About

Livnat, Mayer& Co. is a boutique law firm in Jerusalem, serving clients from Israel and abroad with professionalism, accessibility, and personal attention. The firm has extensive experience in multiple legal fields, including labor, corporate, and real estate law.

The founding partners, Attorneys Chen Livnat and Russell D. Mayer are highly experienced lawyers with decades of legal expertise and are personally involved in every case. Attorney Mayer is a member of both the U.S. and Israeli Bar Associations, providing him with a unique ability to advise clients with legal matters involving both countries.

In recent years, the firm has also developed expertise in senior citizen legal matters, such as nursing law, legal capacity, and estates. The firm delivers top-tier legal services efficiently and practically, thanks to its experienced lawyers with a strong business perspective, guiding transactions from concept to completion.

Areas of Expertise

Employment and Labor Law

The firm represents various employers, from small businesses to large international corporations, public companies, and foreign embassies. It specializes in advising on employer obligations and employee rights under Israeli law, including employment contracts, social benefits, insurance issues, and the rights of foreign workers. The firm also represents clients in labor courts in wrongful termination claims, severance pay disputes, discrimination claims, contract violations, restrictive covenants, compensation arrangements, and more. It has expertise in diplomatic immunity issues for foreign states and international employers operating in Israel.

Real Estate

The firm has extensive experience of representing clients in real estate transactions, ranging from small residential purchases to large-scale development projects. It focuses on urban renewal projects, representing developers and homeowners in large-scale redevelopment (Pinui-Binui) and NOP 38 projects (TAMA). The firm assists in all stages of real estate transactions, from homeowner organization and developer agreements to planning procedures, consultant negotiations, construction, sales, and project registration.

Corporate and Commercial Law

Since its founding, the firm has advised businesses on various legal issues, particularly in the high-tech sector. The firm’s lawyers have expertise in all stages of a company’s lifecycle, including business formation, financing rounds, mergers and acquisitions, public offerings, and liquidations. The firm represents startups, established companies, and investors, especially foreign investors looking to invest in Israeli businesses, acquire local companies, or establish operations in Israel. It also provides ongoing legal counsel on relations between foreign parent companies and their Israeli subsidiaries and advises banks and financial institutions on their Israeli activities. The firm has extensive experience in structuring, negotiating, and drafting agreements for complex international joint ventures, private and public offerings in the U.S. and Israel, mergers, acquisitions, financing agreements, and international distribution and franchise arrangements.

Elder Law

The firm's elder law department assists clients of all ages with trusts, estates, wills, and powers of attorney. It encourages clients to plan for long-term care and inheritance while they can do so independently, avoiding court intervention. Following the enactment of Amendment 18 to Israel’s Legal Capacity and Guardianship Law in 2017, which strengthens seniors' rights in personal and financial matters, there has been increased demand for these services. The firm handles medical power of attorney, advance healthcare directives, enduring powers of attorney, traditional wills, and estate administration, including cross-border inheritances and tax considerations.

Intellectual Property

The firm provides IP legal counsel to a broad range of clients, from startups to large Israeli corporations, with expertise in copyright and trademark law.

Privacy Protection

The firm specializes in data privacy and personal data protection, advising clients on compliance with GDPR and other regulations. One of the firm’s partners authored the Israel chapter in the international publication Privacy and Security Law Global.

Litigation

The firm represents clients in all courts, including the Supreme Court, with a strong record of legal victories and precedents. Its litigation experience includes employment disputes, IP cases, commercial and residential real estate conflicts, insolvency, and representing embassies in matters related to diplomatic immunity, real estate, and employment.

The Partners

Attorney Russell D. Mayer - Senior Partner

Attorney Mayer immigrated to Israel from New York in 1990. He holds a law degree from Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law (Yeshiva University) and an MBA from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. He is a member of both the U.S. and Israeli Bar Associations. Mayer has served as in-house counsel for major commercial banks in New York, specializing in commercial finance, and worked at a leading Tel Aviv law firm before co-founding Livnat, Mayer& Co. His expertise includes labor law, corporate and international commercial law, elder law, finance, and trade. He has extensive legal and business experience advising high-tech companies and regularly represents foreign embassies and governments on Israeli law. Mayer has authored numerous publications, including the Israel chapter of International Employment Law and a section on Israeli data protection and privacy law. He also provides pro bono legal services, particularly for new immigrants.

Adv. Chen Livnat - Senior Partner

Adv. Chen Livnat, born in Tel Aviv, holds a law degree from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Before establishing the firm with Adv. Mayer, he worked at a prestigious and well-known Israeli law firm. He is an experienced litigator and specializes in complex real estate transactions, handling all types of real estate deals, including residential properties, income-generating real estate, and infrastructure projects. His expertise also includes purchasing groups, construction associations, and various urban renewal projects. Additionally, Adv. Livnat practices international corporate law and commercial matters. He has successfully represented clients in all court instances and arbitrations of all scales. With extensive legal and commercial experience, he assists high-tech companies at all stages of their operations, from establishment and initial funding to exit strategies. He is also skilled in bankruptcy and corporate liquidation cases and serves as an experienced arbitrator.

Adv. Yael Zada-Hasid - Partner

Adv. Zada-Hasid, born in Jerusalem, holds an LL.B. from the Ono Academic College. She advanced through the ranks of Livnat Mayer & Co., starting as a pre-intern and progressing to a senior attorney at the firm. Adv. Zada-Hasid specializes in managing and leading transactions and construction projects in the residential, commercial, and industrial sectors. She represents landowners, contracting companies in the real estate market, purchasing groups, and construction associations. With extensive expertise in the field, she provides legal counsel and guidance for large-scale residential projects and various real estate transactions, including sale and purchase agreements, private and commercial leases, and urban renewal projects such as NOP (National Outline Plan) and evacuation-reconstruction projects.

Adv. Zada-Hasid supports her clients throughout the entire process, from land acquisition and planning to development, construction, and the registration of buyers' rights in the Land Registry, including the registration of condominiums. As part of her client representation, she advises on financing procedures and liaises with various authorities, mortgage banks, land registration offices, real estate taxation offices, and the Israel Land Authority.