Publications, Presentations & Events Archive

The Manhattan District Attorney’s investigation has nothing to do with federal law, public acts, or violations involving the political or electoral process. Moreover, as possible charges brought by a sovereign state, they cannot be pardoned by an outgoing President.

The U.S. Senate joined the House of Representatives and passed the 2021 National Defense Authorization Act, a defense spending bill, which included the Corporate Transparency Act (the “Act”).  That Act sets forth an expansion for the disclosure requirements for certain US and non-US companies doing business in the United States. 

In the dying days of his administration, President Trump has moved to smash the civil service.  Through Executive Order 13957 (“EO 13957” or the “EO”), the President aims to carve out an entire new class of civil servants, sheering them from long-standing federal protections designed to create a professional, apolitical federal workforce.  Lewis Baach Kaufmann Middlemiss is investigating the scope of the Executive Order and possible remedies available to affected civil servants.

This year has seen a push for reform of Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act from both sides of the aisle. While the parties’ positions on what and how regulation should change differ greatly, they agree that Section 230 is overly broad and has allowed platform providers to amass an undesirable amount of control over the content available on the internet.

Eric Lewis is interviewed extensively in The Andorra Hustle, a documentary by Eric Merola about FinCEN's use of the USA PATRIOT Act to shut down Banca Privada d'Andorra.

The Second Circuit held that 28 U.S.C. § 1782(a) cannot be used to support petitions for discovery for use in private foreign commercial arbitrations, settling an issue that has lingered unresolved in the circuit since 2004. The new decision, In re Guo, puts the Second Circuit squarely at odds with recent decisions issued by other circuit courts, raising the possibility that the Supreme Court will take up the issue next session to resolve the split. While Guo does not impact the ability of parties to foreign public arbitrations and litigations to take § 1782(a) discovery, for now at least, parties to private foreign arbitrations may have to look to more favorable circuits outside New York for relief.

A. Katherine Toomey moderated the International Business Law Consortium event IBLC 2020: Trends in Bankruptcy and Insolvency and gave a presentation on Chapter 15 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code.

The health effects of Covid-19 have created personal tragedies that seemed unimaginable a few short months ago. Despite the efforts of governments, the virus has shown that the world is inextricably interconnected. How we respond will dictate whether that interconnectedness is a positive or negative force as we try to recover from the economic crisis that has arisen in the wake of the pandemic. In Latin America, individuals and companies have either begun to see, or fear, the return of currency controls, defaults and chaos as the governments of the region confront historic challenges. Many have once again sought refuge in the perceived relative safety of the U.S. financial system. However, investors may find that their sudden search for a safe haven may bring on a series of unanticipated problems.

There is a popular misconception that asset forfeiture is limited to the luxury cars, private jets and speedboats of drug dealers, but many well-meaning businesses and individuals are finding themselves with their assets seized under statutes that provide U.S. authorities extremely broad powers. And these seizures often occur without any warning to, or even accusation against, the owner of the assets. Once seized it can take years to obtain recovery of perfectly legal assets. In these uncertain times, as many well-meaning people seek the relative safety of the U.S. banking system, individuals and companies in many countries may innocently use money-transfer systems that exponentially increase the risk of having their assets seized. Why does this happen and how can it be avoided?

The coronavirus pandemic has not only caused untold misery, it has forced the virtual shutdown of the global economy. Everyone hopes that this crisis will pass, but events have shown there is a false choice between mitigation and resumption of economic activity. Mitigation, with testing and social distancing, must be done to avoid wave after wave of disease, which will only lead to rolling cessations of economic activity. Given the economic dislocation occasioned by this global crisis and that it is likely to continue for at least a few more months, we can anticipate that many businesses will fail, and others will require time and help to restore financial health and operations. There is little doubt that innumerable global businesses will need the protection of an organized and coordinated insolvency and reorganization process as soon as this crisis is over. The time for them to begin planning is now.

In recent weeks, the world has been engulfed by the spread of COVID-19 as governments scramble to protect their citizens and avoid the collapse of public health systems and long-term damage to their economies. The wide-ranging efforts to flatten the curve of COVID-19 has created a tidal wave of ramifications for an international business community that is today more interconnected than ever, and led to high levels of uncertainty surrounding current and future contractual obligations. At a time when government policies fluctuate daily and courts and arbitration centers are becoming increasingly inaccessible to resolve active disputes, it is difficult for a party to seek or obtain interim measures or relief. From country to country and company to company, the responses have not been uniform: some commercial parties have continued to perform their obligations, while others have argued for wholesale abdication of their responsibilities, and still others are somewhere in between. Certain trends of government action and commercial response are emerging worldwide, no less so in the hyper-connected global businesses that are found in the Middle East.

