Complex disputes. Real Recoveries.
Representative Matters
Certain matters are described in general terms. Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome.
Sovereign Award Enforcement
New York / Washington D.C.
Member of global legal team represented petitioners Anatolie Stati, Gabriel Stati, and their affiliated entities in enforcement proceedings arising from a $500 million + Swedish arbitral award against the Republic of Kazakhstan, obtaining a favorable discovery ruling compelling the production of evidence from a global bank, and obtaining the first federal court opinion clarifying that a judgment creditor notice does not need to notify a judgment debtor when issuing third-party discovery in aid of enforcement.
Contract and Fraud Arbitration
AAA - Lead Counsel
Lead counsel in a $77 million breach-of-contract and fraud arbitration for a Hong Kong–based consumer goods distributor, with parallel federal and state court litigation.
DIP Loan Enforcement
Maryland / Bankruptcy
Our client, a specialty lender, made a debtor-in-possession loan to a family trust in bankruptcy. When the loan went into default, and bankruptcy dismissed, we brought a state-court breach of contract action, won judgment, and enforced it, including through a sheriff's sale of commercial real estate. The borrowers then sued for breach of the DIP loan, claiming it was underfunded, and sought over $5 million in damages. We won dismissal with prejudice, which cleared the way for the sale of a 500+ acre farm, and a full recovery of all principal and default interest.
DIP Loan Enforcement
A DIP lender provided a debtor-in-possession loan to a real estate developer in Chapter 11. The developer stalled at the permitting stage and defaulted, and the case was converted to Chapter 7. The principal's testimony revealed post-petition transfers. Through an adversary proceeding jointly with the Chapter 7 trustee, we identified transfers that had moved to an affiliate the principal controlled, then on to a second entity and ultimately to the principal himself, with 7-figure sums placed in cryptocurrency accounts. We obtained an ex parte TRO ordering the freeze of cryptocurrency accounts pending the conclusion of litigation.
Colorado / Bankruptcy
Represent a Middle-Eastern pharmaceutical company in connection with the enforcement of a $100 million + ICC arbitral award against a sovereign.
ICC Award Enforcement
Service by NFT
New York State court
Part of the legal team that obtained and served a temporary restraining order on an anonymous hacker via NFT — the first such service approved by a New York court — following an approximately $8 million cryptocurrency exchange hack.
Execution Defense
Miami, Florida
Secured an order quashing an ex parte execution attempt against telecommunications hardware owned by a data technology client and used by an Ecuadorian state-owned telecommunications provider, based on a $19.1 million foreign judgment domesticated in Miami.
Recovery Counsel
Export Credit Insurance
Long-time recovery counsel to government agencies providing export credit insurance, including the United States Export-Import Bank, recovering on portfolios of defaulted obligations.
Insider Preferences
New York
Uncovered more than $12 million in improper insider preference payments in a judgment enforcement matter, resulting in a favorable global settlement.
Fraudulent Conveyance
Federal Court, New York
Secured a $5 million judgment for a foreign export credit insurer against a fashion distributor, followed by a fraudulent conveyance action against its majority shareholder, arising from a trade default.
Seizure
California award, Maryland execution
Executed on a California arbitral award against a Spanish wine distributor's U.S. assets, seizing nearly $2 million in a Maryland account before funds could be moved offshore.