BERNS, OCKNER & GREENBERGER, LLC

Berns, Ockner & Greenberger, LLC was founded in 2002 by former partners and members of top-ranking Cleveland-area law firms who determined that they could best serve their clients by unifying their resources and experiences and focusing their practice on areas of law pertinent to their clients' needs.  

Our reputation as a real estate law firm is built primarily on our land use, zoning, transactional, and construction law practice. Our attorneys have significant litigation experience, and each has substantial involvement in other practice areas such as employment law, corporate governance, unfair competition and trade secrets, breach of contract/UCC, insurance coverage, and shareholder/member disputes. 

Our attorneys have represented local, regional, and national land developers, local and national home builders, department stores, and retail chains. We have counseled and advocated on behalf of Fortune 100 and 500 companies, local construction companies, retail businesses, national and publicly traded telecommunication companies, and regional colleges, universities, and religious institutions.  We have obtained zoning and other approvals for and have been very actively involved in the development of numerous shopping centers, housing subdivisions, and mixed-use developments in northeastern Ohio, including: Pinecrest (Orange Village), Steelyard Commons (Cleveland), Beachwood Place (Beachwood), Legacy Village (Lyndhurst), Avon Commons (Avon), Newell Creek (Mentor), Ridgewood Greens (Mentor), Kallay Farms (Painesville Township), Macintosh Farms (Broadview Heights), and Montrose Park (Copley Township).  

Our attorneys are skilled trial attorneys who do not shy away from litigating matters that cannot be successfully resolved by other means.  We have ample experience litigating in State and Federal trial and appellate courts, including the Ohio Supreme Court. We have litigated a wide array of zoning and land use cases including challenges to the constitutionality of zoning ordinances; appeals from administrative decisions denying zoning, building, and occupancy permits, variances, conditional use permits, and subdivision plat and other governmental approvals; and claims for just compensation under the Ohio and U.S. Constitutions when local regulations interfere too much with clients' property rights.  We are also experienced at litigating business disputes, breach of contract claims, and business torts.

We also have a substantial construction litigation practice, from mechanic's liens and prompt pay act claims to claims for construction defects, breaches of all types of construction and design contracts, as well as enforcement of arbitration provisions in those contracts.