Practice Areas
Creditors' Rights and Bankruptcy Reorganization
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Documentation, perfection and enforcement of security devices
- Principal counsel for debtors, committees, and other constituencies in debt restructuring and chapter 11 reorganizations, including:
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For Creditor(s): Coudert Brothers - Partner; Washington Mutual, holder of bonds; Wachovia holder of perpetual preferred; Lehman Bothers, holder of senior floating rate note; CIT holder of Senior Notes; The Reserve Fund - class action representative in fraud and breach of fiduciary duty action; numerous proceeding - including: actions to obtain relief of stay; adequate protection; compel assumption or rejection of Leases and executory contracts; and determination of extent, validity and priority of liens.
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For Committees: The Wickes Companies - for GSK public senior debt; Manville for the preferred shareholders; Saxon Industries for two issues of public debt.
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Chapter 11 trustee of Beker Industries Corp., a NYSE company in "hopeless" 5-year case. Within 6 months of appointment, proposed, negotiated and consummated Plan of Reorganization distributing $116 million.
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For Debtor, Wilson Foods Corporation (Fortune 200, 364 days through confirmation) and Golden Distributors (liquidating chapter 11, $100 million in assets).
- For Banks: Legal Braswell (Florida dealer clearance on reverse repos) and another broker liquidation.
Commercial Litigation (State and Federal Courts)
- Including internal investigations, pleadings, motions, depositions, pretrial, trials and appeals. Examples of cases in published decisions, including fraud and securities fraud, provided on request include:
Trusts and Estates (Wealth Management)
Since 1983, the Firm's principal has served as a Fiduciary (Trustee or Executor) and/or counsel to a number of Trusts and Estates including The Winston Foundation for World Peace (1984 to 2000). Prior to spending out in the late 90's, Winston was one of the larger funders in the peace movement. With NRDC, it funded and developed a team of Russian and US scientists to establish verification which allowed President Reagan to sign the disarmament treaty.
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The Firm does estate planning, administration and estate taxes, including, contested valuation with IRS and NYS.
- Recently, the Firm has been or is engaged in probate will contests, disputes among fiduciaries, tax situs disputes with NY and other jurisdictions, audits by IRS and NYS and valuation disputes, the situational transfer of situs of trusts, guardianships, recovery of lost assets and the disputed provenance of art.