Overview

As legal counsel to many national real estate developers and Fortune 500 businesses with sites and facilities in Rhode Island, Rob knows real estate, land use, government affairs and municipal law inside and out. That in-depth knowledge from over 35 years of experience, helps him find fast, practical solutions and efficient strategies for our clients in regulatory matters, transactions and disputes. He has represented developers of transportation hubs, port facilities, power plants, hospitals, hotels, housing, retail centers and industrial parks.

He guided the State of Rhode Island’s acquisition of former Navy bases at Quonset and Davisville and has shepherded numerous projects for national and local clients through regulatory and governmental agencies, from local zoning boards to federal bureaucracies—processes that required extensive legal knowledge, common sense, diplomacy and trust.

Education

  • Washington & Lee University (J.D., 1986)
  • Bridgewater College (B.A., magna cum laude, 1983)

Admissions

  • Rhode Island
  • U.S. District Court, District of Rhode Island
Representative Matters
  • Rob has enjoyed a wide range of real estate experiences, including the permitting and implementation of the state’s first large methane gas burning electric power plant. Representing the developer, Rob successfully secured the permits, easements and utility agreements necessary for the collection of the state landfill’s methane gas in conformance with Clean Air Act standards and local land use requirements.
  • He drafted and negotiated tax incentive documentation between the State of Rhode Island and such companies as CVS, Bank of America, IGT, Amgen and Electric Boat.
  • Rob has provided sellers, buyers, landlords and tenants advice of transaction structures and negotiated transaction documents on Rhode Island’s largest and most sophisticated deals, recently concluding residential transactions exceeding $12 million each, and commercial transactions in excess of $100 million each.
  • Rob has obtained entitlements for McDonald’s Corporation in their expansion and renovation of facilities in Rhode Island.
  • In obtaining permits for all of Toll Brothers, Inc.’s Rhode Island projects, he was able to coordinate and mitigate the concerns of neighbors, town planners, investors, buyers and lawyers to avoid delay and appeal. Rob also drafted the operating documents for many condominium associations and alternative home owners associations.
  • He negotiated a settlement of regulatory violations for a distressed nursing home owner that facilitated the successful sale of facilities. That would not have occurred without his first mastering the facilities’ business issues and obtaining the trust of the regulators.
  • Rob quarterbacked the comprehensive rezoning of an historic mill building located on a major commercial and recreational harbor to allow for mixed use development. This project required the approval of many local, state and federal regulators.

 

Seminars / Publications
Honors
  • Elected Fellow of the American College of Real Estate Lawyers.
  • Selected by his peers for inclusion in the 2006–2024 editions of The Best Lawyers in America® in the field of Real Estate Law.
  • Professional Excellence in the Law, Real Estate, Rhode Island Monthly, 2019 – 2023.
  • Recipient of the 2019 Charles Lindenbaum Person of the Year Award, Brotherhood of Temple Beth-El, Providence.
  • Best Lawyers’ 2018 Lawyer of the Year, Real Estate Law, Providence.
  • Best Lawyers’ 2017 Lawyer of the Year, Public Finance, Providence.
  • Recipient of the Rhode Island Bar Association’s 2015 Dorothy Lohmann Community Service Award.
  • Recognized in the Chambers USA America’s Leading Business Lawyers in Real Estate Law.
  • Named a Rhode Island Super Lawyer, 2007-2015 and 2018 – 2023.
  • AV rated by Martindale-Hubbell, its highest rating for attorneys.
  • At Washington and Lee University School of Law, a Martin P. Burks teaching fellow and Rutgers Award winner for best team brief in the nation in the Jessup International Moot Court Competition.
Best Lawyers 2024
RI Monthly
Super Lawyers
In the Community
  • Bridgewater College, Board of Trustees member, executive committee member and former alumni association president.
  • President’s Advisory Council – Roger Williams University.
  • President, Temple Beth-El, Providence.
  • Board of Directors, Camp JORI.
  • Board Member, Jewish Alliance of Greater Rhode Island.
  • Board member, Providence Foundation.
  • Board member, Housing Works Rhode Island.
  • Graduate, Leadership Rhode Island 1993.
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