Demetrice Miles, who has more than two decades of experience working as a special counsel for various public entities, while also serving in private practice, has joined Chiesa Shahinian & Giantomasi as a member in its Real Estate, Development & Land Use Group.
Miles’ decades-long practice is heavily focused on litigation, with a concentration in real estate, real property tax appeals and exemption claims, eminent domain, in rem tax foreclosures, public utility law, environmental law, public contracts law, Open Public Records Act, construction law, labor and employment, and complex commercial litigation.
In the field of tax appeals and eminent domain, he has served as special counsel to various public entities throughout the state of New Jersey, including the city of Newark, the Housing Authority of the city of Newark, New Jersey Schools Development Authority, the borough of Carteret, Carteret Redevelopment Agency, the township of West Orange and East Orange Housing Authority, among other entities.
Miles comes to CSG after more than two decades at McManimon & Scotland, where he was a partner.
Frank Giantomasi, a noted real estate attorney and member of the firm’s Executive Committee, welcomed Miles.
“I’ve known Demetrice since he started with the city of Newark more than 25 years ago,” he said. “His experience with (payments in lieu of taxes), redevelopment plans and urban redevelopment is simply extraordinary. We believe he’ll be a tremendous asset to the Real Estate Group as part of the tax appeal team.”
In his role as assistant corporation counsel to the city of Newark, Miles frequently defended tax appeals before the U.S. Bankruptcy Court, the Tax Court of New Jersey and the Essex County Board of Taxation, reviewed and processed tax exemption applications, prepared ordinances and resolutions, represented the city of Newark in matters involving zoning and land use planning, and engaged in appellate practice.
Additionally, Miles represented the city of Newark before the Supreme Court of New Jersey in the case of GM v. Linden, which involved the city’s challenge to the constitutionality of the Business Retention Act.
Mitch Berkey, chair of the Real Estate, Development & Land Use Group at CSG Law, said Miles will have impact.
“Navigating the intersection between the public and private sectors has always been a strong point of our real estate practice,” he said. “Demetrice’s extensive public sector background will prove invaluable as our Real Estate Group continues to expand to meet the needs of our valued clients.”
At McManimon & Scotland, Miles represented public sector clients in the drafting and negotiation of various transaction agreements. He also represented these public sector clients in all stages of the procurement process, including drafting and reviewing bid specifications and contracts, attending bid openings and reviewing bids to ensure material compliance with applicable requirements.
Miles earned his J.D. from Thomas M. Cooley Law School at Western Michigan University and his B.S. from Eastern Michigan University.
