More than 30 Corcoran Group East End agents descended upon the firm’s executive offices at 660 Madison Avenue last night, to put their available properties on display for prospective renters in one location (see photos above). For two hours prospective buyers went from station to station checking out listings throughout the Hamptons and Eastern Long Island, while being treated to a wine and cheese tasting.TRD

Paula Busch, a veteran senior-level manager in the Corcoran Group’s flagship 660 Madison Avenue office, has left the firm for Town Residential, the latest in a string of recruits to Andrew Heiberger’s new brokerage. According to Town, Busch will take over as managing director of sales. Busch, who had overseen 350 agents in her role at Corcoran, said in a statement that she is “thrilled to be joining a company as innovative and entrepreneurial as Town,” while Heiberger praised her as a “pillar of the industry.” TRD [more]

From left, Corcoran’s Pamela Liebman and EVP of sales Tresa Hall gave out the annual company awards to Robby Browne, Leighton Candler, Dennis Hughes, among others

The Corcoran Group held its annual Manhattan and Brooklyn awards ceremony Tuesday, with Robby Browne, a senior vice president and associate broker, taking top honors as Salesperson of the Year. The event was held at the Nokia Theater in Times Square with guest speakers Real Estate Board of New York Chairwoman Mary Ann Tighe and New York City restaurateur Danny Meyer. Corcoran CEO Pamela Liebman and Executive Vice President of Sales Tresa Hall presented the awards. In addition to Browne, winners included Carrie Chiang, who was named East Side Salesperson of the Year, Sherry Matays, who was recognized as West Side Salesperson of the Year, Fabienne Lecole as Carnegie Hill Salesperson of the Year, and Julie Pham as Chelsea Salesperson of the Year. Lisa Fitzig was named Manhattan Rookie of the Year and Dennis Hughes was rental agent of the year for Manhattan. Leighton Candler received the Deal of the Year award, though as of press time the company remained mum on the deal in question. For a picture from the ceremony, click here. This week, Corcoran also released its 2009 annual list of the top performing agents on the East End. TRD
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Corcoran executive vice president Tresa Hall (left) is a target in the Corcoran client list case, brought by Sarit Shmueli (right)

Aiming to send a message to the real estate industry, former Corcoran Group agent Sarit Shmueli has filed to appeal a recent court ruling stripping her of punitive damages a jury awarded her after she claimed the company stole her electronic client list. Three years ago, the New York State Supreme Court found in favor of Shmueli, who had sued the company alleging that Corcoran, and in particular, executive vice president Tresa Hall, had stolen her client list “deliberately and maliciously” from her computer after Shmueli was fired. Shmueli was awarded $400,000 in compensation and $1.2 million in punitive damages. Corcoran appealed the decision, and the Appellate Division in December 2009 upheld the compensatory damages ruling, but decided to vacate the punitive damage award on the grounds that “precluding a terminated employee from having access to its computer system does not evince a high degree of moral turpitude,” according to court documents. On Jan. 6, Shmueli filed a request for the case to be heard by a higher court, the New York Court of Appeals. In the request, Shmueli’s attorney, Herald Price Fahringer, argued that the Appellate Division made a mistake when it referred to her as an “employee” of the Corcoran Group. Rather, like most city real estate agents, Shmueli was an independent contractor, he said. [more]

A ruling against the Corcoran Group was upheld yesterday, in a landmark case that found agents — and not firms — to be in ownership of their own client lists, Crain’s reported. Three years ago, the New York state Supreme Court ruled in favor of ex-Corcoran Group agent Sarit Shmueli, who claimed that her former employer, and executive vice president Tresa Hall, in particular, had stolen her client list “deliberately and maliciously” off of her computer after she had been fired. Shmueli was awarded $400,000 in compensation and $1.2 million in punitive damages. The brokerage’s appeal, which began proceedings last month, didn’t go completely unrewarded, however. The appellate court ruled to vacate the punitive damage award for Shmueli, on the grounds that the “defendant’s practice of precluding a terminated employee from having access to its computer system does not evince a high degree of moral turpitude,” according to court filings. Shmueli said that she will pursue an appeal of the ruling in order to regain her punitive damage award.

Oral arguments began yesterday in the Corcoran Group’s appeal of a State Supreme Court ruling that found the firm took advantage of a former broker by accessing her client list after she was terminated from the agency, Crain’s reported. The landmark decision in favor of former top Corcoran broker Sarit Shmueli shows that client lists are germane to the broker’s interests and not the brokerage, and therefore cannot be accessed by an employer without the agent’s consent. In the filing, the court charged the Corcoran Group and, specifically, executive vice president Tresa Hall, who won REBNY’s lifetime achievement award last month, with “deliberately and maliciously stealing computerized valuable client lists of Sarit Shmueli upon her termination.” Shmueli was awarded $1.2 million in punitive damages and $400,000 in compensatory damages as a result of the case. The court began hearing arguments in the appeal yesterday and a ruling is expected by the end of the year. After yesterday’s court date, Shmueli said she’s confident that the court will find in her favor once again. “I don’t believe based on yesterday’s hearing that the Appellate Division will give Corcoran the license to steal again,” Shmueli said. Yesterday’s oral arguments come on the heels of a ruling in another case, in which a judge found the firm had been “negligent” with e-mails in connection with the sale of a Brooklyn condo.

From left: Stribling’s Lori Huler Glick and Cindy Kurtin won REBNY’s Residential Deal of the Year Award for the sale of the Bailey Mansion

This year’s REBNY Residential Deal of the Year Awards event was enlivened by tales of biting fleas, wild dogs and cremated remains, with Stribling’s Lori Huler Glick and Cindy Kurtin winning first place for selling the Bailey Mansion in Harlem. The Real Estate Board of New York presented its top awards at the annual event, held this year at 230 Fifth Penthouse Lounge. Gala committee members regaled a (not particularly quiet, as usual) crowd of 500 with details of the seemingly insurmountable obstacles this year’s winners overcame to make deals. [more]