Megan Hassan ’22 is an associate at Thurn Ward, specializing in land use planning, zoning, municipal and environmental law, and real estate. She represents both clients filing land use applications and municipalities receiving applications for real estate development projects.
Finding opportunities in land use law
“In high school, I thought about going to law school,” she says. “I was good at reading and writing, so I thought that would help me become a lawyer.” During college, Hassan toured Hofstra Law School as part of a class. “During the tour, the admissions office advised me to study something I was passionate about other than political science and English. They explained that being the only student with a different major would increase my chances of being accepted.”
Hassan followed that advice and took a geography class during his sophomore year, only to find that he found it more intriguing than he expected and decided to major in urban geography. “It’s about the people, demographics, and makeup of places and communities, and how that influences their behavior and their future. It’s a field that’s understudied and undervalued.”
An introductory land use course Hassan took in college influenced her law school studies and ultimately her career. “A lawyer spoke to a class about land use, urban development and planning, and that was the catalyst for me. Before that, I didn’t know that land use law was an option in law school. I thought geography would be fun to study and would help me get into law school, but I didn’t know it was an area that some lawyers specialize in. I figured I’d go to law school and then figure out what I wanted to do,” Hassan says.
“I realized that if I continued studying this field in law school, I could impact the way communities are shaped. I realized this was a job. There are lawyers who have expertise in urban planning and can impact communities from the legal side. That course narrowed down the direction I wanted to go in law school. I wanted to focus on land use law. Land use law is a niche area of law. I took as many courses as they offered at Hofstra University that would help me become a land use lawyer.”
Hofstra Law School Activities
Hassan received a full scholarship to Hofstra University School of Law. During her freshman year, her studies were interrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic, and her first and second years were spent learning remotely, making it difficult to connect with students and professors. “But then during my sophomore year, I took a class with Professor Ostrow, who told me he wanted to revive the Real Estate Law Society after the pandemic and asked me to help out as a student. Eight of us worked together for a semester, and we got the club up and running for our junior year when we returned to campus. We recruited 40 members in our first semester back.”
“We organized an alumni panel in the fall and invited five alumni working in different areas of the real estate industry to speak to students and participate in a Q&A. We also did a panel on non-traditional jobs in real estate law. The club is still very active on Hofstra’s campus, and I was recently invited back to speak on the alumni panel in December 2023. It was great to be able to show students the different opportunities there are after graduation.”
Hassan also joined the moot court committee and participated in a moot court competition over Zoom during her sophomore year. “It was a good way to connect with people during remote school and remain an active member of the Hofstra Law community even though I wasn’t on campus.” During her junior year, she participated as a judge for the program.
Gain experience through internships and external training
In the summer of 2020, the pandemic eliminated many internships. “Students were going everywhere to get jobs that would give them legal experience,” Hassan says. She worked for a private practice lawyer in Queens. “I was lucky because he was open to interns coming to work in person,” she says. “He did a lot of different types of cases. He did a lot of landlord-tenant litigation, a little bit of family law and medical malpractice litigation. I got exposure to different practice areas and got to see the business side of a law firm. I worked for him during my breaks for the rest of law school.”
During his sophomore year, Hassan interned at a Manhattan real estate firm in the landlord/tenant and multifamily/apartment divisions. “It gave me a chance to see what it was like to work in real estate and helped me narrow down what I wanted to do.”
The following year, she worked in the Attorney General’s Real Property Bureau, working on cases involving eminent domain, rights of way, roads, bus stops and rights-of-way. “It was a really fun experience,” she says. “It was completely remote, but I had a great preceptor who taught me so much.” During her final semester at Hofstra Law School, she worked in Hofstra Law’s pro bono clinic, the Low-Income Taxpayer Clinic. “I started concentrating on tax law to diversify my studies because the land use courses were no longer available,” she says.
Find a job in land use law
During his job search, Hassan asked Professor Ostrow for a recommendation for an internship. Professor Ostrow offered to send Hassan’s resume and recommendation to Sarn Ward, where he had connections. Hassan was called in for an interview with the company’s co-owner. “Michael Sarn interviewed me and offered me a full-time position after I graduated,” Hassan says. “It was a connection at the right time. There weren’t a lot of job openings in land use. I took the job and was prepared to do whatever it took, and I’ve been very fortunate to end up where I wanted to be.”
Hassan’s work includes representing municipalities, reviewing land use applications, drafting documents for Zoning Boards of Review and Planning Commissions or representing property owners before municipal commissions in other jurisdictions, drafting memoranda of law regarding why a project meets the criteria for a special permit or variance, and assisting applicants in presenting their applications before the commissions in the most favorable light possible. Hassan also works with the firm’s litigation team in Article 78 proceedings, challenging and defending municipal commission land use decisions.
“I’m excited to be a part of the change they bring to Nassau County and hopefully help change the mindset of some in the community who look down on apartments and rental properties.”
“I started working on a project to get land use permits for apartment and mixed-use development, which has been a goal of mine since graduating,” she says. “I believe apartment and mixed-use development is necessary to create a downtown and attract young professionals. I’m excited to be part of the change to bring them to Nassau County and hope to help change the mindset of some communities that look down on apartments and rental properties. Ultimately, I’d like to serve on a local zoning or planning commission where I can help shape the community on a more direct level.”
Hassan was recently awarded the Long Island Business News “Emerging Leaders Under 30” award.
