Amanda L. Nelson

Member

Amanda concentrates her practice on appellate work, construction and design defect cases, litigation stemming from construction accidents, and product liability and personal injury cases. She also has extensive experience in commercial and residential real estate litigation, including complex regulatory issues and New York City loft law matters, representing primarily building owners and managing agents.

Amanda’s clients include construction companies, trucking companies, manufacturers, medical practices, commercial landlords, restauranteurs, building owners, condominium and cooperative boards, among others. She has gained significant trial experience, including first-chair experience, and has helped secure many important wins for her clients.  For example, Amanda played an instrumental role in overcoming a plaintiff’s effort to secure an injunction that effectively would have shuttered a popular New York City restaurant, which would have put approximately 100 people out of work. 

Amanda has been involved in dozens of appellate proceedings, including drafting amicus curiae briefs to the Third Circuit Court of Appeals and the New York Court of Appeals. Her appellate experience ranges from cases centering on property damage to defamation and First Amendment rights to complex lease construction claims, among other issues.

Amanda earned her undergraduate degree, magna cum laude, from Baruch College of the City University of New York. She earned her law degree, magna cum laude, from New York Law School, where she was a John Marshall Harlan Scholar and an associate editor of the New York Law School Law Review.

Experience

News

Appeals court OKs Boyertown schools' policy letting transgender students use bathrooms of their choice

May 24, 2018

Amanda Nelson, a member, and Harper Seldin, an associate, of Cozen O'Connor secured a win in partnership with the PA ACLU allowing transgender students in the Boyertown Area School District to use bathrooms and locker rooms that correspond to their gender identity.

Menachem Kastner and Amanda Nelson Obtain Favorable Ruling for Mario Batali and Lidia Bastianich in Manhattan Supreme Court

February 10, 2015

Menachem Kastner, a member of Cozen O'Connor's Commercial Litigation Department, recently obtained a favorable ruling from Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Cynthia Kern on behalf of his clients, Mario Batali and Lidia Bastianich. Mario and Lidia's restaurant, Babbo, was sued by a next door property owner stating that Babbo's air conditioning units and kitchen exhaust pipe were in violation of New York City's building code and that newly installed air conditioning units were too noisy and caused vibrations. Menachem and Amanda climbed to the top of the four story building to take pictures of all the allegedly offending machinery, which played a significant role in the Court's decision. As stated to the press in keeping Babbo open, "Justice was served."

16 Cozen O’Connor Attorneys Recognized as New York Super Lawyers and Rising Stars

September 23, 2014

The 2014 New York Metro edition of Super Lawyers Magazine, published by Thomson Reuters, has named 16 Cozen O’Connor attorneys to its list of Super Lawyers and Rising Stars.

Amanda L. Nelson Joins Cozen O’Connor’s New York Office As Litigation Associate

November 14, 2008

Amanda L. Nelson has joined Cozen O’Connor’s New York office as an associate in the General Litigation Department. Prior to joining the firm, she was an associate with Belkin, Burden, Wenig & Goldman LLP in New York. Nelson focuses her practice on general litigation matters, and also has extensive experience in commercial and residential real estate litigation, including complex zoning and regulatory issues and loft law matters. She is admitted to practice in New York and New Jersey.

Publications

Court of Appeals Issue Favorable Decision on Social Media Discovery [The Defendant]

January 18, 2018

Amanda Nelson, an associate in the firm's Commercial Litigation Department, co-authored with Andrew Zajac, attorney at McGaw, Alventosa & Zajac, "Court of Appeals Issue Favorable Decision on Social Media Discovery" for The Defendant.

Escalations and Rents - the Defensive Side of the Voluntary Payment Doctrine [New York Law Journal]

April 18, 2013

The voluntary payment doctrine has been long applied to prevent tenants from recovering payments made to the landlord which were tendered “voluntarily”—to wit, without dispute or inquiry—over a lengthy period of time. For example: a tenant tenders payment of real estate taxes to the landlord for over 10 years pursuant to what the tenant later claims to be an erroneous method of calculation, resulting in an overbilling. With this newfound knowledge, the tenant brings suit against the landlord to recover the amounts overpaid. By virtue of the voluntary payment doctrine, under this scenario, the tenant is, in essence, out of luck.

Education

  • New York Law School, J.D., magna cum laude, 2004
  • Baruch College The City University of New York, B.A., magna cum laude, 2001

Awards & Honors

2015 Super Lawyers New York Metro, Rising Star Top Women - General Litigation. This award is conferred by Super Lawyers. A description of the selection methodology can be found here. No aspect of this advertisement has been approved by the Supreme Court of New Jersey.

  • New York
  • New Jersey
  • Pennsylvania
  • U.S. District Court -- Southern District of New York
  • U.S. District Court -- New Jersey
  • U.S. District Court -- Eastern District of New York
  • U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit
  • U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit
  • U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
  • U.S. District Court -- Eastern District of Pennsylvania
  • U.S. Supreme Court

Member, Defense Association of New York Amicus Committee 
Member, Defense Association of New York Diversity Initiative