Elizabeth Wells Rothenberg

Liz represents private individuals and entities in land use, planning and zoning, constitutional, contract, and tort disputes in federal and state trial and appellate courts. Liz served as Assistant Corporation Counsel for the New York City Law Department, Office of the Corporation Counsel from 2006 until 2010, during which she managed her own voluminous caseload of state and federal lawsuits, including several class actions. From 2013 to 2019, Liz served as Assistant Law Director for the City of Cleveland Heights, regularly advising public officials, commissions, boards, and employees on matters of constitutional, statutory, and regulatory import as well as procedure and ethics. Drawing on this extensive municipal experience, Liz now regularly represents clients before municipal, county, and township planning, zoning, and architectural boards and commissions, as well as legislative boards and councils. Liz also represents parties in administrative appeals and other litigation arising from decisions of building and zoning officials, boards of zoning appeals, planning commissions, and city and village councils. Liz advises individual clients as well as national, regional, and local developers on potential land use and zoning issues and reviews contracts, purchase agreements, leases, mortgages, deeds, and other legal documents relating to real estate transactions. Liz started her legal career in New York City as a commercial litigator at Arnold & Porter, LLP before working for the City of New York. After arriving in Cleveland in 2009, Liz clerked for U. S. District Court Judge Sara E. Lioi. She then served as Senior Counsel at a small law firm specializing in plaintiffs discrimination and First Amendment lawsuits in federal court, where she also represented clients in private negotiations and in actions pending before the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the Ohio Civil Rights Commission, and the U. S. Department of Education, Office for Civil Rights. During her six-year tenure at Cleveland Heights, Liz was an active member of the Northeast Ohio Law Directors Association rising to the ranks of President before her departure. She is currently a member of the Cleveland Metropolitan Bar Association.