Chaffetz Lindsey Sponsors National Association of Women Lawyers 2019 Annual Meeting & Awards Luncheon

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Chaffetz Lindsey Sponsors National Association of Women Lawyers 2019 Annual Meeting & Awards Luncheon

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July 2019 – Chaffetz Lindsey is a proud sponsor of the National Association of Women Lawyers’ 2019 Annual Meeting and Awards Luncheon. The annual conference offers an opportunity to celebrate leaders in law, as well as provide workshop programming relevant to women in all fields of legal practice. This marks the third consecutive year Chaffetz Lindsey has sponsored the event. Yasmine Lahlou, Cia Moss, and Gretta Walters will be in attendance.

For 120 years, the National Association of Women Lawyers (NAWL) has provided leadership, a collective voice, and essential resources to advance women in the legal profession and advocate for equality of women under the law. The annual summer event has over 900 attendees, including outside and in-house counsel, and attorneys from government, military, non-profits, and academia.

Chaffetz Lindsey Partners with NYLPI to Earn Favorable Opinion in Pro Bono Case for Gluten Free Child

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June 2019 – The Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals published a favorable opinion in an appeal in which Chaffetz Lindsey acted as pro bono amici counsel in partnership with New York Lawyers for the Public Interest (NYLPI) in the case of JD v. Colonial Williamsburg Foundation.

Plantiff-appellant J.D. is a child on a strict gluten free diet, who brought a homemade, gluten-free meal into a restaurant while on a school field trip to Colonial Williamsburg. Citing health code concerns, the restaurant refused to let J.D. eat the homemade meal inside and offered a gluten-free meal prepared by the restaurant’s chef. J.D. declined the offer because he didn’t trust the restaurant to safely prepare the meal to his specific needs, and chose to eat his homemade meal outside and apart from his classmates.

J.D. and his father ultimately sued the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, which owns and operates the restaurant, alleging that J.D. is a person with a disability and the Colonial Williamsburg discriminated against him by excluding him from the restaurant and refusing to modify its policy against outside food.

The district court granted summary judgment to Colonial Williamsburg, but the appellate court reversed and remanded the ruling, holding in relevant part that the district court erred in finding that J.D’s requested modification was unnecessary. Chaffetz Lindsey filed a Brandeis brief that informed the court of the diligence required by those who suffer from gluten-related disorders and the severity of the consequences caused by even minimal gluten exposure.

Ted DeBonis, who contributed to the brief, said, “This was a fantastic opportunity to continue our partnership with NYLPI and apply our skills to a good cause.  I know for several members of the Chaffetz Lindsey team, myself included, the experience was personally very rewarding because we have loved ones who have some of the same or similar medical conditions that the plaintiff-appellant in this action suffers from.  So it was a really special opportunity for us and we’re obviously very happy with the outcome.”

The Chaffetz Lindsey team included Ted DeBonis, Lidia Rezende, Karen Baswell, Douglas Gibson (Director of Information & Legal Support), and Farrell Brody (former Chaffetz Lindsey Associate). The court’s opinion can be found here. The case has received international media coverage, including articles from the Daily Mail, Washington Post, ABA Journal, and TODAY.

NYLPI exists to advance equality and civil rights, with a focus on health justice, disability rights, and environmental justice through community lawyering and partnerships with the private bar. NYLPI has served as a resource for low income, community-driven legal representation since 1976. Chaffetz Lindsey has a proud history of partnering with NYLPI to serve the community. Partner Charlie Scibetta sits on the Board of Directors.

Legal 500 USA Recognizes Chaffetz Lindsey’s International Arbitration and Insurance Practices

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June 2019 – Legal 500 recently published their 2019 USA rankings, and Chaffetz Lindsey continues to rank highly in International Arbitration and Insurance (advice to insurers). Several of the firm’s lawyers from these practice areas were individually highlighted as well, including David Lindsey, James Hosking, and Yasmine Lahlou for International Arbitration, and Peter Chaffetz, Steven Schwartz, and Andrew Poplinger for Insurance.

Chaffetz Lindsey’s International Arbitration practice ranked in Tier 3. David Lindsey and James Hosking were listed as “Leading Lawyers” and Yasmine Lahlou is listed as a “Next Generation Lawyer. The practice area is noted to be “’building a stellar reputation’ across commercial and investment disputes.”

The Insurance practice also ranked in Tier 3. Peter Chaffetz and Steven Schwartz were recognized as “Leading Individuals: Insurance: Advise to insurers: reinsurance,” and Andrew Poplinger was noted as a “Next Generation Lawyer.” The team is distinguished as a “’High-Profile’ New York disputes firm that has a ‘very good national reputation’, ‘great depth of knowledge and experience in reinsurance, as well as a team of accessible and attentive partners’.”

To view the firm’s entire profile, please visit the Legal 500 USA website. For 32 years, Legal 500 USA has served as an independent guide on legal practices across the United States, which conducts research based on interviews with clients and peer lawyers. 

