Lawrence Kamin defeated a multi-million dollar claim against our large U.S. grain merchant client. In this international arbitration, our firm successfully obtained a $1.3 million award in favor of our client on a counterclaim against a foreign purchaser over failure to accept grain delivered under its shipping contracts.
In a dispute over title rights to a commercial property, Lawrence Kamin defeated a $1.2 million damage claim against our real estate owner client. Judgment was entered in our client’s favor quieting title and awarding $85,000 in attorneys’ fees.
In a hard-fought battle between two financial institutions, Lawrence Kamin defeated a Motion for Temporary Restraining Order. When our opponent appealed, we won the appellate case as well.
After a three week jury trial, Lawrence Kamin defeated a $5 million severe burn injury case against our children’s products manufacturer client.
In a $3.6 million arbitration, Lawrence Kamin defeated the claims against our futures introducing broker (IB) client. Our separate futures commission merchant (FCM) client was dismissed through our motion to dismiss early in the case. When the opposing side filed a new case before the Commodities Futures Trading Commission, we obtained a second judgment in favor of our FCM client.
Lawrence Kamin won a $1.2 million award in a partnership dispute between the principals of a proprietary trading firm. The losing partners tried to shield assets by transferring them out of the company, but our firm secured a second judgment against them reversing the transfers under the Uniform Fraudulent Transfers Act.
Lawrence Kamin tried and won a multi-week trial alleging that our non-profit association client denied due process in the expulsion proceedings of one of its members.
After nine days of testimony and argument, Lawrence Kamin defeated a $5 million professional negligence case against our national broker-dealer client.
On behalf of our real estate owner client, we obtained a judgment for compensatory damages and an additional award of $50,000 in attorneys’ fees against a former tenant who left the rental property damaged.
Lawrence Kamin won a jury trial in a case seeking $750,000 in damages for the partial amputation of a child’s finger.
SITUATION: A national broker-dealer engaged Lawrence Kamin to defend an $8 million claim brought by six investors. Each investor alleged that he had received unsuitable investment advice from the same financial adviser at the firm. One key piece of evidence was a scathing internal memo written by the adviser’s supervisor, which criticized the adviser’s proposed investment plans and called them a “compliance nightmare.”
STRATEGY: Rather than running from the memo, Lawrence Kamin embraced it at trial. Walking witnesses through a line-by-line comparison of the criticisms and the pre-memo and post-memo investment plans, our litigators demonstrated that the criticisms of the memo had been taken seriously by the adviser and were largely addressed in revisions to the investment plans subsequently presented to the investors. By weaving together appointment calendars, fax cover sheets, and telephone records, Lawrence Kamin showcased the supervisor’s involvement throughout the revision process.
RESULT: The memo, which claimants thought would torpedo the client’s management, instead helped to prove that the client’s management team had carefully reviewed, scrutinized, improved, and ultimately approved the revised investment plans provided to these investors. The $8 million claim was denied.
SITUATION: An international bank client had promised a payroll tax company that its wire transfers would be completed within 24 hours of request. The bank hired Lawrence Kamin after the bank’s anti-money laundering procedures caused a full day’s delay in a wire transfer, resulting in a quarter-million dollar tax penalty for the payroll tax company’s customer.
STRATEGY: The bank’s initial reaction was to deny all liability and to aggressively defend. Lawrence Kamin’s recommended strategy was to seek settlement and take full responsibility for any tax penalty ultimately imposed. In exchange, the payroll tax company and its customer would promise full cooperation and exclusive control over all communications with the IRS regarding the tax penalty.
RESULT: After taking control over the communications, Lawrence Kamin secured agreement from the IRS to forgive the entire tax penalty, which protected the bank from liability, preserved its reputation, and saved the client over $100,000 in defense costs.
SITUATION: A large U.S. grain merchant was sued for $6 million by a foreign purchaser for breach of contract, when the grain the purchaser had ordered was not shipped in accordance with the parties’ sales agreement. As a result of a shortage of shipping containers during the contract period, the client was only able to ship a fraction of the contracted-for grain. The buyer claimed that, under international treaty, the merchant had the obligation to arrange for shipping containers, and that the merchant was liable for compensatory and consequential damages as a result of the breach.
STRATEGY: The merchant engaged Lawrence Kamin after prior counsel already had submitted initial position papers and significant documents which did not contest the buyer’s position. Our litigation team reframed the case by arguing that the international treaty incorporated domestic contract law and industry practices, both of which were favorable to our client. By recasting the complex international treaty dispute into a simple breach of contract case, Lawrence Kamin was able to pursue a $1.5 million counterclaim based on the buyer’s failure to accept delivery.
RESULT: The London-based arbitrator denied the buyer’s claims for compensatory, consequential and exemplary damages, and awarded our client $1.3 million on the counterclaim. An appeals panel later affirmed the decision.
SITUATION: Prior to hiring Lawrence Kamin, a national trade association had spent over a year in self-directed, unproductive, drawn-out settlement negotiations in a $350,000 contract dispute with one of its computer vendors. For internal reasons, the client’s primary objective was to avoid trial.
STRATEGY: After assessing the situation, Lawrence Kamin concluded that the vendor also wished to avoid trial. We recommended that the client leverage the vendor’s reluctance by aggressively pursuing litigation and engaging a rapid-fire campaign of letters, pleadings, and demands upon the vendor, averaging one ‘touch’ per day.
RESULT: Deluging the vendor with legal demands called the vendor’s bluff. After over a year of failed negotiations, a favorable settlement was reached within two months.
SITUATION: A class action law firm decided to expand its practice and start pursuing claims by investors against broker-dealers. A national broker-dealer assigned defense of one of the early cases to Lawrence Kamin.
STRATEGY: At our firm’s suggestion, the broker-dealer organized a task force with its competitors to coordinate and share information about the cases being filed by the class action firm and the positions, arguments, and experts being presented. Among other things, the task force selected cases to ‘fast track’ so that the class action firm would experience early losses.
RESULT: Within a short time, the class action firm decided to withdraw from pursuit of investor claims and cut its losses.
SITUATION: Our firm was engaged by a manufacturer client to defend against litigation brought forth by a contracted buyer after a stand-off between the two parties. The manufacturer refused to deliver custom-made products to the Buyer after the Buyer failed to make over $100,000 in payments. The Buyer’s suit demanded delivery of the custom products or, alternatively, return of the custom labels that had been provided by the Buyer and permanently affixed during the manufacturing process. The custom products were worthless to anyone other than the Buyer.
STRATEGY: Our attorneys proposed an agreed order of replevin, which directed the Manufacturer immediately to turn over the finished products to the Buyer. By statute, such an order of replevin also required the Buyer to post a bond to cover the value of the products if the Court ultimately decided against the Buyer and the Buyer was unable to return the products themselves.
RESULT: After several months of litigation, Lawrence Kamin secured a summary judgment in favor of the Manufacturer from the Court. Even though the Buyer filed for bankruptcy, the manufacturer received payment from the bond company, thereby recovering the entire debt.
Results content provided on this page is intended to be representative of the types of client matters Lawrence Kamin attorneys have handled and the legal expertise our professionals possess. Past performance is no guarantee of future results.
