Commercial Litigation

Experience

• Defended a global leader in the credit insurance market against common law claims against for fraud, negligent misrepresentation, breach of fiduciary duty and fraudulent concealment premised upon the insurer's supposed provision—above and beyond its insurance obligations—of trade credit assessment services based on alleged statements in marketing materials/on websites. The New York Supreme Court Commercial Division dismissed all claims, ruling that plaintiff failed to sufficiently allege any fiduciary or special relationship or duty running from the insurer to its insured and failure to allege fraud allegations with particularity. The Appellate Division affirmed.
• Defend large broker-dealer and dark pool operator against putative class claims relating to payment for order flow, the duty of best execution and alleged preferencing of high-frequency trading firms in a private order-execution venue. The suit alleges that, by paying for order flow, our client induced a retail broker-dealer to route its orders to our client, which then routed some of the orders to its dark pool, where they were exposed to alleged predatory trading by HFT firms. The district court dismissed the case, finding the claims were precluded by the Securities Litigation Uniform Standards Act. Currently on appeal before the Ninth Circuit.
• Trial counsel on behalf of financial services company, as indenture trustee, in its $6.3 billion breach of contract claim against the parent of bankrupt gaming company Caesars Entertainment Operating Company with respect to Caesar’s parent’s alleged breach of its guarantee of Caesar’s payment obligations to Caesar’s first-lien noteholders, as well as the parent company’s alleged violation of the Trust Indenture Act in attempting improperly to engage in an out-of-court restructuring without the consent of the noteholders.
• Represented multiple options market makers in a putative class action alleging violations of Section 10(b) and Rule 10b-5 in a dividend capture strategy executed at PHLX options exchange. The US District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania dismissed the case, finding there was no proof of unlawful conduct.
• Represented the owner of a shopping mall in Rockville, Maryland, in a case involving client's ongoing efforts to redevelop the mall into a major mixed-use, town-center-style development. An anchor tenant of the mall sought to enjoin further redevelopment of the mall under a reciprocal easement agreement. In a published decision, the US Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit affirmed the denial of the anchor tenant's request for injunctive relief, holding that the proposed injunction would have required the district court to either supervise the restoration of the mall or freeze the mall's ongoing redevelopment efforts, both of which the court of appeals deemed infeasible.
• Litigation counsel for a REIT with respect to mixed-use expansion of shopping center in Washington, DC metro area. Asserted claims address change orders, general conditions and countervailing liquidated damages based on persistent delays and scheduling errors. Case was dismissed pursuant to settlement.
• Litigation counsel to real estate developer in dispute over proposed redevelopment immediately adjacent to property client owns in 16th Street Historic District in downtown Washington, DC. The demolition and construction on adjacent property would undermine structural integrity of improvements and party wall on our client's property; diminish property's character and value; and pose severe life-safety risks to our client's tenants and visitors. We submitted objections to building permit application, filed an appeal with the DC Office of Administrative Hearings regarding the issued raze permit, and instituted actions in the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia and before the DC Board of Zoning Adjustment. The dispute was successfully settled.
• Represent individual member of a prominent New York real estate family in alleging more than 20 direct and derivative claims against another family member, who has used his position of dominion over the family real estate business to loot and waste assets and to exclude our client from millions of dollars in distributions and fees to which he is entitled.
• Lead counsel to Apotex, a global pharmaceutical drug company, regarding antitrust and patent claims—including Walker Process fraud, the Therasense standard for inequitable conduct and reverse-payment liability theories—in relation to being illegally excluded from the billion-dollar-a-year market for a narcolepsy drug. We established that the relevant patent was invalid, not infringed and procured by fraud.
• Trial counsel for a food packaging company, and its private equity sponsor, in $100 million claim against seller of business for fraudulent inducement and breach of contract of the applicable asset purchase and transition services agreements between the parties. Settled the case on favorable terms to the client on the eve of trial during mediation requested by defendants after the submission of summary judgment motions.
• Represented Norwegian software company in suit for repayment of debt. We obtained a complete victory including summary judgment and sanctions.