dberglaw.com | BUSINESS LITIGATION | dberglaw.com
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BUSINESS LITIGATION

 

Litigation isn’t for the faint of heart. You have to be able to jump in with both feet. If it doesn’t make sense, I’d rather talk the client out of it. — David C. Berg

 

Our team represents corporate and individual clients in virtually every sort of commercial dispute, ranging from complex, high-stakes litigation to more routine breach-of-contract matters, but always in the context of fulfilling real business objectives. Even with our lean staffing and reasonable rates, litigation is still an expensive undertaking, which is why we insist from the outset that clients only enter into it with eyes wide open.

 

So, before we move forward with any litigation, we make sure our clients fully understand the potential risks and consequences from both the legal and business standpoints. Our decades of experience in litigating significant disputes gives us the ability to accurately gauge each matter’s likelihood of success, and we advise our clients accordingly. We provide them with an objective reading as to whether the case is worthwhile — both substantively and from a business perspective — and, in so doing, we lay out the risks in no uncertain terms.

 

Having our clients make an informed decision is crucial because, once we move ahead, we are known for pursuing each dispute aggressively and with their specific goals in mind. While our track record of successful outcomes speaks for itself, we measure those outcomes not solely in terms of money won or lost, but in terms of business problems solved.

 

Experience

We have prosecuted and defended a broad range of civil claims in New York state and federal courts — as well as in a variety of alternative dispute resolution (ADR) forums, including the American Arbitration Association and JAMS — and have tried cases in a multitude of court venues nationwide. In addition, we are frequently retained by national and international law firms requiring local counsel for New York-based litigation.

 

Our experience in civil, corporate, business and other litigation — includes both prosecuting and defending:

  • Breach of contract disputes
  • Fraud and statutory actions
  • Theft of trade secret disputes
  • Licensing disputes
  • Disputes between owners of closely held businesses (“business divorces”)
  • Securities fraud claims
  • Breaches of loyalty and fiduciary duty (or duties) by corporate officers, directors, and employees
  • Securities broker-dealer claims in customer arbitrations
  • Actions to pierce corporate veils
  • Employment-related claims including discrimination (gender, age, etc.), sexual harassment, wage and hour violations (including FLSA violations), wrongful discharge, emotional distress, and other serious workplace issues
  • Lease and guarantee disputes between commercial landlords and tenants
  • Other business disputes involving business torts, complex commercial contract and UCC disputes, director and officer liability claims, partnership and joint venture disputes, shareholder disputes, and other sophisticated commercial and corporate litigation
Our insurance defense work has included a range of clients such as:
  • Major pharmaceutical companies in multi-party federal and state court product liability actions
  • Landlords in cases involving exposure to lead paint
  • Property owners and contractors in strict liability actions
  • Directors and officers in actions brought under corporate D&O liability policies
Representative Matters
The following are examples of prior and/or current litigations:
    • Successfully represented world-renowned apparel licensor in breach of license agreement arbitration recovering royalties, attorneys’ fees, and costs from licensee
    • Successfully represented legendary fashion company in major lawsuit against certain of its senior-level employees and publicly held competitor who clandestinely opened and operated a competing entity that sold competitive products while the employees were still employed by such company
    • Successfully represented Brooklyn’s largest landlord and developer in breach of guaranty action against CNN, ABC, NBC, FOX, AP, UPI, and CBS obtaining summary judgment on liability and winning damages trial recovering seven-figure judgment and attorneys’ fees
    • Successfully represented CEO of major public company in significant commercial dispute
    • Successfully represented nation’s largest manufacturer of polyurethane roofing in federal court trial against distributor, obtaining judgment to pierce distributor’s corporate veil and recover multimillion-dollar judgment and attorneys’ fees from distributor’s individual shareholders
    • Successfully defended at trial in federal district court nation’s largest online provider of real estate data and information (and its CEO and COO) against chief marketing officer’s wrongful discharge and fraud claims
    • Successfully defended prominent national restaurant group in breach of commercial lease actions brought by multibillion-dollar international real estate trust
    • Successfully defended broker-dealer in string of multimillion-dollar federal and state court fraud actions pending over an eight-year period.
    • Successfully defended both the CEO and the acclaimed designer of widely popular fashion house against claims of sexual harassment and gender discrimination
    • Successfully defended former CFO of Towers Financial Corporation in federal court shareholder action and related SEC action (obtaining the only dismissal awarded to any corporate officer) in significant “Ponzi scheme” action
    • Successfully defended broker-dealer in multitude of fraud and related claims encompassed in In Re: The Bennett Funding Group, Inc., and succeeded in obtaining unprecedented indemnification award, including recovery of broker-dealer’s attorneys’ fees, from bankrupt debtor’s estate
    • Served as lead trial counsel for the Avoidance Litigation Trustee in In Re Marvel Entertainment Group, Inc., recovering millions of dollars in preferential and fraudulent conveyance transfers on behalf of Chapter 11 debtor
    • Successfully defended CEO of well-known national hospitality group against multimillion-dollar fraud claims brought by international bank