Joseph M. Manisco is Of Counsel with SG&S and has more than thirty-seven years of experience in real estate, business law and litigation. In addition to his many years in private practice, over a period of twenty-three years, Mr. Manisco served as in-house legal counsel to three of the country's largest homebuilding companies.
As Vice President and Chief Legal Officer of K. Hovnanian Companies of California, Inc., Mr. Manisco managed a legal department comprised of six attorneys and an administrative staff. He was responsible for all legal affairs of the California subsidiary of the publicly traded national homebuilder, Hovnanian Enterprises, including land acquisition, development and disposition, home sales, Department of Real Estate processing, homeowner and subcontractor issues, dispute resolution and litigation, office leasing and subleasing, restructuring of challenged projects, and public infrastructure financing.
During his tenure at KB HOME, also a publicly traded company, Mr. Manisco served as Vice President of Legal Affairs for the two of the company's divisions and, in that capacity, supervised the legal affairs relating to the land acquisition, development, construction and sale of thousands of homes in California and Nevada. Prior to the purchase of its homebuilding operations by KB Home, Mr. Manisco also served as Senior Counsel at Lewis Homes Management Corp.
During the early years of his career, as a litigator with the Ventura County law firm of Lowthorp Richards McMillan Miller Conway and Templeman, Mr. Manisco successfully litigated a variety of civil cases.
EDUCATION
Bachelor of Arts in Political Science, University of California, Los Angeles, 1978
Juris Doctor, Loyola University Law School, Los Angeles, 1981
ADMISSIONS
State Bar of California, 1981
REAL ESTATE LAW PRACTICE AREAS
Acquisitions and Dispositions
Contracts
Leasing
Financing
Development
Construction
Due Diligence
Title
Easements
Brokerage
AWARDS AND HONORS
Mr. Manisco has received an AV Preeminent® rating by Martindale-Hubbell® in both Legal Ability and Ethical Standards. This is the highest rating an attorney can receive through Martindale-Hubbell® and it signifies that a large number of the attorney’s peers rank him or her at the highest level of professional excellence for their legal knowledge, communication skills and ethical standards.
Member of the Loyola Law Review, the St. Thomas More Law Honor Society and, throughout law school, the Dean's Honor List
Memberships And Associations
California Building Industry Association
Former Member of California Building Industry Association Legal Defense Foundation Board
State Bar Real Property Section
Licensed California Real Estate Broker