institutions, and individuals concerning a variety of real estate transactions including condominium offerings, leasing, sustainable development, acquisitions, dispositions, financing, and ground-up construction. He left Moses & Singer to create the Real Estate module for Lexis’s new product at the time called Lexis Practice Advisor (now Practical Guidance) and after working at Lexis, he returned to practice to work in-house again, this time at Cohen Brothers Realty Corporation, where he is Vice President, Legal. He was recently involved in two of the largest lease transactions in both New York City and Westchester.

In addition to his duties at Brooklyn Law School, Professor Sobelsohn is also an adjunct professor of law at Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law, Columbia Law School, and Fordham University School of Law, where he teaches Real Estate Transactions, Sustainable Building Law, Commercial Leasing, and Condominiums and Cooperatives. He is a Green Globes Professional, LEED Accredited Professional, a member of The Fellows of the American Bar Foundation, and a Fellow of the American College of Real Estate Lawyers.

Professor Sobelsohn speaks and writes extensively on Sustainable Building Law, ethics and diversity, and is a member of both the National Legal Working Group for the U.S. Green Building Council and the Strategic Advisory Committee of the Sustainable Purchasing Leadership Council. He is the author of the “Green Lease Provisions” chapter in the two-volume treatise “Negotiating and Drafting Office Leases."