Litigation & Disputes
Litigation & Disputes
We represent companies, founders, executives, and investors in high-stakes business disputes where the nominal claim often tells only part of the story. We have neutralized threatened litigation before filing, converted inbound demands into affirmative recoveries, reduced multi-claim six-figure exposures to fractions of their original value, and resolved disputes on terms that materially outperform the apparent legal posture. When litigation is unavoidable, the same discipline carries through: isolate the structural issue, concentrate leverage, and make every procedural move serve the commercial objective.
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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.