Lawyerly Lairs: Cravath Cribs (Part 2)(Partner parts with Park Avenue property.)

Let's take a look at the Carnegie Hill neighborhood of the Upper East Side, where a Cravath partner recently sold his ultra-luxurious residence -- for a whopping $4.6 million. Interestingly enough, the buyer is a lawyer as well, in-house counsel at a major media company. Who are the parties to this transaction? And what does a $4.6 million apartment look like?

We recently took a peek at a $1.7 million apartment on Manhattan’s Upper West Side, in a story entitled Lawyerly Lairs: Cravath Cribs (Part 1). (By the way, we’ve updated that post with the condo’s floor plan, as well as information about what it means to be a practice area attorney at Cravath.)

We called the story “Part 1” because we knew, at the time, that we’d be bringing you a “Part 2.” Think of Christine Raglan’s UWS penthouse as the appetizer — or maybe even just the amuse-bouche. Now it’s time for the entrée, something far more substantial.

Let’s fly across Central Park and alight in the Carnegie Hill neighborhood of the Upper East Side, where a Cravath partner recently sold his ultra-luxurious residence — for a whopping $4.6 million. Interestingly enough, the buyer is a lawyer as well, in-house counsel at a major media company.

Who are the parties to this transaction? And what does a $4.6 million apartment look like?

Here’s the original listing for the spacious, eight-room apartment, which sold for a little below its listing price of $4.75 million:

Sponsored

Two things worth noting. First, the maintenance and common charges alone — i.e., not including any mortgage payments — clock in at $4,775 a month. Second, speaking of mortgages, note that the building requires a minimum down payment of 50 percent. So for this apartment, which sold for $4.6 million, the buyers had to put down at least $2.3 million, in cold, hard cash.

According to Blockshopper, Stephen and Rebecca Madsen sold their three-bedroom, three-bath apartment at 1185 Park Avenue to Matthew and Heather Stopnik. Blockshopper refers to the apartment as a condo, but the listing and various other sources, such as StreetEasy, indicate that the building is a co-op.

Loyal readers of Lawyerly Lairs will note that this isn’t the first time we’ve visited 1185 Park Avenue. Back in September 2010, we checked out the palatial pad of Alan Pomerantz, a former partner at Orrick and Weil Gotshal. Pomerantz’s home, apartment 5C, was on the market at the time for $5.7 million — but it appears not to have sold, per StreetEasy. (The apartment was listed again earlier this year, at the more reasonable price of $5.395 million.)

UPDATE (10:45 AM): A commenter points out one of the building’s most famous residents: Jamie Dimon, the CEO of JPMorgan Chase.

The sellers of today’s Lawyerly Lair — apartment 7G, two floors up from Alan and Carol Pomerantz — are Stephen and Rebecca Madsen. As noted in his Cravath bio, Stephen Madsen is a veteran litigator, with experience in a wide range of fields, including antitrust, securities fraud, trade secrets, and patent litigation. He’s a graduate of Harvard College and Columbia Law School, and he clerked for Second Circuit judge (and champion bridge player) Amalya Kearse.

Sponsored

(Stephen Madsen looks a little like Santa Claus. We’re guessing that he and his fellow Cravath partners are having a very merry Christmas, thanks to rising profits and stagnant bonus payouts to CSM associates. And the extra liquidity resulting from this apartment sale is probably nice as well.)

Who’s the lawyer privileged enough to purchase this pad? Well, don’t hate her because she’s beautiful. And rich. And smart. And married to a successful banker (whose paycheck probably helped pay for this apartment; sure, in-house salaries are going up, but with the possible exception of the best-paid general counsel, not many in-house lawyers can buy apartments costing north of $4.5 million).

Meet Heather Stopnik. In addition to her wealth, good looks, and overall fabulosity, she has a great legal job. She currently serves as litigatrix to a leading media company; before that, she worked at an elite litigation boutique. Per Blockshopper:

Ms. Stopnik is the vice president and senior counsel of the litigation group of MTV. Previously, she was with the litigation group of Friedman Kaplan Seiler & Adelman LLP. She is a graduate of the University of Michigan and New York University Law.

I Want My MTV… lawyer’s apartment? It sure sounds wonderful: three bedrooms and three baths, with prewar elegance and a premier Carnegie Hill location. What’s not to like?

Well, for starters, the decor. And the floor plan is a bit odd as well.

Let’s look at some photos, shall we? Then, at the end of this post, we’ll ask you to vote in a poll on this apartment’s interior design.