Lawrence F. DiGiovanna

Lawrence F. DiGiovanna is a Partner at Abrams Fensterman, LLP in the Real Estate Practice Group. Prior to joining the firm, Mr. DiGiovanna was the principal attorney at the Law Offices of Lawrence F. DiGiovanna. Mr. DiGiovanna represents real estate developers converting properties to condominium ownership and related matters. Since 1979, he has submitted approximately 100 condominium and cooperative offering plans to the NYS Attorney General on behalf of those clients. He also represents approximately 50 cooperative and condominium boards of directors and managers providing corporate advice, contract negotiation services with third party vendors and general advice typically required by such organizations. Mr. DiGiovanna has also had extensive litigation experience in these areas.

 

Mr. DiGiovanna has been a frequent lecturer on the topic of real estate and cooperative and condominium law to bar associations for mandatory continuing legal education, realtor groups and the general public. He also lectures to bar groups on professional ethics and disciplinary issues. He is currently a member of the Executive Committee of the New York State Bar Association’s 4,500 member Real Property Law Section.

 

In 1996, Mr. DiGiovanna was appointed by Governor Pataki to the board of directors of a major New York State Authority, the Environmental Facilities Corporation, for which he served as chair of its Audit Committee for more than 10 years. His term at EFC expired December 31, 2011. He has served four years as the chairman of the State Grievance Committee with disciplinary jurisdiction over Brooklyn, Queens and Staten Island attorneys. The Appellate Division has also appointed Mr. DiGiovanna as a member of its Committee on Character and Fitness, which is responsible for screening new attorneys for admission to the Bar and suspended or disbarred attorneys for reinstatement.

 

He served as President of the 2,200 member Brooklyn Bar Association for 2005-2006 and continues as Vice President of its separate pro bono services organization, the Volunteer Lawyers Project. In 2007, Mr. DiGiovanna received the Brooklyn Bar Association’s Freda Nisnewitz Award for his pro bono activities and it’s Annual Award for Outstanding Achievement in the Science of Jurisprudence and Public Service. He has also chaired the Association’s Real Property Section and Cooperative and Condominium Law Committee. From 2006 to 2012, Mr. DiGiovanna was responsible for the Association’s annual budget as chair of its Budget Committee.

 

In 1999, he was the recipient of the New York State Bar Association’s President’s Award for Pro Bono Service and the Poly Prep Alumni Association’s Special Award for Service. In 2004, he received the Bay Ridge Lawyers Association’s Distinguished Service Award. In 2006, Mr. DiGiovanna received the St. Thomas More Award from the Catholic Lawyers Guild of Brooklyn. That year, he also received the “Good Scout” Award from the Brooklyn Council of the Boy Scouts of America.

 

Mr. DiGiovanna served on the board of directors of Lutheran Medical Center from 2010 through 2014 and was a member of its Legal and Audit Committee. He is also a former Trustee of St. Vincent’s Services, a major child care and foster care agency in Brooklyn, and is a past Trustee of Victory Memorial Hospital.