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Kasowitz, Benson, Torres & Friedman
HeadquartersParamount Plaza
New York City
No. of offices7
No. of attorneysapprox. 375
Major practice areasprimarily litigation
Key peopleMarc E. Kasowitz, founding and managing partner[1]
Date founded1993
FounderMarc E. Kasowitz
Company typeLimited liability partnership
Websitehttp://www.kasowitz.com/

Kasowitz, Benson, Torres & Friedman is a national law firm headquartered in New York. The firm was founded in 1993 when Marc Kasowitz left Mayer Brown with 18 other lawyers and two profitable clients: chemical maker Celanese and real estate developer Jack Parker Corporation.[2].

Reputation and rankings

Many peers describe the firm as "aggressive" while others note it sometimes inflates legal achievements. [3]

The U.S. News - Best Lawyers rankings placed the firm in the top tier nationally for two practice areas: bankruptcy law and real estate litigation.[4]

The Vault in 2013 ranked the firm #6 for "Best Summer Program," #24 for "Overall Satisfaction," and #1 for "Most Fun Summer Program."[5]

Chambers USA, which sells extended profiles to attorneys and law firms, characterized the firm as "renowned for its exceptional performance in complex commercial litigation".[6] In 2013, it ranked Kasowitz as among the leading firms in general commercial litigation, bankruptcy/restructuring, insurance: dispute resolution: policyholder, and Securities: Institutional Plaintiffs. Additionally, Kasowitz’s insurance recovery practice group received the Chambers USA 2011 Award for Excellence.[6]

The Legal 500, which sells extended profiles to attorneys and law firms, in 2012 described the firm as "excellent across the board" and ranked it highly in the areas of Finance: Corporate Restructuring; Insurance: Advice to Policyholders; Litigation: Trade Secrets; and Real Estate. The publication also highlighted 15 individual Kasowitz attorneys, three of whom were recognized as "Leading Lawyers" and two as "Leading Trial Lawyers".[7]

Practice areas

The firm's largest practice is litigation, which includes areas such as antitrust, mass torts, insurance and real estate disputes, securities litigation, environmental law, and white collar crime. The firm also has practices in intellectual property, corporate law, family law, bankruptcy and creditors' rights, and employment law.[8]

Use of private investigators

The firm has been accused of inappropriately using private investigators in cases.

  • In March 2006, investigators hired by the firm were videotaped repeatedly removing trash from the home of a financial analyst in Edison, New Jersey.[9]
  • Another analyst, David Maris, reported that investigators repeatedly followed his wife as she left their home. When confronted by police, the investigators claimed to be working for insurance fraud investigators before admitting their association with the firm. In response to questions from the New York Post, attorney Mitchell Schrage sent written replies on "Mitchell Schrage & Associates" letterhead though he was in fact employed by Kasowitz.[9]
  • Four employees of Gradient Analytics, a Scottsdale, Arizona-based hedge fund, reported repeated calls from investigators hired by Kasowitz threatening them with "professional disaster" for producing analysis critical of a Kasowitz client.[10] Kasowitz, in a lawsuit that was ultimately dismissed, alleged the Gradient Analytics employees were part of a conspiracy to drive down the Kasowitz client's stock price.
  • In October 2006, William Gahan, a portfolio manager at Institutional Credit Partners (ICP), shared concerns about a company's accounting practices with a member of its board of directors. Days later, Gahan received a copy of a lawsuit Kasowitz had filed which Gahan viewed as an attempt to intimidate him. Thereafter, ICP employees "noticed cars lurking outside their building and following them home." After reporting the incidents, the FBI confirmed the investigators were employed by Kasowitz, which the firm disputes.[11]
  • In March 2006, Kasowitz attorney Michael Bowe was contacted by a purported private investigator from Montana named Michael Lair who claimed to possess damaging information related to one of the firm's adversaries. The firm paid the individual $6,000 of which $5,000 was for "travel expenses" yet received nothing.[12][13] In February 2007, Lair plead guilty to fraud.[14]
  • In a July 2011 motion related to its long-running lawsuit with Biovail, SAC Capital alleged that the firm had hired investigators to pose as representatives of a fictitious hedge fund called "Blackwood Group Capital Partners" and bait an analyst, John Gwynn of Morgan Keegan, into making damaging statements. Rutgers Law School Professor John Leubsdorf filed an expert opinion stating that Kasowitz violated New Jersey legal-ethics rules by contacting Gwynn after a lawsuit had been filed.[15]

Intelligence Options LLC

In December 2001, the firm formed a limited liability company named "KBTF Consulting and Investigations" in New York. In October 2004, the entity's name was changed to "KBTF Group." Then, in January 2014, the entity's name was changed a third time to "Intelligence Options."[16]

Intelligence Options LLC is a registered private investigator in New York and, in June 2013, registered to conduct business in Florida.[17][18] Correspondence related to the entity is signed by James Holohan, whose name has arisen in previous Kasowitz incidents involving private investigators.[19] Holohan is a licensed private investigator in the state of Florida.[20]

