COMMERCIAL
On general commercial litigation matters, The Firm has significant clients in a variety of industries including the garment, jewelry, recruitment, shipping, exercise equipment, computer, consulting, design and marketing companies, advertisement agencies, web based business-to-business and business-to-consumer, pharmaceutical, banking, jewelry, digital marketing, publishing, real estate and textile industries. The Firm also represents real estate owners, brokers, developers and trustees, executors and administrators of estates. After almost twenty years in the practice of law, there are few industries which the firm’s founder, Mr. Roth, has yet to represent.
CRIMINAL
Our criminal defense team represents the spectrum of those charged with crimes; from the large white collar offenses or major felonies in Federal and State criminal courts to smaller misdemeanor and felony indictments. Our cases have included charges of financial/securities crimes such as securities fraud, wire and mail fraud, “pump and dump” schemes, market manipulation, Ponzi schemes and all forms of scams, pyramid schemes and fraud. Our team also has experience in representing clients with assertions of narcotics trafficking, tax evasion, medicare/medicaid fraud and much more.
EMPLOYMENT
The Firm has an extremely sophisticated employment litigation practice. It has represented both employees and employers in a wide variety of disputes including traditional breach of employment contract, non-solicitation, non-compete, trade secret/confidentiality, wrongful termination, terminations with or without cause, repayment of loans/notes and failure to pay salary/commissions. The Firm has also represented employers and employees in very high profile d discrimination cases based on sex, age, disability, race and gender. These disputes have been before federal and state courts as well as the various arbitration tribunals. Many of these matters have not only received national attentoin and recognition, but have involved some of the largest companies and high profile and wealthy celebrities, personalities and mega-billionaires. The strategy employed in each of these cases on the Plaintiff side is identical. Realizing that litigation is prohibitively expensive, the Firm encourages notifying the company in advance of filing an action in an attempt to resolve the matter prior to filing a SUmmons and Complaint. It has tremendous success in so doing. When it is unable to amicably resolve such matters prior to filing, it then engages in aggressive, serious litigation, letting the company know that the matter will be extremely expensive with great risk. On the company side the Firm similarly attempts to resolve the dispute effficiently and effectively. In the overwhelming majority of its representations, the Firm is successful in resolving the matter in the early stages. However, as its adversaries are well aware, it is willing to go the distance should it need to. The decision on whether to settle, of course, is always that of the client.
Along with its employment litigation practice, the firm also counsels corporate and individual clients in drafting, negotiating and finalizing employment, post-employment and severance agreements. It also drafts, negotiates and finalizes agreements that relate to specific issues including change of control, golden parachutes, ocnfidentiality, non-solicitation and consulting agreements. We also advise clients on sexual harassment policies and prepare, on behalf of corporate clients, policy manuals, proceedure manuals, sexual harassment policy procedures and all employment related policies and procedures guides and instructions.
ENTERTAINMENT
In the entertainment field, The Firm’s experiences are vast and significant. It represents clients in the film and motion picture industries, radio, television, Broadway, publishing, museums, arts and recording industries. The areas of litigation are also diverse and include contractual disputes, intellectual property and right of privacy litigations, tort, fraud, defamation, First Amendment and all other areas of entertainment commercial litigation. The clients in the entertainment field include:
- Film, TV, and stage studios and companies
- Celebrities
- Recording artists/studios and record labels
- Agents and managers
- Memorabilia companies
- Production and post-production studios
- Books, newspaper and magazine publishers
- Artiste
- Art auction houses
- Web based and internet entertainment entities
- Authors and songwriters
- Art schools
- Models and supermodels
- Artists and bands
- Photographers
The Firm has published several articles on differing aspects of entertainment/sports litigation and has been quoted in numerous magazines, periodicals, trade journals and daily newspapers. Certain of its results have received regional prominence and have been cited and discussed in legal journals. Mr. Roth, its founder, is a member of the Litigation and Entertainment Committees of the American Bar Association and as a member of Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts, where he regularly leads clinics to consult and offer legal advice and representation to artists on a pro bono basis.
REAL ESTATE
The Firm represents clients in general real estate transactions, including purchases, sales and commercial lease negotiation. We also represent lenders as closing counsel. Overall, The Firm is able to provide its clients with the benefit of its years of cumulative experience related not just to contract negotiation and closing but everything else in between. This includes significant mortgage experience as we can provide and assist clients with relevant advice related to their personal financing arrangements and title.
SECURITIES
On the securities front, The Firm has effectively represented dozens of brokerage firms and has successfully defended hundreds upon hundreds of securities arbitrations involving customer and industry disputes. Its many victories have set apart from others through its ability to obtain attorney’s fees against its adversaries as well as its expertise in securing awards for claimants – in excess of $30 million. In addition, it has successfully defended actions relating to, among other things, the private placement of securities, investment banking agreements, financial consulting agreements and initial public offerings.
The firm has represented clients in the securities industry including:
- Merchant banks and commercial banks
- Public and private corporations
- FINRA broker-dealers
- Hedge funds
- Investment banks and bankers
- Issuers, underwriters and creditors in litigations that arise out of public offerings or the private placement of securities
- Venture capitalists
- Registered representatives
- Private and public investors
- Corporate finance clients
- Private equity firms
The types of securities arbitrations and litigations are too vast to mention. They include securities fraud, employment disputes, raiding, deceptive practices, unfair competition, RICO, failure to pay finders fees or commissions, contract, tort and the wide variety of both customer and industry FINRA related claims.
The Firm has a well regarded SEC/FINRA defense practice. It has gained national recognition representing public companies and their board members and senior officers, individuals, registered representatives, broker-dealers, hedge funds, investment bankers, private equity entities and public companies in a wide variety of enforcement, quasi criminal and criminal litigations throughout the country. The defense practice includes representations in investigations, enforcement proceedings and actions in federal court commenced by FINRA, the SEC, the FBI and Department of Justice. These representations include defending public companies in civil actions commenced by the SEC and other governmental agencies in federal courts from Ankorage, Alaska to Miami, Florida.
The Firm represents several individuals, registered representatives, stock brokers, broker-dealers, hedge funds, investment bankers, private equity entities and public companies in a wide variety of enforcement, quasi criminal and criminal litigations throughout the country. The defense practice includes representations in FINRA, SEC, the FBI and Department of Justice inquiries, investigations and enforcement proceedings. It also includes defending broker-dealers and public companies in civil actions commenced by the SEC and other federal governmental agencies in federal courts. The Firm also defends criminal defendants in federal and state criminal arrests, indictments and trials.
SPORTS
In the sports arena, the firm represents an array of clients — both prosecuting and defending claims — involving professional athletes, hall of famers, celebrities, agents, managers, producers, promoters, teams, memorabilia companies, national professional leagues, and small and large sports’ private auction houses.
The disputes vary from straight forward contractual disputes to sophisticated rights to privacy, intellectual property and fraud, federal and state court litigations. In so doing, the firm has represented the biggest names in professional football, baseball, hockey, boxing, tennis and golf in both private and high profile litigations and arbitrations.
