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Notable Case Results

Notable Case Results

  • $10MM+

    $10MM+ in mortgages vacated/dismissed for real estate entrepreneur

  • $2.6MM+

    $2.6MM+ recovered for financial services firm against former partner in clawback

Federated Retail Holdings, Inc. v. Sanidown, Inc.

  • $2.4MM

    $2.4MM collected for bedding manufacturer against Macy's in breach of contract action. Warner & Scheuerman obtained a $2.4MM net verdict for a bedding manufacturer in a breach of contract action against Macy's which wrongfully rejected the manufacturer’s goods. The verdict included the contract price of goods wrongfully rejected, lost profits on cancelled orders for additional goods which had not yet been shipped, and damages for “chargebacks.” The award for “chargebacks” was the largest amount against a major retailer to that point in the country. The Court found that the retailer could not reject the manufacturer’s goods as non-conforming without proper testing of the goods and without making a written demand for adequate assurance of performance under the U.C.C. even though the manufacturer had delivered non-conforming goods under a prior contract. When we demanded payment, in lieu of bonding the judgment, Macy’s paid the full amount of the judgment plus interest immediately.

Silvestri v. Smallberg

  • $2MM

    $2MM medical malpractice verdict affirmed through the court of appeals.Obtained a jury verdict in the amount of $2.059MM, which we sustained on appeal to both the Appellate Division and the Court of Appeals. The Appellate Division’s decision is published at 224 A.D.2d 172. The Court of Appeals decision is published at 88 N.Y.2d 1004 (1996).

Resmed Corp. v. Rite Surgical Supplies, Inc. et al.

  • $900K

    $900K collected for medical equipment manufacturer against internet wholesaler. A medical equipment manufacturer sought our help in recovering significant unpaid invoices for goods sold and delivered to an internet wholesaler. The contract breached by the wholesaler was guaranteed by the company’s chief executive officer and owner, a co-defendant, only to the extent of $600K. During the course of the ensuing litigation, the wholesaler abandoned its premises and ceased doing business. Funds were shifted out of corporate accounts rendering it insolvent by the time the judgment was entered. An investigation of the Owner by our team identified a history of real estate purchases and transfers. In lieu of defending insolvency transfer proceedings, the owner paid $900K out of his own personal funds to satisfy the debt.

Schear, et al. v. Citigroup, Inc.

  • $400K

    $400K collected against international restaurant owner for workers deprived of wages. We were retained on behalf of restaurant workers who had won a substantial judgment arising out of a wage violation case. While the corporate entity named in the judgment had ceased operating, we devised a strategy to pursue one of the individual owners, who had a lengthy history of attempting to hide assets to defraud his creditors. Our meticulous investigation of public and private sources, including property transaction records, financial documents, and court filings led us to $500,000.00 in a jointly-owned brokerage account. This marked the beginning of a 3+ plus year battle. Upon restraint of this account, the judgment debtor insisted that he wasn't an owner but merely a financial advisor to the owner. We commenced a turnover proceeding to seize the funds. The alleged owner moved to dismiss claiming that the judgment debtor had no interest in the funds but we successfully opposed the motion. We obtained both document discovery and depositions of the alleged owner revealing how ownership of the account was transferred back and off forth between offshore entities. Ultimately, there was a settlement in which our clients received most of the money in this account.

HSBC v. Branker

  • For more than a decade, we have been representing real estate entrepreneurs who purchase properties intending to contest ongoing mortgage foreclosure actions. We obtained, at the trial level, the dismissal of a mortgage foreclosure action by a bank against our real estate entrepreneur client on account of the bank’s failure to abide by discovery orders. We affirmed that dismissal on appeal to the Second Department. To our knowledge, it is the first time a New York Appellate Court has dismissed a bank’s foreclosure action on account of such non-compliance.

The Village of Oyster Bay Cove v. Yu

  • We were engaged by the Village of Oyster Bay Cove to collect a judgment in excess of $260K against a village homeowner. In light of the fact that there was a hefty mortgage and homeowner’s exemption applicable to the residence, efforts to sell the property to satisfy the debt would have been protracted and complicated. We looked elsewhere to satisfy the debt and identified other investment property in which the judgment debtor had an interest. Within weeks we were able to negotiate full payment with interest as part of a refinancing of the investment property.