Mr. Kochanski is a commercial lawyer who concentrates his practice on real estate transactions. These transactions focus on structuring and implementing the acquisition, development, financing and disposition of real estate including apartment complexes, undeveloped land, finished lots, office buildings and shopping centers. He represents national and local homebuilders, developers and other real estate owners and operators as well as structures sophisticated like kind exchanges and other tax deferred real estate transactions. He is an agent for Lawyers Title Insurance Corporation, Chicago Title Insurance Company, Fidelity National Title Insurance Company of New York and also represents those companies together with Conestoga Title Insurance Company and Old Republic National Title Insurance Company in claims, recoupment and related matters.
Representative transactions include acquisition and financing of super regional shopping malls, numerous multi state apartment complexes, office complexes and a combined hotel and office building complex. Mr. Kochanski has prepared homeowner's association documents for numerous developments including a 5,000 unit mixed residential and commercial planned unit development and reciprocal construction easements and operating agreements for regional and local shopping centers and office parks. He represents clients in conventional, conduit, synthetic leasing and bond financing, negotiates construction and development agreements and supervises, structures and consults in complex real estate litigation. His practice includes consumer and commercial lending transactions, real estate closings, and state and federal regulatory compliance including RESPA, TILA and consumer protection. He concentrates a substantial portion of his practice in structuring the mitigation and avoidance of transfer and recordation taxes, mortgage taxes, income taxes, and the structuring and issuance of legal opinions.
Mr. Kochanski was Chair of the Maryland State Bar Real Property, Planning and Zoning Section, and the Firm's Real Estate Department, has chaired the Montgomery County Bar Real Estate Section and is an active participant in the District of Columbia Bar Real Estate Section. He is the Firm's Opinions Shareholder and a member of the steering committee for the Maryland State Bar Association Opinion Project. He regularly lectures on various continuing legal education topics for numerous organizations, has been an Instructor at Montgomery College, an Adjunct Professor at the University of Maryland, University College and is on the Legal Professionalism Faculty for the Maryland State Bar Association. He has published in the Maryland Bar Journal and lectures extensively on like kind exchanges. He often testifies as an expert witness and serves as a Chair for Maryland Peer Review Panels.
In more than thirty-three years of practice Mr. Kochanski has advised clients in a wide range of business matters including real estate finance for lenders and borrowers, industrial, residential, retail and mixed use developments, condominium projects, construction and architect agreements, real estate litigation, workouts, title and survey matters. He serves as a Trustee and Advisory Board Member of the Maryland Institute for the Continuing Professional Education of Lawyers and has chaired their programs in Homebuilding, Like Kind Exchanges and panels for the Advanced Real Property Institute. He is also a regular faculty member for Lorman Education Services, National Business Institute and Half Moon Seminars.