High-profile cases

Trump v. O'Brien

In January 2006, the firm filed a defamation lawsuit on behalf of Donald Trump against the author and publisher of the book TrumpNation, Timothy O'Brien and Time Warner Books, respectively.[21] The suit alleged that TrumpNation had falsely characterized Trump's net worth as "between $150 and $250 million", whereas Trump had estimated his net worth as between $2 and $5 billion -- and demanded compensatory and punitive damages at a minimum of $2.5 billion.[22]

According to Marc Kasowitz, a goal of the suit was to unmask O'Brien's anonymous sources.[23] During discovery, the firm filed a motion to compel disclosure of O'Brien's anonymous sources and notes from his interviews with them. The motion was initially granted but reversed on appeal. The lawsuit was dismissed by Judge Michele Fox on July 15, 2009.[24]

Lapine v. Seinfeld

On January 7, 2008, the firm filed a lawsuit on behalf of Missy Lapine, known as the "Sneaky Chef", against Jessica and Jerry Seinfeld, alleging that Jessica Seinfeld's book Deceptively Delicious had plagiarized a cookbook written by Lapine, and that Jerry Seinfeld had defamed Lapine by calling her "a wacko" and "a nut" during an appearance on Late Show with David Letterman. [25] In response to questions from a journalist, Columbia University Law Professor Tim Wu said, "Frankly, I read the complaint. It should be thrown out. It’s close to frivolous. It’s terrible."[26] The case was dismissed on September 10, 2009, and the Second Circuit affirmed dismissal on April 28, 2010.[27]

Personnel

In 2014, the firm was ranked 119th largest in the United States by attorney headcount.[28]

Notable lawyers and alumni

2014 Layoffs

Following the resolution of several large cases, including long-running litigation involving MBIA Inc., and a decline in gross revenue, the firm laid off approximately 30 employees at various levels.[30] Affected individuals were offered three months of severance pay but told to leave immediately, with their email accounts and phone lines deactivated during the termination meetings.[31]

Los Angeles Office

In May 2013, the firm poached two partners from Jenner & Block to establish a Los Angeles, CA office.[32]

Offices

References

  1. ^ Kasowitz's firm bio
  2. ^ "Fast Rise to the Top" (PDF). The American Lawyer. Incisive Media. August 2004. p. 11. Retrieved 17 January 2010.
  3. ^ "Kasowitz Holds Power Close As He Grows Firm, Lures Business" (PDF). New York Law Journal. 13 September 2010. p. 2. Retrieved 7 May 2014.
  4. ^ "Kasowitz Benson Torres & Friedman LLP - Rankings". BEST LAW FIRMS. U.S. News & World Report. Retrieved 8 May 2014.
  5. ^ Vault:Kasowitz, Benson, Torres & Friedman LLP
  6. ^ a b "Litigation: New York". Chambers USA. Chambers and Parners. Retrieved 13 March 2013.
  7. ^ . The Legal 500 http://www.legal500.com/firms/52188/53178. Retrieved 8 March 2013. {{cite news}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  8. ^ Practice areas
  9. ^ a b [1]
  10. ^ [2]
  11. ^ [3]
  12. ^ [4]
  13. ^ [5]
  14. ^ [6]
  15. ^ [7]
  16. ^ [8]
  17. ^ [9]
  18. ^ [10]
  19. ^ [11]
  20. ^ [12]
  21. ^ "Trump Sues Writer and Book Publisher". The New York Times. 25 January 2006.
  22. ^ Trump v. O'Brien (Superior Court of New Jersey,Appellate Division 7 September 2011), Text.
  23. ^ Lewis, Michael (6 February 2006). "The Art of Offending Donald Trump". Bloomberg.
  24. ^ Goodman, Peter (15 July 2009). "Trump Suit Claiming Defamation Is Dismissed". The New York Times. The firm appealed on Trump's behalf, but the dismissal was affirmed by The Superior Court of New Jersey on September 7, 2011.Trump v. O'Brien (Superior Court of New Jersey,Appellate Division 7 September 2011), Text.
  25. ^ Lapine v. Seinfeld (United States District Court, Southern District of New York 7 January 2008), Text.
  26. ^ Lee, Jennifer (8 January 2008). "A Closer Look at the Seinfeld Food Fight". The New York Times.
  27. ^ Lapine v. Seinfeld (United States Court of Appeals, Second Circuit 28 April 2010), Text.
  28. ^ Simpson, Jake, "Law360 Reveals 400 Largest US Law Firms"
  29. ^ http://www.kasowitz.com/senator-joseph-lieberman-joins-kasowitz-06-06-20131
  30. ^ Simmons, Christine (21 February 2014). "Kasowitz Layoffs Tied to End of Credit Crisis Cases". New York Law Journal.
  31. ^ Lat, David (10 February 2014). "Nationwide Layoff Watch: Casualties At Kasowitz Benson". Above the Law.
  32. ^ June, Daniel, "Kasowitz Benson Poaches Two Partners, Sets Them Up in New LA Office"
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