Cory Mitchell Gray

Mr. Gray has been lead counsel in hundreds of commercial disputes, involving breach of contract, fraud, title and lien priority issues, leasing and lending disputes, insurance fraud claims, foreclosures, and land use issues on behalf of owners/operators, developers, lenders, and insurance companies. In the following matters, Mr. Gray:

• Represented a lender in a matter of first impression involving the priority of lender’s mortgage balance over a construction lien. Contractor asserted that lender was not entitled to priority because its loan had been “satisfied” by proceeds received from the sale of certain loan collateral. Court ruled in favor of client and held that lender did not abandon its rights as lender by exercising collateral assignments and that lender was entitled to preserve the amount of its priority claim by applying loan payments to non-priority components of the debt before applying loan payments to priority components of debt.
• Represented a developer in preserving its rights to acquire an approved multi-use parcel in Woodbridge, New Jersey by obtaining a temporary restraining order, and through ensuing negotiations. Ultimately, arranged for financing for developer through a second GT client and transaction closed successfully.
• Represented a real estate developer in its defense of claims brought in 54 different actions by over 170 contract purchasers of condominium units at a beach destination resort on Maui, Hawaii.  After five years of litigation, in which the client successfully defended 9 separate summary judgment motions, the actions were jointly settled through mediation.  Although the terms of the settlement are confidential, the defenses of the cases, and the mediation, resulted in the elimination of the client’s potential exposure of over $750 million.
• Represented a real estate developer in its defense of claims brought by 235 purchasers of condominium units in a planned ski resort destination. After nearly 8 years of litigation, including the production of over 1 million documents and the conducting of over 85 depositions, and appellate proceedings, the action was settled in an amount equal to less than 2% of client’s initial exposure.
• Represented a private mortgage acquisition company in its acquisition of mortgages and in the foreclosure proceedings and defense of counterclaims asserted by the defendant-borrowers. The case has been cited as authoritative with respect to a lender's duties to its borrower in at least six jurisdictions, as well as in law reviews, Corpus Juris Secundum, American Jurisprudence, and the Restatement of Agency.
• Represented a private lender in an action brought by a developer alleging that lender breached a joint venture agreement. Through deposition practice, it was established that the developer had not satisfied one of the seven conditions precedent to enforceability of the joint venture agreement. Accordingly, the action was dismissed in its entirety by the trial court. The trial court's decision was sustained by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit, and the trial court's decision has been cited as authoritative in four states, three federal courts, Florida Jurisprudence 2nd, Florida Practice and American Jurisprudence.
• Represented major supermarket operator in an action brought by a developer which alleged that its lease to the client could not be terminated by the client because the developer was compliant with all contractual conditions. During the pendency of the client's motion for summary judgment, the parties entered into a settlement which terminated the lease and imposed use restrictions on the developer's property such that a competing supermarket could not be sited on the property for an agreed-upon term. The client thus obtained exclusivity in the geographic region and it subsequently opened a supermarket less than one mile from the subject site.
• Foreclosed mortgages, on behalf of a private mortgage acquisition company, secured by 38 properties in four states, and ultimately effectuated a bankruptcy resolution pursuant to which the client acquired or sold all the properties at issue. At the time of the resolution of the foreclosure action, the debt secured by the mortgages was nearly $500 million, making this foreclosure action one of the largest foreclosures ever litigated in New Jersey.  
• Represented a private mortgage acquisition company in its acquisition of mortgages encumbering 32 properties located in New Jersey and Pennsylvania and, following the acquisition, prosecuted foreclosure actions and suits on the promissory notes in federal court.  Defendants asserted numerous affirmative defenses and counterclaims sounding in improper accountings and improper administration of a lockbox by the original lender. At the time of the settlement of the action, the indebtedness secured by the mortgages was approximately $150 million, making this action also one of the largest foreclosures in New Jersey.
• Represented factoring company in recovering damages resulting from two major frauds, perpetrated by different factoring clients but sharing the same methodology, namely, false confirmations by account debtors. Mr. Gray obtained asset freezes of numerous of the defendants, resulting in early settlements, and his prosecution of the lawsuits in numerous jurisdictions resulted in the client recovering all of its out-of-pocket losses, which were in excess of $5 million.
• Represented clothing importer in an action against two of its former employees who were alleged to have received kickbacks from the client's suppliers in the amount of approximately $2.7 million and who started a competing company to market goods similar to those manufactured by plaintiff. Mr. Gray obtained an attachment on defendants' homes and an injunction against the defendants' marketing of the competing product.  When discovery, including production of defendants' off-shore bank records, established the merits of plaintiff's claim, a settlement was reached pursuant to which defendants were required to sell their homes and other assets to fund repayment to the client. From the filing of the lawsuit to execution of the settlement agreement was only seven months.
• Represented client in an action brought against it by a real estate broker seeking a $600,000 brokerage commission together with a declaratory judgment that the client, and others, were responsible for future brokerage protection with respect to the subject property. Third party discovery disclosed the lack of foundation for the broker's allegations and the case was favorably settled at the commencement of trial, with, among other things, the client having no ongoing obligation to pay brokerage commissions with respect to the subject property.

• Barrister, Richard J. Hughes Inn of Court
• Instructor, Land Use and Zoning, Rutgers University, Center for Government Services, Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy
• Writer, The Star-Ledger (Newark, NJ)

• Listed, The Best Lawyers in America, Litigation - Real Estate, 2023-2024
• Team Member, U.S. News - Best Lawyers^®, Best Law Firms Edition, "Law Firm of the Year," Real Estate - Litigation, 2017 and 2022
• Team Member, Benchmark Litigation’s “New Jersey Law Firm of the Year,” Shortlisted, 2022, 2024
• Listed, Super Lawyers magazine, New Jersey Super Lawyers, 2010-2012 and 2014-2022
• Team Member, a Law360 “Hospitality Practice Group of the Year,” 2021
• Team Member, Chambers & Partners USA Real Estate Law Firm of the Year, 2017 and 2022
• Team Member, U.S. News - Best Lawyers®, Best Law Firms Edition, "Law Firm of the Year," Banking & Finance - Litigation, 2017
• Team Member, The American Lawyer’s “Regional Litigation Department of the Year – New Jersey,” Finalist, 2019
• Member, Winning Team, New Jersey Law Journal’s "General Litigation Department of the Year" award, 2013
• Team Member, Lexology’s Client Choice Award USA & Canada, United States: New Jersey, 2013
• Rated, AV Preeminent^® 5.0 out of 5.0 (15 Consecutive Years)

°AV^®, AV Preeminent^®, Martindale-Hubbell Distinguished^SM and Martindale-Hubbell Notable^SM are certification marks used under license in accordance with the Martindale-Hubbell^® certification procedures, standards and policies.

A description of the selection methodology for the above awards can be found here. No aspect of this advertisement has been approved by the Supreme Court of New Jersey.

• Trustee, The Newark Museum (2015-2019)
• Member, American Bar Association, Advisory Panel (2012-2013)
• Member, American Bar Association, Section on Litigation
• Attorney for City of Rahway, Zoning Board of Adjustment and Planning Board (1994-2007)
• Officer, Rahway Youth Soccer Association (1994-2006)