The Firm represents both employees and employers in contract disputes, pre-litigation negotiations, and employment termination and severance agreements. The Firm represented MortgageIT, a publicly traded mortgage bank, and Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia in their employment related disputes. We also represent both plaintiffs and defendants involved in common law claims such as breach of contract, tortious interference, defamation, unfair competition, and claims arising under restrictive covenants. The Firm is also experienced in mediation and arbitration.

Representative Cases:

Successfully represented the defendants in a $30 million breach of contract and breach of fiduciary duty action.

Wu v. Maroley Communications

Obtained a complete dismissal of a lawsuit brought by Donald Trump’s company seeking $45 million in connection with a real estate development in Tel Aviv.

Trump Marks v. Crescent Heights
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The Firm has represented plaintiffs and defendants in a number of commercial disputes between and among business partners involving allegations of breaches of contract and fiduciary duties.

Representative Cases:

Represented a Chilean business in opposition to an emergency application to freeze its bank accounts in New York arising from a Latin American partnership dispute.

Reyes v. Banco de Chile

Obtained a defense verdict on behalf of a mortgage bank, now a subsidiary of Deutsche Bank, in a case claiming that the bank had breached a partnership agreement with another company regarding online mortgage sales.

NYRealty v. IPI Financial Services
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The Firm represents both corporations, individuals and advocacy organizations prosecuting their rights associated with real estate and land use. The Firm’s practice spans matters as diverse as contract litigation over real estate rights to some of the most important land use policy issues that confront New York’s zoning and development.

Representative Cases:

The Firm represented rent-stabilized tenants in an appeal before the New York Court of Appeals in which the landlord sought to void a prior consent judgment on the ground that the tenants’ waiver of certain of their rights under the rent-stabilization laws violated public policy.

Riverside Syndicate v. Monroe

The Firm represented the plaintiff in an action to enforce a $32 million real estate contract for the sale of a major industrial property.

Gateway Detroit Associates v. The Witkoff Group
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The Firm has extensive experience representing corporations, small businesses and individuals in their efforts to resolve complex competition disputes. Past engagements have included such diverse matters as the Visa/MasterMoney antitrust litigation, litigation on behalf of Ford Models Inc. relating to model contracts and defense of Newsday, Inc. in a broad array of business torts.

Representative Cases:

The Firm represents a leading model management agency in multiple ongoing litigations and an arbitration before the American Arbitration Association alleging, among other things, that a competitor agency tortiously interfered with Ford’s contracts with its models.

Ford Models, Inc. v. Next Management, LLC

The Firm represents a newspaper publisher in defense of a wide-reaching complaint brought by a purported competitor asserting claims under the RICO statute, the Lanham Act, and the Sherman Act.

Conte v. Newsday
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From anti-cybersquatting cases to enforcement actions against gray marketers, the Firm has successfully litigated a number of matters under the federal trademark and copyright laws on behalf of both large corporations and individuals. The Firm represents numerous writers, journalists, and publishers in connection with book, television, and movie contracts, as well as related disputes. The Firm also reviews works of fiction and nonfiction to ensure that all legal issues have been considered and addressed (especially potential defamation). In addition, the Firm provides counseling on copyright, publicity rights, and related issues. Among the Firm’s notable clients are former ABC news correspondent John Miller, author Pete Hamill, local television journalist Gabe Pressman, ABC television producer Chris Isham, and Penguin Putnam, a division of Pearson.

Representative Cases:

The Firm has represented Martha Stewart’s company in numerous enforcement matters involving unauthorized use of the company’s trademarks, copyrighted material, and images of Ms. Stewart.

Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia

The Firm represented noted artist Donald Sultan in a contract negotiation over his work in designing a hotel property in Hungary.

Sultan v. Read
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The Firm is regularly retained by clients to provide advice and counsel, and to conduct confidential internal reviews and investigations of a confidential nature. Issues reviewed include: wage and hour practices; anti-discrimination procedures; anti-fraud and internal security practices; and compliance with settlements, consent decrees, or court orders. The Firm also represents clients in civil investigations by governmental agencies, such as the New York State Attorney General’s Office.

The Firm is well known for its appellate advocacy in all areas of law, in state and federal courts of appeals, including several important victories in the U.S. Supreme Court. In the Second Circuit, the Firm has won important appellate victories for our clients in cases involving a wide variety of legal issues, including antitrust, election, First Amendment, police misconduct, and prison conditions.

Representative Cases:

Representing Brian McNamee, Roger Clemens’s former trainer, the Firm successfully obtained a decision from the Fifth Circuit affirming the dismissal of Mr. Clemens’s lawsuit in Texas federal court. The Firm also represented Mr. McNamee during a Congressional hearing on the use of performance enhancing substances and in his suit against Mr. Clemens which is currently pending in federal court in the Eastern District of New York.

McNamee v. Clemens

In a case involving the loss of over 40,000 photographic images, the Firm represented a renowned photojournalist in a landmark appeal before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit that established a new standard for the valuation of lost images.

Grace v. Corbis-Sygma
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