Malham-Gitliz Law Firm

Malham-Gitliz Law Firm is a boutique law office specializing in providing legal advice, litigation, legal representation, and legal opinions in various real estate fields, including planning and construction law, real estate law, and real estate taxation.

The firm represents local authorities and planning institutions, accompanies the work of the local committee, and provides ongoing legal advice to professionals in the authorities and planning institutions. Additionally, the firm engages in responsible and professional representation of private clients, ensuring commitment to the clients' interests and their full involvement in all processes. The guiding approach of the firm's work is efficiency, reliability, and availability.

The topics handled by the firm in the field of planning and construction include:

Master Plans

• Providing legal opinions on the current and future planning status concerning real estate.
• Legal accompaniment in planning procedures at all stages of plan approval, including preparation and promotion of master plans.
• Providing ongoing legal advice to planning institutions and professionals in planning institutions regarding plans, the authorities of the institutions for planning procedures, etc.
• Representing planning institutions in appeal committees and judicial tribunals, including the Supreme Court and administrative courts.
• Representing developers in planning institutions (including local and district planning and construction committees) while coordinating with architects, appraisers, and other experts.
• Representing objectors to master plans in planning institutions (local and district committees) by submitting objections, an action accompanied by architects, appraisers, and other experts and coordinated with them.
• Representation in appeal committees and courts, including representation in administrative petitions and administrative appeals.

Building Permits and Business Licensing

• Providing legal opinions on the planning status applicable to the real estate.
• Representing the local committee and the licensing authority in appeal committees and courts regarding licensing and permits.
• Providing ongoing advice to planning and licensing departments in authorities.
• Legal accompaniment with licensing departments and the local planning and construction committee before the licensing departments and the local planning and construction committee.
• Regarding submitting applications for building permits and business licenses.
• Representing objectors in the local planning and construction committee.
• Accompanying developers and apartment owners in applications for building permits under TAMA 38 (the national outline plan for strengthening existing buildings against earthquakes) and urban renewal projects.
• Accompanying and representing in appeal committees on appeals against planning institutions' decisions.
• Representation in administrative petitions and courts of their instances.

Betterment Levies and Compensation Claims for Depreciation under Section 197

• Representing local committees against decisive appraisers, compensation and betterment levy appeal committees, and representing them in courts on betterment levies and compensation issues under Section 197 of the Planning and Building Law.
• Legal representation in appeals against local committees' decisions regarding betterment levies and representation in the appeal committee and against decisive appraisers while cooperating with expert real estate appraisers. Legal representation in claims under Section 197 of the Planning and Building Law, for compensation due to real estate depreciation following the approval of master plans, all in cooperation with expert real estate appraisers and providing legal support for their actions.

Levies and Fees

• Representing developers and property owners regarding objections to charges in levies and fees (sewer levies, paving levies, drainage fees, pipeline laying levies, etc.), including negotiating with authorities to reduce the charge and legal representation in appropriate instances.

Property Tax (Arnona)

• Representing debtors in proceedings to reduce property tax charges, including negotiating with authorities, submitting appeals to the appeal committee, as well as administrative petitions and appeals to the courts, and representing debtors in lawsuits filed against them by the authorities regarding property tax.

Examining property tax charges, assessing the chances in claims for the refund of property tax payments made to the authorities, and filing claims according to their assessed chances.

Development Agreements

• Representing developers and property owners regarding development agreements with local authorities, including in negotiation procedures with these authorities.

Expropriation of Real Estate

• Representing property owners concerning expropriation procedures, including negotiations with authorities, appealing decisions on expropriation, compensation claims, and handling with tax authorities.

Building Violations

• Representation in local courts in the field of planning and construction and accompanying procedures for obtaining building permits.

The topics handled by the firm in various real estate fields include:

• Examination of property rights on real estate.
• Accompanying developers, contractors, entrepreneurial companies, and property owners in real estate fields.
• Handling sale and purchase transactions related to residential apartments/commercial properties/plots based on representing property owners, contractors, and private buyers, in all aspects of their transactions.
• Accompanying property owners and contractors in combination transactions.
• Accompanying tenants and landlords in residential and commercial property lease agreements.
• Preparing agreements for planning, consulting, and construction services, as well as demanding securities to ensure compliance with the agreement's terms.
• Handling the registration of real estate in the Land Registry Office, the Israel Land Authority, and housing companies, as applicable, registration of parcelization, and registration of condominium buildings.
• Accompanying purchasing groups.
• Accompanying and preparing financing agreements and dealing with legal entities in the lending bank.
• Initiating construction projects and drafting contracts with apartment buyers.
• Negotiating and handling legal matters in properties owned by the Israel Land Authority, including handling the reduction of payments to this authority.
• Representing tenants and house committees in neighbor disputes.

Attorneys in the Firm

The firm is managed by Attorneys Shirin Barghouti-Malham and Ofer Gitliz.

Attorney Shirin Barghouti-Malham holds a Bachelor of Laws degree from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and was admitted as a lawyer in 2000. From 1999 to 2005, she worked at Davis-Koren Law Firm, where she specialized in various fields of civil law, mainly in commercial law, real estate law, investments in high-tech companies, and civil litigation.

From 2005 to 2008, she worked in the legal department of the Jerusalem Municipality, where she joined the property tax and levies team and the planning and construction team. From mid-2008 to mid-2010, she managed the civil planning and construction team and served as the acting legal advisor of the local planning and construction committee. In 2009-2010, she served as a director on behalf of the Jerusalem City Council in Gihon Ltd. and as a director in the Jerusalem Sewerage and Purification Plants Ltd. (MABATY).

Attorney Ofer Gitliz, B.Sc, M.Sc, L.LB, combines legal education with commercial and business engineering expertise. In addition to being a lawyer, he is an industrial and management engineer (Bachelor's degree - specializing in information systems and Master's degree). He has extensive experience in engineering, operations, and management fields. From 2003 to 2010, he was the deputy head of the building supervision department at the Jerusalem Municipality and an assistant to the legal advisor of the Jerusalem Municipality in planning and construction fields.

He worked for about twenty years in industrial and management engineering fields, including developing management systems at Orantech Management Systems, was a control engineer at Danya Cebus Construction Company, and head of the control department at Druker Zacharia Construction Company. He was also a partner and manager at Ganey Mishan Construction and Entrepreneurship Ltd.