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At a Glance
| Founded by | Michael J. Romer and Pierre E. Debbas in 2011, merging with the 1994-founded residential firm Katz & Matz in July 2022 (per the firm and independent coverage) |
| Focus | Residential and commercial real estate transactions, real estate finance, co-op/condo board representation, and real estate litigation (per the firm) |
| Office | 275 Madison Avenue, 8th Floor, New York, NY 10016 (Midtown Manhattan), with a second office in East Hampton |
| Signature results | The combined Romer Debbas and Katz & Matz practices closed approximately 1,900 residential purchase and sale transactions and 1,400 residential loan transactions in 2021, per independent coverage of the merger; in 2024, firm partners closed the roughly $89 million La Dune estate purchase in Southampton (per the firm) |
| Distinctive edge | The firm describes itself as New York City’s largest dedicated residential real estate practice, ranked by The Real Deal by transaction volume (per the firm) |
| Fee model | Not published on the firm’s site; residential closings in this market are commonly flat-fee, and prospective clients should confirm directly |
| Known for | Co-op and condo purchase and sale closings, lender-side loan closings, board representation, and luxury-market transactions (per the firm) |
Origin and Background
Romer Debbas started in 2011 as a two-partner boutique and became New York’s highest-volume residential closing practice largely through one deliberate move: the July 2022 merger with Katz & Matz, a residential-only firm founded in 1994 specifically to serve buyers and sellers. Independent coverage of the merger reported that the two firms combined had closed roughly 1,900 residential purchase and sale transactions for individual clients and about 1,400 residential loan transactions for lending institutions in 2021 alone, and that the enlarged 35-lawyer firm doubled its footprint at 275 Madison Avenue to span the entire 8th floor on a seven-year lease extension. Founders Michael J. Romer and Pierre E. Debbas remain managing partners, and Katz & Matz principals Bruce D. Katz and Steven Matz joined as partners.
What Makes This Firm Structurally Different
Most New York residential closings are handled by solo practitioners or small firms; Romer Debbas industrialized the practice without leaving it. The firm concentrates dozens of attorneys on the same category of transaction — co-op and condo contracts, due diligence, financing, and closings — which is why The Real Deal has ranked it among the city’s top real estate law firms by volume, per the firm. That volume runs alongside a genuine luxury practice: partners Pierre E. Debbas and Sarah Tadros Awad closed the purchase of the La Dune estate on Gin Lane in Southampton for approximately $89 million in 2024, per the firm’s own announcement, and the firm added a dedicated Hamptons real estate and zoning practice in 2025 under former East Hampton Town Attorney Robert M. Connelly.
Practice Areas
- Residential purchase and sale closings (co-ops, condos, townhouses)
- Commercial real estate transactions and leasing
- Real estate finance and lender representation
- Cooperative and condominium board representation
- Real estate litigation
- Related trusts and estates, tax, and immigration matters
Track Record
The firm’s measurable record is transactional volume rather than verdicts: approximately 1,900 residential purchase/sale closings and 1,400 loan closings in 2021 across the combined pre-merger practices, per independent coverage, plus the approximately $89 million La Dune closing in 2024, per the firm. Awesome Attorneys did not independently audit transaction counts. Past results in any matter do not guarantee or predict a similar outcome in any future matter.
Client Voice
Martindale-Hubbell’s listing for the firm shows a 5.0 average across ten client reviews as of its last indexed update, and multiple firm attorneys hold that platform’s Client Champion designations, which Martindale states are based on the quantity and quality of client reviews submitted through its service. Individually named, quotable client reviews were not identified in independent sources as of the research date, so Awesome Attorneys reports the aggregate ratings without reproducing individual testimony.
Beyond the Courtroom
Managing partner Michael Romer appears regularly as a commentator on the New York real estate market, including appearances in the Nasdaq studio and on Fox Business, CNN, CNBC, and Bloomberg, per the firm, and firm attorneys are quoted in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Crain’s New York, and The Real Deal.
Recognition
Michael Romer was named to Super Lawyers NY Metro for real estate in 2018, a peer-influenced selection process, per his firm biography, and several firm attorneys have appeared in Super Lawyers and Best Lawyers listings, per the firm. The firm reports rankings by U.S. News & World Report among top real estate law firms and by The Real Deal by transaction volume. New York does not maintain a formal board-certification system for real estate law comparable to Texas’s TBLS, so Awesome Attorneys does not apply “specialist” language to any attorney at this firm on that basis.
New York Legal Backdrop
New York residential purchases are attorney-driven: unlike many states, contracts of sale here are customarily negotiated and signed with counsel on both sides before a deal is binding, and co-op purchases add board approval and proprietary-lease review to the process. The warranty of habitability (Real Property Law § 235-b) governs residential leases, deposits on residential rentals are capped at one month’s rent under General Obligations Law § 7-108 following the Housing Stability and Tenant Protection Act of 2019, and real property transfers in New York City carry both state and city transfer taxes. None of this is legal advice; a specific purchase, sale, or leasing matter should be evaluated by a licensed New York attorney based on the actual facts involved.
Awesome Attorneys Assessment
Romer Debbas’s clearest differentiator is documented scale in a fragmented market: a single Midtown firm closing residential transactions at a volume most competitors cannot match, with a parallel luxury and Hamptons practice that closed an $89 million estate purchase. The honest trade-offs run in two directions. First, a volume operation is not a bespoke boutique; a buyer wanting one senior partner’s attention start-to-finish on a modest deal should ask directly who will handle the file. Second, the firm represents nearly every side of the market — buyers and sellers, landlords and tenants, lenders, sponsors, and boards — a breadth disclosed here directly, which is normal in transactional practice but means it is not a one-sided consumer advocate in the way a tenant-only litigation firm is. For a New York buyer or seller who wants a closing team that has seen essentially every co-op board and contract wrinkle the market produces, this firm’s volume is a reasonable basis for a shortlist; someone in an adversarial landlord-tenant dispute may prefer a dedicated single-side litigation firm.
Methodology and Sourcing
This profile was researched from Romer Debbas’s own website, including its About, Contact, and partner biography pages, independent coverage of the Katz & Matz merger and 275 Madison Avenue expansion from Commercial Observer and citybiz, the firm’s 2025 Hamptons practice announcement via PR Newswire, and Martindale-Hubbell, Super Lawyers, and U.S. News listings confirming address, headcount, and recognitions.
Publisher Disclosure and Independence Notice
Awesome Attorneys is an independent legal directory and editorial publication. This profile was not paid for, commissioned, or reviewed by Romer Debbas LLP prior to publication. Awesome Attorneys does not endorse, recommend, or warrant any profiled firm, and inclusion in this directory is not a paid placement. “Awesome Attorneys” is a brand name only and does not constitute a rating or ranking claim. Facts stated are current only as of this profile’s research date.