J
LL is suing former broker Stephen Palmese to collect $3 million, a sum that may be tied to a typo in their employment agreement. Palmese was one of the top investment sales brokers at JLL and helped lead a team handling middle-market deals in Brooklyn. He left the company in February after joining from Cushman & Wakefield.

    As part of his employment deal, JLL provided Palmese with a $5 million forgivable loan that would be repaid if he left before 2027. However, Palmese claims that a second amendment to the agreement, made in 2021, automatically forgave the entire loan upon his departure. The dispute centers on a "mutual mistake" regarding a change to the original agreement.

    The company had agreed to forgive $1 million of the loan if Palmese met certain performance benchmarks and reported the debt forgiveness as income on his tax returns. However, JLL says it mistakenly used the word "greater" instead of "lesser" in the amended agreement, which would have required Palmese to repay the balance due or the forgiven amount, whichever was greater.

    JLL claims that if they had intended to forgive the greater part of the loan, it would no longer be a forgivable loan for tax purposes and would actually accelerate Palmese's tax payment. The company is seeking repayment of the $3 million balance, while Palmese is working at Legacy Equity Holdings, a real estate private equity firm he founded in 2012.