Litigation & Disputes
Lawson represents founders, C-suite executives, and institutional investment funds in high-stakes corporate disputes where timing, valuation, and transactional leverage dictate the outcome. Known for dismantling pretextual corporate narratives and exploiting deal mechanics under tight deadlines, he specializes in high-value equity recoveries, executive severance expansion, and complex commercial defense.
By pairing deep procedural maneuvering with aggressive pre-litigation positioning, Lawson routinely turns asymmetric corporate disputes into decisive financial victories.
Representative Victories
$1.37M Pre-Merger Equity Recovery (AI Startup Acquisition)
Retained seven days prior to the closing of a $10M merger, Lawson represented a founding engineer facing a pretextual termination designed to trigger an aggressive clawback of his vested equity. By precisely timing pre-litigation disclosures and forcing an emergency weekend Board resolution, Lawson defeated the $233K clawback attempt and secured 1,000,000 shares—delivering a $1.14M cash wire at closing and orchestrating a $1.37M total financial swing in just 7 days.
228% Severance Expansion ($7B Private Equity Firm)
When a top-tier private equity firm terminated an executive under the guise of "performance" issues and offered a lowball opening severance of $43K, Lawson intervened. By dismantling the firm's pretextual narrative and establishing clear exposure under the employment framework, he forced a 228% increase (+$98K), securing a $141K total severance package.
$240K Liability Reduction & Active Motion to Dismiss (Am Law 200 Defense)
Defending a Qatari-backed investment fund against a $300K placement fee demand from an Am Law 200 firm, Lawson mounted aggressive pre-suit pushback. His tactical intervention forced the opposing firm to abandon 80% ($240K) of its claimed entitlement prior to filing suit for a reduced $60K. The parties currently await the Court’s ruling after fully briefing dismissal papers.
Practice Areas
Executive & Founder Equity Protection
Transactional & Pre-Closing Merger Litigation
C-Suite Severance & Employment Negotiations
High-Stakes Commercial & Investment Fund Defense
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We represent corporate entities, founders, and executives in state and federal courts, administrative agency proceedings, and private arbitration. Our practice focuses on breach of contract and business torts, shareholder and partnership disputes, fiduciary duty claims, and corporate governance matters.
Representative Audit Corrections
Recruiting Fee Liability Mitigation: Challenged a multi-claim $300,000 recruitment fee demand, correcting the overreach to a single-claim filing capped at $60,000.
E-Commerce CIPA Defense: Secured a voluntary discontinuance of a California privacy (CIPA) class-action threat carrying six-figure statutory exposure ($5,000 per violation) for a platform with over 100,000 subscribers; resolved for $0 without a settlement agreement or formal court appearance.
High-Risk Credit Recovery: Settled a delinquent two-year commercial loan dispute against a distressed Florida defendant facing concurrent creditor actions. Recovered 125% of the principal within 35 days, secured by a 250% default penalty and a release conditioned strictly on full performance.
API Postage Valuation Pivot: Transformed an inbound vendor demand for disputed API postage adjustments into an $18,000 recovery with mutual releases, delivering a $23,000 financial variance in the client's favor.
NY Supreme Court Shipping Action: Secured a $60,000 recovery on $116,000 in contested shipping invoices through active litigation in the New York Supreme Court, resolving a multi-year nonpayment and billing adjustment dispute.
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Executives, founders, public figures, and businesses rely on our counsel to negotiate and litigate high-stakes disputes involving severance packages, deferred compensation, employment agreements, equity rights, restrictive covenants, and executive departures. Our practice covers complex matters involving executive compensation structure, worker classification, wage-and-hour compliance, tip misappropriation, and claims under the Fair Labor Standards Act.
Representative Audit Corrections
Merger Equity Clawback Defense: Defeated an attempt to claw back a 10% equity stake from a founding client on the eve of a $10 million merger with a publicly traded AI startup; exposed fabricated statements of work, altered vesting agreements, and backdated termination documents to preserve the client's asset value.
Private Equity Severance Negotiation: Resolved a private equity client's departure claims by securing a $126,000 severance package—a 193% increase over the initial $43,000 corporate offer—encompassing the full resolution of equity, deferred compensation, and termination disputes.
Brooklyn Mirage Executive Separation: Converted an initial zero-severance corporate position into a $45,000 recovery for a former Director of Premium Sales within 12 days, resolving all underlying termination and compensation claims.
La Victoria Wage & Hour Settlement: Secured a six-figure settlement on behalf of a multi-plaintiff hospitality waitstaff, correcting systematic employer violations of minimum wage, overtime, and tip-credit provisions. [1]
California FEHA Liability Mitigation: Mitigated a 10-count California FEHA and retaliation claim carrying an initial $100,000 demand, utilizing localized risk pricing to secure a 70% liability reduction and cap the client’s final contribution at $30,000.
Olsen Twins Class Action Mediation: Represented Mary-Kate Olsen and Ashley Olsen in a confidential JAMS mediation, successfully resolving a putative class action alleging violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) and New York Labor Law (NYLL). [1]
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Investment firms engage us to protect portfolio companies and asset positions from management misconduct, contract breaches, and structural default. We represent creditors, corporate debtors, and institutional interests in lender-liability actions, loan and guaranty enforcement, workout negotiations, asset recovery, and complex bankruptcy disputes.
Representative Audit Corrections
Institutional RMBS Enforcement: Represented institutional investors alongside the New Jersey Attorney General in a landmark enforcement action against Credit Suisse Securities, resolving material misrepresentations in a $10 billion residential mortgage-backed securities offering. [1]
Fund Administrator Fraud Recovery: Represented principal investors in a $40 million recovery action against a fund administrator arising from systematic misrepresentations linked to a large-scale Ponzi scheme.
In re Diamond Finance Co. Insolvency: Represented the Chapter 7 Bankruptcy Trustee to identify, preserve, and recover estate assets for investor-victims of a $12 million structured auto-financing Ponzi scheme.
False Claims Act Defense: Represented Wells Fargo Bank, N.A. in a federal Department of Justice government enforcement action under the False Claims Act regarding HUD/FHA loan origination and compliance certifications.
Easyship ABC Commercial Mitigation: Defended Easyship Inc. as an assignee-for-the-benefit-of-creditors (ABC); investigated underlying commercial claims to reduce an active $49,000 demand down to a $5,000 nominal payment, securing a total voluntary dismissal.
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We guide corporate entities, investment firms, and high-profile individuals through government subpoenas, regulatory inquiries, internal investigations, complex document production, and direct communications with state and federal enforcement authorities. Our practice focuses on minimizing operational disruption, protecting sensitive data, and managing revolving-door and government-access compliance issues.
Representative Audit Corrections
State Department OIG Subpoena Response: Represented an investment management firm in responding to a Department of State Office of Inspector General subpoena concerning a former U.S. ambassador’s advisory role, managing sensitive compliance assessments and government-access protocols.
Homeland Security Data Inquiry: Advised a logistics technology platform in responding to a Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) subpoena, successfully managing the secure production of customer accounts, addresses, and billing records.
FDA OCI Grand Jury Subpoena Response: Represented a logistics technology company in connection with an FDA Office of Criminal Investigations grand jury subpoena, overseeing the identification and production of transaction records related to specific commercial accounts.
HSI Counterproliferation Compliance: Counseled a logistics technology firm in responding to a Homeland Security Investigations counterproliferation subpoena, assessing user account records to ensure full regulatory alignment.