Legal fees top $160K so far in Riverhead’s fight over Calverton land deal

Riverhead Town has been billed more than $160,000 by a Hauppauge law firm hired to defend the town and the Riverhead IDA in a lawsuit seeking to enforce a $40 million land deal at the Calverton Enterprise Park.

Certilman Balin Adler & Hyman have billed the town a total of $161,759 for legal services the firm performed for the town as its special counsel between February 2024 and January 2025, according to invoices obtained through a Freedom of Information Law request. 

The Town Board hired Certilman Balin to represent the town, the Riverhead Community Development Agency — which owns the land and is governed by the Town Board — and the IDA — a separate entity governed by Town Board appointees — in February 2024 after Calverton Aviation & Technology (CAT), a Triple Five affiliate, brought a lawsuit seeking to enforce the contract of sale.

The town and CAT are currently waiting for a Suffolk County Supreme Court justice’s decision on the town’s motion to dismiss the lawsuit, brought with the hope of avoiding further legal proceedings and to remove a notice of pendency — which effectively prevents the town from selling or leasing the property until the lawsuit is over.

In a retainer letter sent by Certilman Balin partner Glenn Gruder to the town, the firm estimated that work related to the motion to dismiss — including the preparation, filing and possible argument of the motion — would cost the town $20,000 to $30,000. Gruder said in the letter that the estimates were “based upon our experience, the nature of the case, and the use of the Town Attorney’s Office to streamline certain functions…” 

The letter said the firm “made no representation to the Town as to the total fees that may be incurred in this matter.” The town is “aware of the high cost and hazards of litigation and that despite our efforts on its behalf, there is no guaranty of the outcome in the pending litigation matter,” the letter says.

Supervisor Tim Hubbard signed the retainer agreement with Certilman Balin on Jan. 31, 2024 after the Town Board interviewed four law firms. The retainer letter said the firm would charge the town using discounted hourly rates for its lawyers and paralegals, and would “endeavor to use personnel who bill at a lower rate” whenever possible. 

“The discrepancy between the estimate and the actual cost is due to the evolving nature of litigation,” Gruder said in an email to RiverheadLOCAL. “Strategies change. New arguments to be made are discovered and/or revealed by legal research. Unanticipated arguments made by the opposition have to be researched and addressed.” 

“Additionally, there are other reasons that I cannot disclose based upon attorney-client privilege,” Gruder added. “We stand by our motion papers and are hopeful that the Court will grant the motion to dismiss in its entirety.”

If the case survives the town’s motion to dismiss, the cost for Certilman Balin to continue to defend the town would continue to grow. Discovery and depositions for the case could cost the town from $35,000-$50,000 and a post-discovery motion from $25,000-$40,000, according to estimates in the retainer letter. If the case were to proceed to trial, it would cost to town at least $100,000, according to an estimate in the retainer letter.

Hubbard did not return an email Tuesday requesting comment for this article before it was published. The email included a question asking whether the bills from Certilman Balin will require the Town Board to increase its budget for outside legal services, and a question asking if the estimate and actual billing amounts being so far apart would change whether the town continues to retain the firm.

Town officials have had good things to say about Certilman Balin. After the conclusion of oral arguments in front of a judge in November, Riverhead Town Attorney Erik Howard said the town’s special counsel “did an excellent job preparing for this.” Howard said he was “confident” the judge would “issue a fair decision” in the case.

Riverhead Town in 2018 entered into a contract with CAT to sell and develop 1,644 acres of the Calverton Enterprise Park, including the site’s two runways. Roughly 1,000 acres of the land sold to CAT would have been preserved and maintained as a habitat for wildlife. The land is part of a larger tract previously owned by the Navy and operated by the Northrop Grumman Corporation as an aircraft design and testing facility. The rest of property conveyed to the town by the Navy, which was mostly developed with industrial buildings, has already been sold by the town.

The Riverhead Town Board voted unanimously to cancel the contract with CAT in October 2023. That decision came after the Riverhead IDA denied CAT’s application for financial assistance to develop the property, allowing the Town Board to cancel the contract under the terms of a letter agreement between the town and CAT in March 2022.

In addition to the town and its community development agency, Certilman Balin is representing the Riverhead IDA. The IDA is a separate government agency from the Town of Riverhead established by the state legislature, although its board members are appointed by, and “serve at the pleasure” of the Town Board, according to state law. The IDA’s mission is to attract new businesses to the town, and help existing ones expand, using financial assistance and incentives like tax exemptions.

Riverhead IDA Executive Director Tracy Stark-James declined to comment when asked whether the IDA plans to reimburse the town for any of what it’s paid Certilman Balin for representing the IDA.