Following six days of hearings, a FINRA arbitration panel in Chicago awarded RLR client Kieran Fitzgerald $1,335,000 in compensatory damages for defamation against his former employer Sun Trading LLC, a high-frequency trading firm, which improperly marked his Form U5 and accused him of sabotaging the successful market-making algorithm that he had created for the firm.  The three-arbitrator panel also recommended full “expungement” from Mr. Fitzgerald’s industry record of all such false statements.  A copy of the Award can be found here.

In a modern-day David and Goliath battle, Sun Trading, represented by Seyfarth Shaw, commenced arbitration against Mr. Fitzgerald, seeking in excess of $1,000,000 in damages for breach of contract, breach of fiduciary duty, and violation of the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act.  The causes of action all related to Sun’s claim – now completely discredited – that Mr. Fitzgerald, prior to resigning from the firm, made a “series of unauthorized alterations and deletions to one of Sun’s proprietary trading algorithms.”

Mr. Fitzgerald hired RLR litigation partner Harry W. Lipman, who, with assistance from Stacy L. Ceslowitz, of counsel to the firm, filed counterclaims on Mr. Fitzgerald’s behalf, asking for expungement and damages for defamation.

The facts of the case are extraordinary.  Three days after Mr. Fitzgerald resigned from Sun, the firm unilaterally placed him on “unpaid leave” and shortly thereafter fired him and reported to FINRA that Mr. Fitzgerald had made unauthorized changes to Sun’s trading systems in violation of firm policy and industry standards of conduct.

Six months later, just as Mr. Fitzgerald was starting his new job (which he had secured prior to resigning from Sun), Sun escalated its attack by commencing the arbitration against Mr. Fitzgerald.

RLR filed counterclaims for Mr. Fitzgerald for defamation and expungement, and engaged in an aggressive and highly technical course of discovery to unearth the truth behind the allegations.

RLR’s dogged approach to discovery paid off.  The documentary evidence and, later, witness testimony revealed that Sun’s “internal review” was, at best, baseless, the allegations of wrongdoing were unsupported, and Sun’s arbitration was calculated to interfere with Mr. Fitzgerald’s career.  Following six days of hearings, the FINRA panel denied all of Sun’s claims and awarded Mr. Fitzgerald $1,335,000 in compensatory damages for defamation and recommended complete expungement of all allegations of wrongdoing from Mr. Fitzgerald’s FINRA record.

On April 16, 2014,  Justice Jeffrey K. Oing of the New York Supreme Court’s Commercial Division granted the motion of RLR client Sary Awad for summary judgment and held that he was owed a fully vested carried interest from his former employer, ZM Private Equity Fund II, GP, LLC.  ZM had argued that Mr. Awad’s claim should be dismissed based on what it argued were the unambiguous provisions of Mr. Awad’s employment agreement. While we agreed that the relevant provision was unambiguous, we argued, and Justice Oing agreed, that the crucial provision required payment in full of Mr. Awad’s claim. Justice Oing entered his decision from the bench after a lengthy oral argument, during which the Court read a portion of our brief into the record as  supporting its conclusion that ZM’s proffered interpretation of the vesting provision made no sense, as it could result in a lower carried interest payment in the case of a successful investment with an early exit, as every private equity fund hopes to obtain.

Randy Sellier handled this matter on behalf of Mr. Awad.

On August 15,2014, Judge Stanton of the Southern District of New York issued a decision granting the motion of our client, A.G.R, Eshcol Overseas, Ltd. To dismiss the case against it by Kuehne & Nagel, Inc. on the grounds of forum non conveniens. The case arose out of alleged overbilling in connection with the air cargo shipment of U.S. military equipment from Afghanistan to Dubai and Jordan for transfer to the U.S. The Court accepted our argument that, even though the plaintiff is a New York corporation, its choice of forum was entitled to minimal deference because the operative events had no nexus with New York, and that Israel, where our client is located, was the appropriate forum for resolution of the dispute.

Randy Sellier handled the matter for RLR.

RLR of-counsel attorney Mark Helweil has been selected for inclusion as a one of New York’s 2014 “Super Lawyers” in the area of Matrimonial and Family Law. Super Lawyers is a rating service of outstanding lawyers from more than 70 practice areas who have attained a high-degree of peer recognition and professional achievement. The selection process is multi-phased and includes independent research, peer nominations and peer evaluations.

RLR was listed in the May 21, 2012 issue of New York Magazine as one of the New York Area’s Best Law Firms based upon LexisNexis® Martindale-Hubbell® Peer Review Ratings where at least one out of four of their lawyers achieved the AV® Preeminent™ Peer Review Rating.

RLR associate Robert Freilich been selected for inclusion as a one of “Super Lawyers” New York Metro Rising Stars in the area of Business Litigation. Super Lawyers is a rating service of outstanding lawyers from more than 70 practice areas who have attained a high-degree of peer recognition and professional achievement. The Rising Stars list recognizes the top lawyers under age 40. The selection process is multi-phased and includes independent research, peer nominations and peer evaluations.

RLR member Mark Rottenberg has for more than twenty-five years been rated AV Preeminent® by Martindale-Hubbell® Peer Review Ratings.™ AV Preeminent® is a significant rating accomplishment – a testament to the fact that a lawyer’s peers rank him or her at the highest level of professional excellence.

RLR member Mark Rottenberg has this year again been selected for inclusion as a one of “Bergen’s Top Lawyers” in the area of Business, Corporate and Commercial Law by (201) Magazine, based upon the results of the annual Bergen’s Top Lawyers peer-review survey, conducted by Professional Research Services (PRS) of Royal Oak, Michigan.

RLR member Mark Rottenberg has this year again been selected for inclusion as a one of New York’s “Super Lawyers” in the area of Business Litigation. Super Lawyers is a rating service of outstanding lawyers from more than 70 practice areas who have attained a high-degree of peer recognition and professional achievement. The selection process is multi-phased and includes independent research, peer nominations and peer evaluations.