Featured Win

389% Increase & $1.14M Cash Settlement In Equity Dispute

In September 2025, the Firm was retained by a founding engineer facing wrongful termination and a CEO's attempt to claw back $233,000 in vested equity—just 72 hours before the company’s scheduled $10 million merger.

We swiftly intervened and previewed a file-ready emergency Temporary Restraining Order (TRO) to halt the merger, a Motion for Declaratory Judgment to publicy expose the CEO’s overreach, and a Standstill Agreement containing revealing admissions, including cap table irregularities.

By design, this combination forced the CEO into a high-stakes dilemma: risk the transaction, face post-merger litigation, or quietly rectify the equity issue before closing. The CEO attempted to settle the matter by offering $250,000 and then $500,000, despite previously claiming outright entitlement to the shares. We rejected the offers and as we prepared for a Monday morning filing, we received confirmation that our client’s equity would be recognized. At closing, the client received their allocation of 1,000,000 shares which resulted in a cash payment of $1,140,000 at closing.

Case Study

  • We advise founders, executives, and growth-stage companies in high-stakes commercial disputes involving contract breaches, business torts, fraud, compensation disputes, equity clawbacks, and other conflicts arising from complex business relationships. 

    Often parachuting into volatile environments, we’ve handled fast-moving corporate disputes of all types:

    • Partnership Break-ups & Equity Disputes: Defending against hostile squeeze-outs, improper share dilutions, and disputed vesting schedules.

    • Complex Labor & Executive Employment: High-stakes executive severance packages, deferred compensation disputes, non-competes/NDAs, and SDNY federal employment actions.

    • High-Value Breach of Contract: Critical vendor or supply-chain failures, corporate governance disputes, and pre-merger transactional breaches.

    • Tech & IP Friction: Software licensing disputes, trade secret protection, digital contract breaches, and corporate internet law matters.

    • Consumer Protection & Regulatory Defense: Insulating growth companies and online retailers from aggressive class actions and compliance claims.

  • Our client roster consists exclusively of high-net-worth individuals, executives, and growth enterprises facing critical business threats:

    • Founders & C-Suite Officers: Business creators and corporate leaders navigating high-stakes severance, clawback defenses, or forced board departures.

    • Growth Startups & Mid-Market Enterprises: Established companies trapped in critical vendor, shareholder, or operational standoffs.

    • Private Equity & VC Groups: Institutional investors asserting rights, blocking bad-faith management actions, or protecting portfolio assets.

    • High-Profile Individuals: Executives, prominent public figures, and high-net-worth stakeholders in sensitive, high-value commercial disputes.

    • Prevented a $233,000 equity clawback against a client holding a 10% stake in an AI startup and secured a $1.14 million settlement during a $10 million merger with a publicly traded company—a $1.37 million swing achieved in seven days. The dispute involved an allegedly fabricated statement of work, altered vesting agreements, and backdated termination documents.

    • Represented Mary-Kate Olsen and Ashley Olsen in a confidential JAMS mediation involving putative class claims under the Fair Labor Standards Act and New York Labor Law and secured favorable settlement terms.

    • Achieved a six-figure settlement against La Victoria nightclub on behalf of multiple waitstaff plaintiffs alleging minimum-wage, overtime, and tip-credit violations.

    • Secured a $141,000 severance package for a mid-level analyst within 48 days—a 228% increase over the company’s initial $43,000 offer—after challenging a performance-based termination.

    • Resolved a 10-count California FEHA and retaliation lawsuit by reducing the plaintiff’s initial $100,000 demand by 70% and capping the client’s contribution at $30,000, with the co-defendant contributing the remaining 70%.

    • Converted a no-severance position into a $45,000 settlement within 12 days for the former Director of Premium Sales at Brooklyn Mirage, resolving disputed termination and compensation claims.

    • Obtained a temporary restraining order for a private equity firm against a competing bidder based on alleged misappropriation of proprietary deal materials and breach of a nondisclosure agreement arising from a failed acquisition process.

    • Secured voluntary dismissal of a California Invasion of Privacy Act trap-and-trace claim against an e-commerce platform with more than 100,000 subscribers, eliminating six-figure exposure and mandatory statutory attorneys’ fees without settlement, payment, or an appearance.

    • Reduced a multi-claim demand for a $300,000 recruiting fee to a single-claim filing seeking $60,000.

    • Negotiated settlement of a stale, two-year loan dispute for 125% of the outstanding principal, supported by a 250% default penalty and a release conditioned on full payment. The matter involved a high-risk Florida defendant facing multiple creditor suits and was resolved within 35 days.