Kasowitz Benson Torres LLP > New York, United States > Firm Profile

Work highlights

Work highlights

• Represented MBIA in a decade-long put-back action against Credit Suisse in which MBIA sought to recover for breaches of representations and warranties related to RMBS insured by MBIA.
• Represented holders of $1.4bn-plus in notes issued by the National Collegiate Student Loan Trusts, the largest student loan securitizations ever, in groundbreaking litigation against the Trusts’ equity owners concerning the management and control of the Trusts.
• Represented Davidson Kempner Capital Management, Cowell & Lee, Autonomy Capital, Hutch Capital, and other holders of $550m in senior notes issued by China Fishery Group in resolving disputes arising from the bankruptcy of certain entities related to China Fishery Group, one of the world’s largest fishing companies.

Work highlights

• Representing Pilgrim’s Pride, one of the nation’s largest chicken producers, in resolving criminal antitrust claims relating to the US Department of Justice Antitrust Division’s high-profile investigation into alleged price fixing in the poultry industry.
• Representing Teva Pharmaceuticals, the world’s largest generic drug manufacturer (headquartered in Israel), in connection with an indictment brought by the United States Department of Justice’s Antitrust Division alleging that Teva participated in three alleged conspiracies to suppress and eliminate competition by agreeing to fix prices, allocate customers, and rig bids for generic drugs.
• Acting as lead defense counsel to Abraham Jose Shiera Bastidas, formerly the owner of multiple US-based energy companies, in his indictment and ongoing investigation into alleged corruption, wire fraud and money laundering charges relating to more than $1bn in energy contracts from Venezuela’s state-owned energy company, Petroleos de Venezuela.

Work highlights

• Represented MBIA in a decade-long put-back action against Credit Suisse in which MBIA sought to recover for breaches of representations and warranties related to RMBS insured by MBIA.
• Representing Teva Pharmaceuticals in different litigations in the US including a multi-district litigation, and in the defense of a securities class action.
• Represented Alaskan Reefer Management and Kloosterboer International Forwarding in securing a preliminary injunction in the District of Alaska enjoining the US government from assessing penalties for alleged Jones Act violations while the legality of already assessed penalties is adjudicated.

Work highlights

• Representing Ryan Serhant – who currently controls the listings of half a billion dollars in New York City real estate – in the separation from from his legacy brokerage firm Nest Seekers and the founding of his new independent brokerage and media company, “SERHANT.” The separation was a complex legal process involving contract interpretation, negotiation, non-competition issues, and financial issues.
• Representing Douglas Elliman in a putative class action currently pending in the Superior Court of the State of California, Los Angeles County. In this action, a former employee alleges, among other things, that Douglas Elliman of California failed to pay all non-exempt employees the minimum wage for all hours worked and overtime wages for all overtime worked, and failed to provide them compliant meal periods and rest breaks, or pay premiums.
• Represented XPO Logistics in an action brought against XPO and three of its employees by SEARS for allegedly taking confidential information from and unlawfully competing against Sears Hometown and Outlet Stores, where the three individuals were previously employed.

Work highlights

• Representing Teva Pharmaceuticals and its individual directors and officers in defense of one of the largest securities class actions currently pending as well as the more than 20 related direct actions, filed on behalf of more than 75 opt-out plaintiffs.
• Representing Prem Parameswaran, the former CFO of Eros Int’l, in a putative securities class action arising from a series of alleged misrepresentations regarding: (i) Eros’s financial condition; (ii) the accuracy of its public financial statements; (iii) and the integrity of its accounting practices.  Plaintiffs allege claims against our client arising under Sections 10(b) and 20(a) of the Securities Exchange Act.
• Representing HBK Capital Management, a leading investment manager in the structured credit space, as a respondent in a trust instruction proceeding recently commenced by Wells Fargo Bank, as trustee of 23 residential mortgage-backed securities (RMBS) trusts, arising out of the $4.5 billion settlement struck by Wells Fargo and other trustees with JPMorgan in connection with billions of dollars in losses stemming from hundreds of RMBS trusts due to JPMorgan’s violations of representations and warranties concerning the underlying mortgage loans.

Work highlights

• Represented MDC Energy, the oil and gas subsidiary of MTE, in its Chapter 11 bankruptcy case.
• Represented second lien term lenders of Fieldwood Energy in its chapter 11 bankruptcy case, successfully negotiating its recovery.
• Represented senior noteholders in the bankruptcy case of China Fishery Group Limited and its affiliates.

Work highlights

• Representing Teva Pharmaceuticals and its US subsidiary Actavis, in defending many antitrust class actions brought by private plaintiffs, as well as an antitrust action brought by 48 States, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico, which are consolidated in an MDL in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania that allege price-fixing of over 100 generic drugs.
• Representing Pilgrim’s Pride in a criminal price fixing investigation by the Department of Justice – Antitrust Division relating to the sales of broiler chicken products in the United States, one of the largest antitrust litigation matters currently ongoing in the U.S.

Work highlights

• Representing Fintiv in a case against Apple involving a patent that covers the management of virtual cards stored on mobile devices.
• Representing Zydus Pharmaceuticals in two Hatch-Waxman patent infringement actions involving generic versions of diabetic drugs INVOKANA® and INVOKAMET®.
• Represented defendant Reddit against allegations that Reddit, as well as over 100 other Amazon customers, including Airbnb and Square, use Ruby on Rails software implementing the HTTP web protocol as well as Amazon Simple Storage Service (‘S3’),  successfully securing summary judgment on non-infringement on behalf of Reddit.

Work highlights

• Represented Cottonwood Management in providing a $105m mortgage loan to finance the lease up of a newly completed 26-story office building commonly known as The Six located in Midtown Manhattan consisting of over 90,000 square feet of office space developed by Savanna.
• Represented iStar, a REIT focused on reinventing the ground lease sector, in its $170m acquisition of the 350,000-square-foot Newport Office Center 6 in downtown Jersey City, New Jersey, from the LeFrak Organization.
• Advised Haven Capital, a newly formed real estate finance platform formed by Ares and Regis Group, in connection with the negotiation of a new lease for its national headquarters at RXR’s 230 Park Avenue in Manhattan.