Keane & Beane, P.C. will proudly celebrate its 30^th Anniversary on May 1, 2010.  We thank our clients, friends and professional colleagues for their trust and support throughout the years.  As we observe this milestone, we remain committed to providing the highest level of service to business, individuals, families, school districts, municipalities and non-profit organizations in the Hudson Valley and beyond.

On August 12, 2010, Keane & Beane obtained a decision in federal court awarding injunctive relief and undetermined damages (likely to be more than $4 million) to a local church that has been prevented by the Town of Greenburgh from building a house of worship and religious school on 6.5 acres of church-owned property. The 206-page decision in Fortress Bible Church v. Feiner, et al., 2010 WL 3199876, S.D.N.Y., August 12, 2010 (NO. 03 CIV. 4235 SCR), came after a protracted legal battle that began in 2003. Following a 29-day bench trial, the court ordered the Town to permit construction of church and school facilities, awarded Fortress Bible Church compensatory damages and attorney's fees, and imposed $10,000 in sanctions against the Town.

As reflected in the Opinion, Keane & Beane successfully presented “overwhelming evidence of [the Town's] intentional delay, hostility and bias towards the Church's application…" [Pg. 169]. The Court concluded that the Town's actions violated RLUIPA and the Church's rights under the United States Constitution, the New York State Constitution and New York State Law. District Judge Stephen Robinson also cited ”a record replete with evidence regarding the Defendants' intentional destruction of evidence and disregard for discovery obligations.” [p.204]

The Court has ordered that the Town to issue a building permit to the Church within 90 days. The Court also has directed the church to supplement its application for monetary damages, including increased construction costs as a result of delay, reimbursement of excessive environmental review fees charged by the Town, and attorneys' fees and costs. During trial, the church already claimed over $4 million in damages from the Town, and the additional evidence that the church intends to submit to the Court will only increase this amount.

The church is represented by Donna Frosco, who served as lead trial counsel, Nicholas Ward-Willis, who represented the Church throughout the land use process and at trial, and Edward Phillips, who assisted on the litigation and briefs.

Edward Beane and Donna Frosco of the firm successfully defended an appeal challenging a win on behalf of Keane & Beane's clients in Federal District Court.  The United States Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit found that the court below correctly dismissed all claims against the firm's clients, a hospital emergency room physicians group and an individual physician.  The Plaintiff had alleged racial discrimination under 42 U.S.C. 1981, Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, 42 U.S.C. 200 et seq., and the New York Human Rights Law.  However, on a summary judgment motion before trial, the firm demonstrated that those claims lacked merit as a matter of law, and the plaintiff could not prevail. The Court specifically found that plaintiff failed to demonstrate any adverse employment action and could not make a showing permitting an inference of discrimination.  The case is Peter Lawrence v. Ira Mehlman, et al., 2010 WL 3124431 (C.A.2 (N.Y.)

Donna Frosco, a Principal Member of Keane & Beane, P.C.,  has been nominated to serve as Treasurer of the Women's Bar Association of the State of New York for the 2010-2011 term.  WBASNY is one of only two statewide bar associations in New York.   It has more than 3800 men and women members in all legal fields.  WBASNY's mission is the promotion of justice for women in the legal profession and for women, children and families in society, support of the fair administration of justice and to act as a unified voice for its members on issues of statewide, national and international significance to women generally and to women attorneys in particular.  WBASNY holds United Nations NGO status in association with the UN Department of Public Information and Special Consultative status in association with the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC).  Ms. Frosco currently serves as the Chair of WBASNY's Media and Public Relations Committee.  She is an officer and past director of the Westchester Women's Bar Association, a chapter of WBASNY.

Keane & Beane, P.C. is a proud sponsor of the 5th Annual Hudson Valley Arthritis Walk, to be held on May 1, 2010 at the Thomas Bull Memorial Park, Hamptonburgh, New York.  Keane & Beane, P.C. has been a sponsor since the Walk's inception in May 2005. 

