Robert El-Jaouhari

Robert is a real estate litigator with unique experience in multi-million-dollar disputes arising out of purchase and sale transactions, six-figure underground utility claims with loss-of-use components, construction disputes and liens, commercial leasing, collections, and creditors’ rights in their debtors’ bankruptcies. He has represented commercial developers, general contractors and subcontractors, property owners’ associations, real estate professionals such as realtors, architects, and attorneys, and purchasers in commercial real estate transactions both as a litigator and as a closing attorney. Robert also serves on the Cranfill Sumner COVID-19 Response Team, and has a special interest in complex litigation involving novel or complicated issues.

Robert works closely with transaction counsel, in-house counsel, and the client to provide efficient advice and counsel focused on his clients’ ultimate outcomes. He balances zealous advocacy with clear, effective presentation, and when matters turn complex Robert takes pride in close analysis of legal and factual issues. He has counseled clients and litigated cases in North Carolina’s district, superior, and appellate courts, and in North Carolina’s federal district and bankruptcy courts for the Middle and Eastern districts.

Robert formerly practiced in general civil litigation and commercial real estate transactions (both for buyers and sellers) in Greensboro, North Carolina. A Raleigh native, Robert earned undergraduate degrees in philosophy and history at NC State University before earning a master’s in philosophy from Duquesne University in Pittsburgh, PA. Robert studied law at the University of North Carolina, where he graduated with honors after serving on the First Amendment Law Review and the Holderness Moot Court’s international law team.

Results

• Earned dismissal of all claims against an HVAC manufacturer in a lawsuit based on alleged defects in HVAC units throughout a large apartment complex.
• Earned dismissal of a winning bidder’s appeal in a foreclosure proceeding, arguing that the bidder’s rights in a foreclosure proceeding do not include the right to force the sale of the underlying property once borrower and lender reinstate the loan.
• Earned dismissal of counterclaims and third-party complaints by a real estate seller, in a lawsuit based on the seller’s breach of a contract to convey commercial property.
• Earned dismissal of substantial counterclaims by a commercial tenant in a lease dispute, leading to a favorable outcome at mediation.

News

• Included in Lawyers Weekly most important opinions, 2nd quarter 2018  (in re: Menendez, 813 S.E.2d 680 (N.C. Ct. App. 2018) – https://nclawyersweekly.com/2018/06/29/most-important-opinions-for-2q-2018/.