Kasowitz Benson Torres LLP
Antitrust Litigation; Commercial Litigation; Complex Financial Products Litigation; Creditors' Rights and Bankruptcy; Financing Litigation; Securities Litigation
North America - United States • Dispute resolution
Kasowitz Benson Torres LLP
New York firm Kasowitz Benson Torres LLP is active for both plaintiffs and defendants in securities litigation, frequently using this dual role to successfully negotiate settlements. The firm has long been involved in matters arising from mortgage-backed securities and continues to handle work in that area, including acting for Wall Street investor Carl Icahn in a claim against Rialto Capital Advisors alleging breach of contract and fraud in connection with the servicing of a CMBS trust that resulted in a loss of almost $73m. Michael Hanin, who leads the practice with Sheron Korpus and Stephen Tountas, took the lead in that case. Hanin also acted for Waterfall Asset Management affiliate Cascade Funding in a case arising from its purchase from Bancorp of a pool of $900m in mortgage loan assets, to be funded through a securitization in a CRE CLO, ultimately recovering $13m for the client. Name partner Marc Kasowitz, a pioneer of high-value securities litigation on behalf of hedge funds, international banks and sovereigns, remains active in the practice.
Legal 500 Editorial commentary
Testimonials
Collated independently by Legal 500 research team.
- 'The team consists of knowledgeable, articulate and well-resourced individuals.'
Key clients
- U.S. Bank
- MBIA Insurance
- Gotham Asset Management
- Royal Bank of Canada
- Federal National Mortgage Association (“Fannie Mae”)
- Comcast Corporation
- Public Employees’ Retirement System of Mississippi
- Federal Housing Finance Agency
- MF Global
- Davidson Kempner Asset Management
- Loreley Financing
- Waterfall Asset Management
- Angelo Gordon & Co.
- ACA Financial Guaranty
- UniCredit Bank
- Axon Capital
- Serengeti Asset Management
- Carl Icahn
Work highlights
- Served as counsel to Cascade Funding, LP-Series 6, an affiliate of asset manager Waterfall Asset Management, in securing summary judgment on Cascade’s breach of contract claim against The Bancorp Bank relating to Cascade’s valid exercise of a “market out” clause in connection with the purchase of a pool of $900 million in mortgage loan assets for securitization in a CRE CLO.
- Carl Icahn, one of Wall Street’s most successful activist investors, hired the firm for the first time in 2022, for a dispute against Rialto Capital Advisors alleging breach of contract and fraud in connection with Rialto’s servicing of a CMBS trust secured by the Prizm Outlets mall in Nevada, which resulted in a loss of almost $73 million, plus almost $13 million in fees, the largest loss on a CMBS conduit loan since the 2008 financial crisis.
- On behalf of several mutual funds, a public pension plan, and other institutional investors, the firm is pursuing direct securities fraud claims arising from Valeant’s improper accounting and billions of dollars of fraud-related losses. Kasowitz confidentially resolved the claims that were asserted by the public pension plan due to, in part, our unique winning legal strategy to pursue opt-out claims under the N.J. RICO Act.
Lawyers
Leading partners
The strongest partners in their field, leading on market-leading deals and endorsed by peers and clients alike.
Practice head
The lawyer(s) leading their teams.
Sheron Korpus, Michael Hanin, Stephen Tountas