Practice Areas

Arbitration and mediations handled include the following:

Commercial contracts: numerous disputes arising out of a broad range of commercial contracts, including, failure to fund,  failure to pay for goods and services, defective merchandise, commercial code issues, breaches of warranty, breach of brokerage agreements, misrepresentations, fraud and professional fee collection

Financial matters: payment defaults, guarantees, dissolutions and business valuations, breaches of representations and warranties

Partnership/ joint ventures: disputes regarding payouts, removal of general partner, breach of fiduciary duties, mismanagement and accounting

Franchise and Distributorships: dealer /distributor terminations, claims against franchisor for failure to provide contracted support, failure to pay royalties and non-competes

Construction and Real Estate: construction disputes, developer/landlord tenant/condo owner disputes

Insurance contracts: including, property & casualty, malpractice, business interruption, D&O and professionals & accountants’ liability; insurance coverage regarding Super Storm Sandy, including claims for business interruption losses and for property damages brought by homeowners and business owners, including claims for damages caused by flood, wind, water and mold; businesses included, wholesale produce distributors, food catering businesses, car dealers, retail stores, fitness centers, accounting and law firms

Intellectual Property: royalties, R&D, license termination, ownership/use of IP, copyright, trade name and trademark

Trust & Estates: ownership of real estate, will contest, breach of fiduciary duty

Securities: broker/customer claims, fraud, 10b-5, private placements and derivative actions

Employment matters: acted as neutral in various cases: including wrongful termination, severance, non-compete provisions, and a wide range of statutory claims, such as Title VII of the Civil Rights Act (race, color, national origin, gender and religion); Section 1981; American with Disabilities Act; Age Discrimination in Employment Act; Family & Medical Leave Act; Fair Labor Standards Act; New York State Human Rights Law; New York Labor Law; New York Whistleblower Law and NYC Human Rights Law

Discrimination and Harassment:

Allegations of discrimination based on gender and race and retaliation brought by administrative staff against a professional office

Allegations of discrimination based on pregnancy against small family business

Allegations of discrimination based on sexual orientation against governmental agency

Allegations of age discrimination against marketing company

American with Disabilities Act, Family and Medical Leave Act and Fair Labor Standards Act:

Allegations of disability discrimination under the ADA & ERISA violations brought by a security guard who was terminated on basis of diabetes

Allegations of Vice President of manufacturing company of employer’s failure to pay overtime wages under the FLSA and claims of discrimination and retaliation due to neurological impairments under the ADA and for employee’s exercise of her rights under the FMLA

Allegations of wrongful discharge & refusal to provide reasonable accommodation under the ADA

Executive Contracts, Trade Secrets and Employee Raiding:

Allegations involving the rights of manager under his employment contract in alleged breach of fiduciary duties

Allegations of breach of employment contract & theft of trade secrets involving executive who left his employer to work for competitor

Whistleblower Protection Act:

Allegations of manager of fitness center franchise for wrongful termination and retaliation for complaining about organization’s health code violations

Class Actions

Multi-Party Class Action dispute involving City and State regarding Developmentally Disabled  Children in Foster care

Litigation Experience

Litigation and trial attorney experienced in  broad range of commercial disputes

Cases handled have included complex domestic and international commercial litigation, including class actions and disputes arising out of contracts including, employment matters, real estate & environmental matters, trusts & estates, secured transactions, bankruptcy, banking issues, antitrust, partnerships, retailing, franchising, manufacturing and consumer products

Cases handled involved claims or were determinative of transactions ranging in value from a hundred thousand to $5 billion

Class Actions:

Represented clients in landmark class action litigation regarding Holocaust looted assets and slave labor claims

Represented clients in class action litigation concerning corporate responsibility for aiding and abetting violations of International Human Rights

General Commercial Litigation

Represented clients in a broad range of commercial contract disputes involving contract interpretation, delivery of defective goods, failure to pay, misrepresentations, fraud, and breach of warranty s

Represented various parties in joint venture and partnership agreements, including, entitlements to payouts, accounting, mismanagement, misappropriation and removal of general partners

Represented parties in franchise-dealership matters, including terminations, failure to support, royalty and non-compete agreements

Represented parties in entertainment, manufacturing, textile & jewelry industry

Real Estate Litigation

Represented clients in real estate disputes, including brokers and developers, landlord-tenant disputes and breach of contract of sale

Trust & Estates Litigation

Represented parties in trusts & estates litigation, representing trustees and income beneficiaries in matters involving breach of fiduciary duty and fraudulent representations

Represented parties in will contest and Surrogates Court proceedings

Represented American Rock & Blues  musician in will contest

Court appointed fiduciary for multimillion dollar trust following complex dispute of accounting & fiduciary violations of real estate limited partnerships

Entertainment Industry matters

Represented Russian feminist protest punk rock group in various corporate matters

Represented American singer, songwriter, actress, record producer in action by former employee

Financial Services, Banking & Bankruptcy

Represented clients in financial services sector, secured, unsecured creditors, and creditors’ committees

Represented creditors’ committee in bankruptcy concerning Ponzi Scheme

Represented clients in workouts, loan restructuring and adversary proceedings

Represented Dollar Capital Creditors’ Committee, a Bennett Funding leasing company that was one of the largest Ponzi schemes in U.S. history

Represented  Creditors’ Committee in Colonial Realty Corporation, a national real estate syndication company with investor losses in excess of $350 million

Represented Bankruptcy Trustee in Stockbridge Funding Corporation, a mortgage banking company which left investors with losses exceeding $40 million

Represented debtor in Aero-Chem International Inc. , a petrochemical company refinery complex with bank losses in excess of $200 million

Insurance  Coverage 

Represented policyholders in insurance coverage matters including, property & casualty, malpractice, business interruption, D&O and professionals & accountants’ liability; insurance coverage regarding Super Storm Sandy, including claims for business interruption losses and for property damages brought by homeowners and business owners