Having practiced law in the United States for more than twenty years, it is the American jury system that seems to be the greatest source of confusion, mystery and sometimes fear for clients. Many of them have seen the classic jury room movie Twelve Angry Men or, more recently, Runaway Jury, and fear that an unreasonable jury will bankrupt their companies or convict them of crimes they did not commit. For all of the questions about juries I have answered over the years, I now have a new experience on which to draw – two months ago I was a juror on a federal criminal jury trial. I was surprised by what I learned inside the jury box and inside the jury room and it changed some of my own assumptions about juries.

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.

In these tough times, when clients are looking to protect assets and increase revenue, it is more important than ever to ensure that their arbitral awards are collectible. A truly successful outcome requires the ability to enforce and monetize the award that was won in the arbitration. When faced with a recalcitrant award debtor, it is imperative to think strategically and work closely with counsel and experts to enforce and identify recoverable assets.

Banks serving clients in the many countries the U.S. views as high risk for money laundering should be aware that the U.S. Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (“FinCEN”), a bureau of the U.S. Department of the Treasury, plans to expand its use of “special measures” to fight money laundering and terrorist financing. 

Banks serving clients in the many countries the U.S. views as high risk for money laundering should be aware that the U.S. Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (“FinCEN”), a bureau of the U.S. Department of the Treasury, plans to expand its use of “special measures” to fight money laundering and terrorist financing. Per its 2020 budget and performance report, FinCEN expects by 2022 an increase of 30% in its use of “special measures,” including those authorized by § 311 of the USA PATRIOT Act (“§ 311”).

Adam Kaufmann moderated a panel at the inaugural OffshoreAlert Conference Latin America. The panel presented the Brazilian perspective on corruption enforcement, international cooperation, and asset recovery from both the prosecution and defense perspectives.

Cristián Francos lectured on FCPA principles at the University of Buenos Aires School of Law’s Masters program in Criminal Law, Corporate Criminal Liability and Compliance section.  

Lewis Baach Kaufmann Middlemiss partner Cristián Francos spoke at ACI's Anti-Corruption Compliance for High Risk Markets conference on July 24, 2019 in Washington, D.C.

Arthur Middlemiss was a panelist at a CLE event titled "Doing Business in Mexico: Legal Developments in Arbitration and Financial Crime (Anti-Money Laundering and Anti-Corruption)," jointly presented by Lewis Baach Kaufmann Middlemiss PLLC and Von Wobeser y Sierra, S.C.

Cristián Francos served as Organising Committee Head for the 22nd Transnational Crime Conference in Buenos Aires. 

Adam Kaufmann delivered the keynote speech at the 15th International Arbitration Conference in Rio de Janeiro.

Many people outside of Argentina, as well as those within, have watched in wonder as the explosive investigation of the Cuadernos case evolves and touches upon more and more individuals and companies. Recent experience has taught us that investigations of this magnitude are never contained within a country’s borders and individuals and companies that have done, or are doing, business in Argentina must consider the civil and criminal ramifications of the growing corruption scandal regardless of their own culpability.  

Adam Kaufmann delivered the keynote presentation at the Brazilian Center of Mediation and Arbitration (CBMA)'s Third International Conference.

The increasing global focus on corruption has led to stronger international cooperation and coordination among regulators, resulting in landmark enforcement actions in new jurisdictions. [...] This panel offered private and public sector prespectives on the latest enforcement trends, the key elements of the new anti-corruption laws, and what all this means for businesses and individuals involved in transnational corruption cases.

The First Department Appellate Division in New York recently issued a ruling that will make the recognition of foreign country money judgments more difficult in New York. Kate Toomey and Tara Plochocki summarize its impact.

Eric Lewis focuses on three key areas: (1) the widening of the net from sanctioned individuals to their families; (2) the application of the evasion provisions to foreign persons; (3) the bringing of new classes within existing sanctions.

A dual Brazilian and US national who has led TheJudge litigation funding and insurance company in New York for the past year has returned to private practice, joining disputes boutique Lewis Baach Kaufmann Middlemiss to help strengthen its Latin America practice.

Ms Toomey is quoted saying, "If [the case] is decided in favor of Hamer, then it may signal a small equitable 'crack' in the longstanding edifice that says time limits to file appeals are jurisdictional." 

“I’m very, very lucky to have an opportunity where I can practice in international arbitration, focused on the substantive areas that I know well, and also be able to apply the skills I’ve learned working at the litigation finance company,” Levin said.

Mr. Liston, an attorney for Rogicki in both the SEC and state court matters, told Law360 on Friday that his client has "accepted full responsibility for his actions.", an attorney for Rogicki in both the SEC and state court matters, told Law360 on Friday that his client has "accepted full responsibility for his actions."

Featured speaker for Women’s Bar Association business development lunch concerning how cultural differences can affect business development strategies and the potential for success.