Paul H. Schafhauser

• Obtained multimillion-dollar judgment on behalf of clients in infra-family business dispute involving affiliated entities and various intercompany loans.
• Obtained dismissal of hotly-contested commercial real estate claims asserted against regional health services provider.
• Obtained judgment for money damages in favor of property owner against former owner who misrepresented the state of title at closing and encumbered the property with undisclosed liens.
• Represented real estate owner/developer in connection with $70+ million commercial loan and related purchases of three commercial properties.
• Negotiated resolution of complex dispute involving exercise of various rights of first refusal affecting multi-state drugstore franchise locations.
• Obtained a ruling from the New Jersey Supreme Court that the Township of Middletown was required to reimburse clients for damages flowing from the township’s acceptance of dedicated land.°
• Following a 38-day trial in a complex multi-party dispute, obtained an equitable lien on behalf of four lenders against a prominent New Jersey real estate developer under the “unclean hands” doctrine. The developer plaintiffs have appealed.°
• Obtained a judgment totaling approximately $12 million against a real estate developer, two of his sons, and their affiliated entities.°
• Won summary dismissal for the owner of a multimillion-dollar commercial property in Union County, N.J. amid two separate claims laid on a neighboring property that would have blocked the sale and redevelopment of the client’s property. Based on arguments presented, the New Jersey Superior Court instead held that the plaintiffs lacked standing to challenge the redevelopment approvals granted by the municipal planning board. The court then dismissed the complaint against the client with prejudice.°
• Following a seven-day trial in the Southern District of New York, obtained a ruling dismissing all claims against an international diamond grading network and related individuals, in a hotly-contested trademark and unfair competition dispute. The opposing party sought damages totaling nearly $140 million, as well as draconian and sweeping permanent injunctive relief, under the Lanham Act. Ruling removed the threat of a devastating damages award and judicial injunction, as well as any liability for the opposing party's attorneys' fees.°
• Represented an international food company in a complex contract and trade secret dispute in federal court in New Jersey.°
• Represented a New York-based business brokerage firm in a complex dispute regarding the sale of a business that included the sale of real property.°
• Represented a developer in a complex dispute over a purchase agreement to jointly develop property on the cliffs overlooking the Hudson River in Union City, N.J.°
• Represented commercial landowners in obtaining reversal and remand of a trial court's condemnation judgment against them. The Superior Court of New Jersey, Appellate Division, ruled that clients had been deprived of constitutionally adequate notice and an opportunity to be heard regarding a blight designation, and should therefore be entitled to assert the invalidity of a 1997 blight determination as a defense to the condemnation action.°
• Represented a 50% shareholder of a large regional telecommunications company in its business divorce.°
• Obtained a judgment from the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York on behalf of a prominent commercial bank, construing and enforcing the provisions of the I.S.D.A. Master Agreement and Schedule in a dispute involving two multimillion-dollar interest rate derivatives transactions.°
• Rescued some 75 New Jersey lakefront community homeowners from eviction through protracted litigation in both trial and appellate courts, resulting in judicial recognition that the clients were entitled to the protections of the New Jersey Anti-Eviction Act, except for cause expressly included in the legislation. °

°The above representations were handled by Mr. Schafhauser prior to his joining Greenberg Traurig, LLP.

• Financial Analyst, Mergers & Acquisitions, Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith, 1987-1989
• Financial Analyst, Asia-Pacific Group, Salomon Brothers, 1989-1990

• Listed, The Best Lawyers in America, 2023-2025
  • Litigation - Real Estate, 2023-2025
  • Real Estate Law, 2025
• Member, Winning Team, New Jersey Law Journal’s "General Litigation Department of the Year," 2024
• Team Member, a Law360 "Real Estate Practice Group of the Year," 2023
• Team Member, U.S. News – Best Lawyers, "Law Firm of the Year: Litigation - Real Estate," 2022
• Team Member, Benchmark Litigation’s “New Jersey Law Firm of the Year,” Shortlisted, 2022, 2024
• Selected, Super Lawyers magazine, New Jersey Super Lawyers, 2009-2022
• Team Member, The American Lawyer’s “Regional Litigation Department of the Year – New Jersey,” Finalist, 2019
  • “Leading Lawyers for Business,” 2014-2015Recognized, Chambers USA, “New Jersey Litigation,” 2014-2019

A description of the selection methodology for the above awards can be found here. No aspect of this advertisement has been approved by the Supreme Court of New Jersey.

• Member of Board of Pediatric Cancer Foundation, 2017-Present
• Member, American Bar Association