Capabilities
We represent businesses, founders, and executives in a broad range of disputes, including equity ownership, commercial contracts, real estate, financial services, logistics, executive compensation, and individual and class wage claims.
Commercial Litigation
Our practice encompasses contract disputes, shareholder and board conflicts, and claims involving fraud and other business torts. We engineer tactical litigation strategies that operationalize the legal issues, commercial relationships, and business objectives at stake to expedite resolution at the pre-litigation stage.
Representative results
Commercial Litigation — case summaries
$1.14M
secured in 96 hours
A founding engineer faced a $233,000 clawback of one million vested shares 96 hours before a $10 million merger closed. He kept the shares and was paid $1,140,000.
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$300K → $60K
80% removed before litigation
An executive search firm's demand against Irth Capital rose from $120,000 to $300,000. Two months later it filed a single breach-of-contract claim for $60,000 and dropped the account stated theory.
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$1.16M+
interim payments refused
Applebee's owed more than $1.16 million in pandemic arrears and the landlord had already won summary judgment on liability. A motion to compel interim rent was defeated by counterclaims that could exceed the arrears.
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$0
paid, against six-figure exposure
A privacy plaintiff's firm demanded $15,000 over a LinkedIn Insight Tag, then filed suit. A zero-concession defense ended in a voluntary discontinuance — no settlement, no court appearance.
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$124K → $50K
payment reversed, from customer to client
A board-game company asserted more than $124,000 in packaging and shipping losses against Easyship, Inc. while owing about $55,000 in invoices. It paid $50,000 in a lump sum without litigation.
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125%
of principal, paid in three weeks
A year of failed collection against a debtor with a $3.6 million portfolio and no CPA credential ended in a $25,000 recovery, secured by a $50,000 confession of judgment and paid within three weeks.
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$23K
swing on a $5,000 demand
A minor $5,000 adjustment demand against a client became an $18,000 settlement payment to the client, with global mutual releases.
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$25K
on a $27,677 balance, in three days
A prolonged logistics and invoicing stalemate was resolved in three days with a $25,000 settlement on a $27,677 outstanding balance.
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$49K → $5K
reduced in an ABC proceeding
Easyship Inc. defended an assignment-for-the-benefit-of-creditors proceeding, and a $49,000 commercial liability demand resolved for a $5,000 payout.
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Fee exposure
added over opposition
A custom staircase contractor kept a $22,500 deposit and bet that litigation costs would consume a homeowner's recovery. Leave to add fee-shifting statutes was granted over opposition, and the matter settled out of court.
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All 8 claims
dismissed at the pleadings
Sellers who received $1.825 million for a distressed Water Mill property reacquired it for about $2.78 million, then sued on eight claims of home-equity theft, predatory lending and usury. All were dismissed at the pleading stage.
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Labor & Employment
Executives and prominent public figures rely on our counsel in severance negotiations, unpaid compensation disputes, equity clawbacks, and forced departures. We evaluate employment agreements, compensation structures, and the circumstances surrounding separation to protect earned compensation, preserve equity interests, and negotiate favorable exit terms
Severance
Labor & Employment — case summaries
228%
severance increase
A mid-level associate at a $7 billion boutique firm was offered $43,000 on asserted performance grounds. Forty-eight days later the sponsor paid $141,000 with full carry vesting.
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20×
the amount refused
In a ruling of first impression, the court held that a corporate officer can be individually liable as a 'hiring party' under New York's Freelance Isn't Free Act. The matter settled for 20 times the amount the company had refused.
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$45K
settled pre-suit in 12 days
Avant Gardner, the company behind Brooklyn Mirage, denied any obligation on roughly $60,000 of commissions with no signed contract behind them. $45,000 was settled in 12 days.
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Confidential
favorable terms at JAMS
Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen and Dualstar Entertainment Group resolved complex FLSA and New York Labor Law wage-and-hour claims at JAMS mediation on highly favorable, confidential terms.
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$30K
capped against a $110K demand
A ten-count California FEHA wrongful termination action seeking $110,000 resolved with the client's contribution capped at $30,000, co-defendants funding the balance.
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Six figures
secured for a group of waitstaff
A definitive six-figure settlement was secured against La Victoria nightclub on behalf of waitstaff alleging structural minimum wage, overtime, and tip-credit violations.
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Financial Services
Institutional investors and financial services firms turn to us to assert contractual rights, challenge improper management conduct, and protect portfolio assets. Our work includes investment and fee disputes, governance conflicts, and claims arising from fund operations and commercial relationships.
Matters include
Financial Services — case summaries
Advised
State Department OIG subpoena
Irth Capital, a Qatari fund backed by the Qatari family, was represented in responding to a State Department Office of Inspector General subpoena concerning a former U.S. ambassador's temporary advisory role.
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Advised
HSI subpoena on customer data
A logistics technology company was represented in responding to a Homeland Security Investigations subpoena seeking customer account, address, and billing data.
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Advised
grand jury subpoena, FDA OCI
A logistics technology company was represented in responding to a grand jury subpoena from the FDA's Office of Criminal Investigations seeking address and transaction records for targeted commercial accounts.
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Restructuring
Financial distress demands swift, strategic action. We provide efficient and practical counsel across:
Representative matters include successfully reducing $49,000 demand in ABC Assignee proceeding to a $5K settlement.
Counsel across
Our results reflect a consistent ability to change the trajectory of a dispute—securing multi-fold increases, engineering dramatic reductions in exposure, and converting inbound demands into inbound settlements.
Represented a founding engineer 96 hours before the closing of a $10 million merger, defeating a $233,000 equity clawback through timed pre-litigation escalation and an emergency weekend board resolution, delivering one million shares and a $1.14 million payment at closing.
Represented a private equity client terminated on purported performance grounds, challenging the employer’s stated rationale and increasing its $43,000 opening severance offer by $98,000 to secure a $141,000 package—4.3x the industry average.
Defended a Qatari-backed investment fund against a $300,000 placement fee demand asserted by an Am Law 200 firm, reducing the claimed amount by 80% through pre-suit negotiations before the claimant filed suit for $60,000. The motion to dismiss is fully briefed and awaits the court’s ruling.
Represented a Brooklyn Mirage Director of Premium Sales in a compensation dispute arising from an unmemorialized arrangement, reframing $60,000 in withheld compensation as wage theft and securing a $45,000 settlement within 12 days.
Case Studies
+ View all insightsPrior results do not guarantee a similar outcome. Each matter is different, and the results described here were achieved on the specific facts of those matters.