Joseph M. Manisco is Of Counsel with SG&S and has more than thirty years of experience in real estate, business law and litigation. In addition to his years in private practice, over a period of twenty three years, Mr. Manisco served as in-house legal counsel to three of the country's largest homebuilding companies. Most recently, Mr. Manisco served as Vice President and Chief Legal Officer of K. Hovnanian Companies of California, Inc., a subsidiary of Hovnanian Enterprises, Inc., a national homebuilder listed on the New York Stock Exchange. In this capacity, Mr. Manisco was responsible for all legal affairs of the California company, including land acquisition, development and disposition, home sales, Department of Real Estate processing, homeowner and subcontractor issues, dispute resolution and litigation, office leasing and subleasing, restructuring of challenged projects, and public infrastructure financing. At KB Home, also a national homebuilding company listed on the New York Stock Exchange, Mr. Manisco served as Vice President of Legal Affairs, first for the company's Nevada division, and subsequently for its Southern California divisions. Prior to the acquisition of its homebuilding operations by KB Home, Mr. Manisco served as Senior Counsel to Lewis Homes Management Corp., which, at the time, was one of the country's largest and most successful private homebuilding companies. During the early years of his career, as a litigator with the Ventura law firm of Lowthorp Richards McMillan Miller Conway and Templeman, Mr. Manisco successfully litigated a variety of civil cases. Mr. Manisco received his Juris Doctor in 1981 from Loyola University Law School, Los Angeles, where he was a member of the Loyola Law Review, the St. Thomas More Law Honor Society and, throughout law school, the Dean's Honor List. Mr. Manisco is also a 1978 graduate of the University of California, Los Angeles, where he received a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Political Science. Mr. Manisco was admitted to practice law in 1981 and has since been a member of the State Bar of California. He is a member of the State Bar's Real Property Law Section and is a Director of the California Building Industry Legal Defense Foundation. He is also a licensed California Real Estate Broker.