Keane & Beane, P.C. successfully represented the six (6) incorporated Villages located within the Town of Greenburgh (The Villages of Ardsley, Dobbs Ferry, Elmsford, Hastings-on-Hudson, Irvington and Tarrytown) in a complex multi-faceted litigation concerning a number of municipal legal issues, taxation and constitutionality.  The litigation ensued over a number of years and involved several appeals to the Appellate Division, to the New York State Court of Appeals, the State's highest Court, and involved three (3) separate legal proceedings. 

In essence, the legal issue concerned whether taxes for certain municipal services should appropriately be billed just to those residents of the unincorporated areas of the Town of Greenburgh or to all residents of the Town of Greenburgh, including the residents of the incorporated six (6) Villages.  If the petitioner were successful, the result would have been the shifting of millions of dollars of taxes to the residents of the six (6) Villages.  This would have caused a significant increase in the amount of Town taxes by Village residents. 

Keane & Beane, P.C., by Nicholas M. Ward-Willis, Esq. and Richard L. O'Rourke, Esq., successfully argued in the New York State Court of Appeals that special legislation enacted by the New York State Legislature over twenty (20) years ago known as the Finneran Law, precluded the Town from charging Village residents for the municipal services being challenged.  Keane & Beane, P.C. was successful in having the third Article 78 proceeding recently dismissed, which hopefully brings the matter to a conclusion.

In Dale v. Chisholm, 67 A.D.3d 626, 889 N.Y.S.2d 58, Richard L. O'Rourke, Esq. and Amanda Kandel, Esq. were victorious on behalf of plaintiff in an action alleging defendants trespassed by building a dock on a lake shore.  The defendants also asserted a counterclaim alleging there was no deed restriction on the installation of a dock and that there was a common-law right to construct a dock on the lake.  The lower court denied plaintiff's motion for summary judgment, finding that there were triable issues of fact of whether the lake was a navigable body of water.  On appeal, the Appellate Division, Second Department reversed, determining the plaintiff established that the lake was a non-navigable body of water, and that as a matter of law, because the lake is non-navigable, the defendants cannot be riparian owners and are without a right to construct a dock.  Specifically, the Second Department held, “[w]hile the defendants asserted that the lake could be used for recreational canoeing and kayaking, recreational use alone is insufficient to establish that a body of water is navigable in fact, as there must be some evidence that it has the capacity for transport, whether for trade or travel.”  Keane & Beane was successful in getting the dock removed.

On January 8, 2010, the Honorable James W. Hubert, J.S.C., Supreme Court of the State of New York, County of Westchester, issued a comprehensive Decision dismissing the vast majority of General Motors' challenge to the Village of Sleepy Hollow's Findings Statement concerning the proposed redevelopment of the GM factory, known as Lighthouse Landing.  GM challenged several conditions contained in the Village's Findings Statement issued pursuant to the New York State Environmental Quality Review Act.  Keane & Beane, P.C. attorneys Joel H. Sachs, Esq. and Nicholas M. Ward-Willis, Esq., advised the Village Board of Trustees and Planning Board, respectively, during the Village's review of the Environmental Impact Statement and land use documents for the proposed project.

Joel Sachs was named one of the New York Metropolitan areas “Super Lawyers” in the September 23, 2007 issue of the New York Times Magazine and the October 2007 issue of Westchester Magazine.  Joel who heads Keane & Beane P.C.'s environmental law practice is the only environmental attorney in the entire Hudson Valley so named by both the New York Times and Westchester Magazine.  In the Summer of 2007, Joel was named by New York Magazine as one of the Best Lawyers in the New York Metropolitan area.

In the Fall 2009, and again in 2010, Joel Sachs was named by Super Lawyers Magazine as one of the top 25 attorneys in Westchester County, New York.

In 2010, Joel Sachs was named in the New York Times Magazine section and in New York Magazine as one of the Best Environmental Attorneys in the New York Metropolitan area.