Himmelstein, McConnell, Gribben, Donoghue & Joseph

Paid for, Retained the services of Sam Himmelstein after being referred to him by a trusted client /​friend who also happens to be a lawyer … Being this was a tenant/​landlord issue, my client felt it necessary to refer a lawyer who specializes in this area of law as opposed to taking on my case himself … During our first meeting, it was disclosed to me that Himmelstein has known opposing council for decades and that a partners cousin in his firm is married to this opposing council (should not be a problem I was told — but he wanted to let me know of their history etc …) Although we butted heads on what our approach should be in executing the best possible outcome for me, at the end of the day — I felt it necessary to yield to his knowledge and expertise in this matter, and so it went … What was blatantly unacceptable, and pathetically unprofessional, however, was his lack of communication throughout this brief, retained period … He did not acknowledge or respond to my e-​mails — did not return numerous phone calls, and even had his receptionist screen me out of one call! Weak — disrespectful — and downright unprofessional … I even ended up having to negotiate a settlement on my own, cause it seemed (at least from the ONE conversation I had with HImmelstein) that he was more KISSING than attempting to kick the ass of opposing council on my behalf … His history with opposing council that he disclosed to me in our first meeting MAY have been a detriment to me after all (just sayin) … This guy didn’t even have the common courtesy of reaching out to me once he had knowledge that a settlement was reached with my landlord and myself !! Summary: I BET ON THE WRONG HORSE ! The more I learn, the less I know …

Regret hiring this firm. David Frazer and Kevin McConnell were so adamant I settle, they presented me with a doctored email to force my hand. Yes that is malpractice. It’s scary a lawyer you spend thousands of dollars on would do that. They are old and beaten and have clearly given up on life.

I hired this law firm to help me in a rent overcharge case and potentially a buy-​out case. I dropped the buy-​out case when my landlord showed no response. The law firm helped write a very well-​organized letter detailing my landlord’s fraudulent claims and how the basis of my rent should be determined. Though it took a long time for DHCR to make a ruling (approximately two years) from when I hired the firm, and a total of 5 years from when I first filed the overcharge case, I have finally recently gotten the ruling. Yes, the ruling was in my favor!: there is ample excess rent owed and the annual rent frozen at a very low amount, determined by the default formula because of my landlord’s fraudulence.
Perhaps the ruling would have been similarly in my favor if I had not used lawyers, but I cannot complain about the fairness of the ruling or the cost of hiring this firm (well worth a few thousand dollars!). They also helped me respond to the landlord’s PAR, which was in my favor. So, no complaints about the outcome!

Sam Himmelstein represented me in a lease buyout of my stabilized apartment. An error in the agreement required it to be rewritten which resulted in the reduction from 3 months rent credit to a net 2 months. He charged to rewrite the agreement which I disputed since it was his error. He charged for that discussion and to review if it was his error. I asked for supporting documents on why he believed he was not in error, he charged for that and advised if I asked anything else he would charge for that too. I was not able to get a detail of the final charges. As best as I can determine, the cost for the revision and discussion of the disputed work plus the loss of the rent credit cost me over $ 1400. I do not recommend anyone use this firm. From the other Unilocal reviews it seems all the partners are arrogant and not particularly competent, especially compared to other pleasant and skilled attorneys in this field.
He’s the go to guy for the NY Times on tenant rights with a rep for being on the tenant side and I also used Sam Himmelstein in a primary residency challenge from my landlord about a dozen years back based on a recommendation from an attorney friend, which we won. But shop around and you’ll surely find equally competent but more pleasant choices.

I was a member of a tenant association that hired this firm, specifically Sam Himmelstein, to represent us in a proceeding with the Dickensian, anti-​tenant Division of Housing and Community Renewal.
Sam was all gung ho, and I liked the guy initially. But the landlord came in with a lowball offer and Sam was a bit too enthusiastic about it. When I questioned our accepting it, he was totally patronizing and condescending. I found that off-​putting
What clinched things for me was when the DHCR converted our single group complaint into a zillion individual complaints. The work went to an associate. At that point I found that I was getting boilerplate work, but paying individual prices. I fired the firm, did the paperwork myself, and won a pretty sizable sum. I totally WON, and going along with that settlement offer that I mentioned earlier would have been a big mistake.
I would not hire this firm again.
P. S. Reducing this to one star. I forgot to mention that when I wanted my files they gave me a hard time. Also I’m revising this review to clarify that I won the case after I began representing myself, and that if I had gone along with that settlement offer it would have been a big mistake.