Earlier this month, Nicholas W. Vitti Jr. joined the Stamford law firm Murtha Cullina LLP as a partner in its Business and Finance Department and Real Estate Practice Group. Vitti, a graduate of Quinnipiac University School of Law, was previously a partner at Stamford”™s Cacace, Tusch & Santagata.
Outside of his legal practice, the Bethel resident served as deputy town counsel and is the chairman of the Bethel Democratic Town Committee. He is also a former director of the Fairfield County Bar Association.
In this edition of Suite Talk, Business Journal Senior Enterprise Editor Phil Hall speaks with Vitti on his new job and the state of the regional real estate market.
Congratulations on your new position. Why did you decide to join this law firm?
“It”™s really a great opportunity. It”™s a top-tier regional firm with sophisticated clients and exceptional attorneys. In doing my due diligence with the firm, I found that not only are they exceptional from a legal standpoint, but they”™re really down to earth people.”
What is your initial focus going to be at the firm?
“My initial focus ”” and, really, my focus for the past five to 10 years ”” is all things real estate related. My practice revolves around land use and real estate development, along with commercial real estate transactions and some commercial property tax appeal litigation.
“I do a lot of municipal tax appeals, which involves valuation of mostly commercial properties, though sometimes with a few higher-end residential sprinkled in there. In addition to Murtha”™s clients, I am bringing a lot of my own clientele into this new firm.
“I came from a very small firm and developed a nice practice. But I was used to developing my own marketing, doing my own budgeting, sometimes even my own client collections. What I found in only three days of being in the office at Murtha is it”™s great to have professional people in all those sorts of departments. In marketing, HR, everywhere, there”™s someone to turn to and help trying to create business development. And that”™s something I”™m really looking forward to. I think it will expand both my clientele and the firm”™s clientele.”
What is the state of commercial real estate in today”™s Fairfield County?
“It depends upon the market segment. If you look at residential multifamily, it is very hot. But some of the other market segments are not as hot. Obviously, the office market has been hurt by the pandemic and has only worsened due to the fact of so many people working from home and the need for less demand than on office space. Also, some of the retail commercial space is not moving as well because of the pandemic and the change to an online focus.”
How has the pandemic impacted the law firms”™ real estate work?
“It hasn”™t really impacted it from a demand standpoint. I”™ve been busy ”” I”™ve had one of my best years during the pandemic, which is somewhat strange because when it first happened we were all on lockdown for those first couple months and I really was quite nervous about what was going to happen. But when it played out and folks adjusted in terms of more work from home, it was steady work.”
Are you doing a lot of work in the courts? And what does the court calendar look like in view of the courts closing things down for several months during
the pandemic?
“I do a decent amount of litigation, mostly revolving around municipal tax appeals that are appealed to the Superior Court. The courts were completely halted and had to adjust on the fly. They are still mostly remote and there are very few in-person hearings going forward.
“But that”™s not to say hearings and trials and status conferences aren”™t going forward. They”™ve started to pick up the pace, although the court is a bit backlogged. But I”™ve had a number of status conferences and pretrials with the judge sometimes sitting at his living room table. It”™s a different setting, but it”™s working and everybody”™s adjusting.”
Do you see real estate law as being a growth area for people wanting to get into the law field?
“I do. Real estate is so market dependent, so it can be a bit volatile. But I still think that there”™s opportunity out there and a need for new attorneys in this field. And there”™s plenty of work to go around.”
