In the News Archive

The COVID-19 pandemic and the related economic crisis are causing financial uncertainty and liquidity problems at law firms of all sizes. Law firms are responding by taking aggressive steps to slash expenses by shortening or eliminating summer programs, deferring start dates for new hires, reducing pay, moving employees to part-time schedules, and laying off personnel.

Although it gets less press, law firms are almost certainly also looking to maximize income and bolster their cash positions through shifting personnel to countercyclical practices, aggressive collection strategies, drawing down letters of credit, and capital calls on partners. Firms are looking for loans from the U.S. government as well as conventional banks. But law firms tend to have few hard assets for security, and, given the economic circumstances, banks may look skeptically at their balance sheets. Firms may therefore look to less traditional forms of funding.

At first blush, class actions might seem an attractive option for courts to efficiently manage the burden the claims may impose on their dockets. But below the surface, there are significant doubts that these claims are suitable for class adjudication.

'Looking forward from this improbable ninth week of shutdown, I believe that litigation is about to enter another sea change,' writes Eric Lewis, a senior partner at litigation boutique Lewis Baach Kaufmann Middlemiss.

With the courts mostly closed, will sexual abuse plaintiffs get more time to sue? This article in City & State examines the effect of coronavirus-related court closures on Child Victims Act claims, quoting partner Jason Berland's recent piece in the New York Law Journal.

In a rather short period of time, the novel coronavirus has had an extraordinary impact on the lives of millions of people around the world. The business community is no exception. Businesses are closed, supply chains are disrupted, workers are being furloughed or laid off, and no one is quite sure when things will return to some semblance of normal. As we brace for the continued global economic consequences of the pandemic, it is important to think proactively, mitigate risk, and take advantage of the resources that are available to assist.

Jack Gordon and Mark Leimkuhler authored an article in Insurance Day discussing potential issues for reinsurers relating to the coronavirus crisis. 

Lewis Baach Kaufmann Middlemiss PLLC is pleased to announce that three of its lawyers have been named to the 2020 Washington, DC Super Lawyers list. Each year, no more than five percent of the lawyers in each state are selected by the research team at Super Lawyers to receive this honor. 

Creating a potential Catch-22 for the adult survivors given the opportunity to bring claims during the one year look-back period, the COVID-19 crisis has closed state courts to any new civil case filings and effectively stopped any of these cases from proceeding.

The business of law is personal, and the human interaction cannot be fully replaced by technology, particularly for those that practice on an international scale. Lewis Baach senior partner Eric Lewis, who usually travels the globe to meet with clients, offers his personal take on how he and his firm are coping during the pandemic.

The pundits will debate whether government delays enabled the coronavirus to spread so widely. Perhaps experts and politicians failed to implement earlier, less onerous measures that could have slowed its spread and lessened its impact because the eventual scope seemed unimaginable to them. It was only after the pandemic was well underway that decision makers acted with great urgency — too late to avoid crisis and hardship.  

There is a similar lesson for insurers and reinsurers: the potential for an unprecedented avalanche of COVID-19 insurance claims is clear, and the industry can and should take steps now, without waiting for specific claims and losses, to blunt the impact of the wave of claims and lawsuits that has already begun and is rapidly expanding.

Mr. Truppel was sentenced in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York to time served, with no supervisory probation or fine imposed, and was allowed to return to Argentina.

This article sets out the basic process for obtaining extradition to the United States and reviews certain recent cases that suggest that the United States is trying to leverage its political power to bring defendants to the United States either to fulfill political agendas or where the United States’ interest is tangential at best in view of the demonstrable interest of other countries.

In 2020 and beyond, foreign banks should expect the U.S. Department of the Treasury's Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, or FinCEN, to expand its use of so-called special measures.

Partner Adam Kaufmann was quoted in ProPublica's article on the Manhattan district attorney's criminal investigation of the Trump Organization and its focus on CFO Allen Weisselberg.

The San Diego Union-Tribune quoted senior counsel Jeffrey Tenenbaum in its piece on a California nonprofit's controversial project.

Poly Prep Country Day School is being sued again for past instances of sexual abuse by a student who claims that the school protected his abuser, a priest and former teacher. The suit, brought under the Child Victims Act, was filed in Kings County Supreme Court by attorneys at the firm Lewis Baach Kaufmann Middlemiss PLLC. The Child Victims Act gives victims a one-year window to file for claims of sexual abuse that took place past the statute of limitations.

John Moscow commented on the potential charges faced by Rudy Giuliani.

The Washington Post quoted partner Adam Kaufmann in its piece on Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance's investigation into President Trump.

Six LBKM professionals have been selected to the 2019 New York and Washington, DC Super Lawyers lists - an honor limited to 5 percent of the lawyers in each state. In addition, one LBKM professional has been selected to the 2019 New York Rising Stars list. 

Four Lewis Baach Kaufmann Middlemiss professionals have been recognized as Global Leaders in Who’s Who Legal: Asset Recovery 2019. Who’s Who Legal is one of the world’s leading directories of legal practitioners.

Bolton may be guilty of serious errors of judgment and defects of character. But he refused to play Trump's game — and now he might be the country's most valuable savior

Arthur Middlemiss spoke to Corporate Counsel regarding the September 27, 2019 consent order entered by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission detailing corruption offenses by Barclays PLC. 

A New York-based law firm that has focused on insurance litigation matters allegedly pocketed $1 million that was meant as a settlement payment in another case, a New Jersey-based insurance carrier has contended in New York state court.

Jeffrey Tenenbaum, head of the nonprofit practice at the DC-based law firm Lewis Baach Kaufmann Middlemiss PLLC, was quoted in this article in The Chronicle of Philanthropy on the steps nonprofit organizations can take to mitigate risk associated with fundraising.

LBKM partner Waleed Nassar has been recognized as a 2019 “Equality Trailblazer” by the National Law Journal in its inaugural list of top lawyers who serve as “agents of change” and have made an impact on equality through new legal strategies or innovative court cases.

Former Assistant U.S. Attorney Anthony Capozzolo — who headed a tax fraud case against former U.S. Rep. Michael Grimm and other high-profile investigations — was retained by the city when Nassau County District Attorney Madeline Singas launched an investigation last year, in conjunction with an audit into the city’s payout practices by State Comptroller Tom DiNapoli’s office. 

Partner Cristián Francos was highlighted by Global Investigations Review as a lawyer of note and a member of Argentina's investigations bar.

Jeffrey Tenenbaum, head of the nonprofit practice at the DC-based law firm Lewis Baach Kaufmann Middlemiss PLLC, appeared on NPR Affiliate WOSU Public Media to discuss the steps nonprofits can take to prevent the type of misappropriation alleged in the Jeffrey Epstein case.

Law360 asked Eric Lewis and other law firm leaders about the most common career blunders they see new attorneys make.

CBS2's Marcia Kramer interviewed former NYPD chiefs Diana Pizzuti and Joanne Jaffe regarding their discrimination lawsuit against the City of New York and NYPD officials.

John Moscow spoke to Law360 regarding the investigation of Tyco International by the Manhattan district attorney's office under Robert Morgenthau.

Adam Kaufmann, Art Middlemiss and John Moscow remember "The Boss," longtime Manhattan District Attorney Robert Morgenthau.

John Moscow shares a memory of Robert Morgenthau in the Washington Post's obituary.