Lippes Mathias LLP today announced that Blaine S. Schwartz, a partner and member of the firm’s real estate practice team, has been elected president of the Buffalo Jewish Federation. His term began on January 1, 2026. 

For over 120 years, the Buffalo Jewish Federation has served as the voice and the backbone of the Jewish community in Western New York. The federation serves as the hub of Jewish Buffalo, mobilizing the community to strengthen Jewish life and the wider region. Through its leadership, the organization supports a network of agencies and programs focused on education, social services, and community engagement. 

About Blaine S. Schwartz 

Blaine S. Schwartz brings a wealth of experience to the firm’s commercial real estate clients. He joined the firm after 14 years as senior counsel for the largest privately owned commercial real estate developer in the United States. 

Schwartz is known for his wide-ranging experience with commercial real estate transactions and for his creative problem solving involving complex commercial real estate issues and loan workouts. He regularly negotiates complex real estate agreements and sophisticated loan documents along with structuring IRS Section 1031 tax-deferred exchanges. He has also drafted and reviewed construction, architect, and engineering contracts for projects ranging in size from $1 million to more than $100 million. 

Schwartz has extensive experience in efficiently and creatively structuring, negotiating, and documenting all types of commercial real estate transactions. He has represented buyers and sellers in sophisticated financings along with the acquisition, sale, development, planning, construction, and leasing of vacant land, retail shopping centers, student housing projects, religious buildings, shopping malls, office buildings, warehouses, industrial complexes, hotels, solar projects, lifestyle communities, housing developments, and apartments throughout the United States. Schwartz also helped to structure, negotiate, close, and finance a number of complex, multi-property transactions, one of which included the sale of 110 properties in a single transaction for $2.25 billion. For his renewable energy clients, Schwartz has drafted and negotiated purchase and sale agreements, leases, and engineering, procurement, and construction contracts, among other project documents, and has advised on title, survey, and site control issues. 

Prior to joining Lippes Mathias, Schwartz worked as the news director for WCMF Radio in Rochester, N.Y., and as a news anchor for WMMS-FM in Cleveland. He was also a Midwest stringer reporter for NBC Radio News and National Public Radio. 

About Lippes Mathias LLP 

Lippes Mathias is a full-service law firm with 230 attorneys serving clients regionally, nationally, and internationally. With offices in Buffalo, Clarence, Albany, Long Island, New York, Rochester, Syracuse, and Saratoga Springs, N.Y.; Greater Toronto Area; Chicago, Ill.; Jacksonville, Tampa Bay, and West Palm Beach, Fla.; Cleveland, Ohio; San Antonio, Texas; Oklahoma City, Okla.; and Washington, D.C., the firm represents publicly and privately owned companies, private equity and venture capital firms, independent sponsors, family offices, real estate developers, financial institutions, municipalities, governmental entities, and individuals. 

Ranked No. 204 on The National Law Journal’s NLJ 500 list of the largest law firms in the United States by attorney headcount, Lippes Mathias is proud to be recognized year after year by The Best Lawyers in America®, U.S. News – Best Lawyers®, Super Lawyers, and Chambers USA. For more information, visit www.lippes.com.