Attorney Jeffrey Donner

Jeffrey Donner is a trial attorney with broad transactional experience. His professional activities have focused upon commercial litigation involving business disputes, fraud, real estate and development issues in both the state and federal courts in New York and New Jersey. Mr. Donner serves as an advisor to the KUSH Democratic Majority Party of South Sudan, where he is counsel to the South Sudan government-in-exile.

He has been involved in suits against various government agencies including the Internal Revenue Service, the FDIC, the U.S. Navy (on behalf of government contractors) and, by way of example, the municipalities of West New York, Iselin, South Orange, Wall and Neptune Township. He has appeared before a wide range of appellate courts, both state and federal, as well as administrative courts such as the Armed Services Board of Contract Appeals, the U. S. Tax Court, the Federal Court of Claims the New Jersey Tax Court and Administrative Proceedings conducted at the Pentagon, Washington, D.C. Two of his reported cases, Saffer v. Willoughby and Safer v. Pack (See, Selected Reported Cases, above), are landmarks in New Jersey jurisprudence, addressing fee recovery against negligent attorneys and physician responsibilities in cases of genetically transmissible disease, and have been cited nationally. Mr. Donner has also appeared on behalf of clients pro hac vice in litigation venued in the Eastern District of Louisiana and the State of Maine.

Real Estate Acquisition and Development Approval Work:

Additionally, Mr. Donner has been involved in significant real estate and other business transactions throughout his career within New York, New Jersey and many other parts of the country, including Florida, Texas and Illinois. Mr. Donner is an excellent draftsman of legal documents and a persuasive advocate in his written and oral submissions.

He has also been extensively involved in obtaining development approvals before Planning and Zoning Boards throughout much of New Jersey in public hearings for hospitals, a place of worship, other healthcare facilities, commercial development projects and residential subdivisions as well as a broad range of projects involving national food chains and developers.

In this regard, and by way of example only, Mr. Donner achieved the following development approvals:

(i) Bayshore Community Hospital, Holmdel: Obtained significant Site Plan Approvals with Variances before the Holmdel Planning Board enabling the expansion of this regional healthcare facility beyond its original building thereby tripling the size of the facility and adding the internally illuminated Bayshore Hospital sign at the top of the facility for emergency identification and recognition of the special exit from the Garden State Parkway.

(ii) Egyptian Coptic Church, Holmdel: Obtained the initial approvals for the Church against intense community opposition necessitating resort to a Farmland Statute enabling the subdivision through by-passing the Planning Board and shutting down the opposition. Today, the Church consists of a massive complex of steel framed buildings on a campus of approximately 15 acres. Father Abraam, the spiritual leader of the Church remarked that G-d brought Mr. Donner to him to achieve this result.

(iii) Monmouth Medical Center, Long Branch: Obtained Site Plan approval with variances for the Kidney Dialysis Center at the Hospital and subsequently vacated a street to create the existing Hospital campus.

(iv) Arbor Manor Assisted Living Facility, Ocean Township: Presently before the Zoning Board to obtain Preliminary and Final Site Plan approval with a Use Variance for this 255 bed Assisted Living, Long Term Care, Rehabilitation and Memory Care Facility on a 13.5 acre parcel located between two senior communities with initial objections. Mr. Donner proposed this concept to the client as a solution to the issue of highest and best use based upon his own experiences with these services in caring for his mother and recognizing the Township had no such facility. Mr. Donner presented this concept to the town fathers and professional staff in a series of preliminary technical meetings, supervised the formulation of both the Use Variance and Site Plan Applications, restructured the Site Plan to meet the concerns of both communities, negotiated a settlement agreement with one of the adjacent communities clarifying access and drainage easements, and continues to adjust the Applications to meet the principal concern of the second community. Mr. Donner also supervised the creation of a special video to demonstrate the comparative visual relationships between the proposed 4- story Arbor Manor building and adjacent structures.

(v) Fort Monmouth Economic Revitalization Authority “Mega Parcel” Bid, Eatontown and Oceanport: Presently representing an undisclosed group in formulating and presenting their bid and development proposal for this 290+ acre parcel. In doing so, after reviewing and absorbing the 150 page Request for Proposals, Mr. Donner has and continues to make key recommendations to the client, suggested the use of and worked with a nationally recognized land planning firm, professional engineers, planners and other professionals, and has drafted much of the pending proposed bid and development proposal pending formal submission.

In addition to the above five (5) examples, Mr. Donner has represented local, regional, state-wide and national developers and corporations in obtaining site plan and subdivision approvals for warehouse and office facilities.

EDUCATION:

Harvard College, B.A. Government (International Relations) (cum laude, 1970) Boston University School of Law, J.D. (1973)
U.S. Naval Justice School (1975)

MILITARY SERVICE:

Lt., U.S. Navy, Judge Advocate General’s Corps (1974-1977)

BAR ADMISSIONS: State:

New York (1974)
New Jersey (1978)

Federal:

U.S. Court of Military Review
U.S. Court of Military Appeals (1976)

U.S. District Court, S.D.N.Y.
U.S. District Court, E.D.N.Y.
U.S. District Court, D.N.J.
U.S. Court of Federal Claims
U.S. Court of Appeals, 3rd Cir. (1991) U.S. Tax Court (1993) U.S Court of Appeals. Fed. Cir. (1997) U.S. Court of Appeals, 2nd Cir. (1998)