Aníbal Sabater Featured Amongst Successful Spanish Professionals Living in New York in Expansión

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June 2019 – Aníbal Sabater was recently featured in Spanish newspaper Expansión’s article “Directivos españoles en Wall Street,” which showcases the successful Spanish talent at law firms, financial institutions and other corporations in New York. Aníbal is one of twenty-two business professionals recognized for their success.

The article highlights Anibal’s specialization in international arbitration and his career path from Spanish firm Gómez-Acebo to partner at Chaffetz Lindsey in 2015. In addition to Aníbal, the article features other successful lawyers, CEOs of Fortune 500 and startup companies, banking and financial executives, plus marketing experts, entertainment executives, economists, entrepreneurs, and scientists.

Expansión is a Spanish economic and business newspaper based in Madrid that circulates to nearly 60,000 readers.

Click here to read the entire article.

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Yasmine Lahlou Speaks at GAR Live Stockholm

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May 2019 – Last week, Yasmine Lahlou participated in a panel discussion on “How to get the right chemistry when choosing an arbitral tribunal” at the 4th Annual GAR Live Stockholm. The panel spoke about the importance of tribunal chemistry and analyzed perspectives from the claimant, respondent, co-arbitrator, and chair.

GAR Live Stockholm is hosted by Global Arbitration Review, the leading resource on international arbitration news and community intelligence. GAR Live events gather leading figures in international arbitration in the world’s major cities to debate key issues and generate innovative and interactive topical discussions.

Latinvex Ranks Yasmine Lahlou in Latin America’s Top 100 Female Lawyers 2019: Arbitration & Litigation

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May 2019 – Yasmine Lahlou has been recognized in Latinvex’s 2019 rankings of “Latin America’s Top 100 Female Lawyers: Arbitration & Litigation.” This marks the second consecutive year that Latinvex has individually recognized Yasmine in its top 100 rankings.

Latinvex’s editorial staff selects the top 100 female lawyers specializing in Latin America among international law firms. 100 attorneys from 61 different firms were selected in 14 categories, some of which are Arbitration & Litigation, Banking & Finance, Capital Markets, Corporate/M&A, Energy, FCPA & Fraud and Project Finance.

Click here to view the publication’s rankings (note, a subscription to Latinvex may be required).

Latinvex publishes daily news and weekly analysis on Latin America business, including nearly 50 rankings benchmarking the region’s companies, countries and people. It provides extensive and unique coverage of Latin America’s legal, technology and energy sectors.

Chaffetz Lindsey Out in Force at the IBA Annual Litigation Forum

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May 2019 – Chaffetz Lindsey is proud to be a member of the Organizing Committee, and a sponsor of the conference dinner, for this year’s IBA Annual Litigation Forum in Berlin from May 8th – 10th.  Peter Chaffetz, Andreas Frischknecht, and Rainbow Willard will be in attendance.

Andy is co-chair of the Young Litigators Forum, which is putting on a seminar on Wednesday afternoon focusing on witness examination techniques.  Andy will also co-chair a panel discussion on Cryptocurrencies, which will explore both foundational concepts and cutting-edge issues in cryptocurrency regulation and litigation on Friday morning.

Peter is an officer on the IBA Litigation Committee.

The IBA Annual Litigation Forum addresses legal, practical, and procedural issues involved in conducting litigation. This year’s conference will focus on “Disruption in Litigation – New Types of Disputes in a New World Order.”

Chambers USA Again Recognizes Chaffetz Lindsey’s International Arbitration and Insurance Practice Areas

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April 2019 – Chambers & Partners has released its 2019 USA Guide and once again recognized Chaffetz Lindsey’s International Arbitration (Nationwide) and Insurance (Dispute Resolution: Insurer in New York) practices areas. Several of the firm’s lawyers from these practice areas were individually highlighted as well, including David Lindsey, James Hosking, Aníbal Sabater, and Yasmine Lahlou for International Arbitration, and Peter Chaffetz, Steve Schwartz, Charles Scibetta, and Cecilia Moss for Insurance.

Chaffetz Lindsey’s International Arbitration practice is noted by Chambers USA as a “versatile dispute resolution boutique” with “significant multilingual capabilities.” Clients stated “they have international capabilities” and “ are very professional and have abundant experience in arbitration procedures and the enforcement of awards.”

  • Aníbal Sabater “adapts very well to evolving scenarios and thinks out of the box” according to an interviewee.
  • David Lindsey is “held in high regard for his handling of complex arbitrations under UNCITRAL and ICC rules, among others.”
  • James Hosking is described by clients as “affable, analytical and very clever.”
  • Yasmine Lahlou is noted for being “very good with clients”and for “her strength in Latin American disputes.”

The Insurance practice is described by Chambers USA as a “Strong boutique with extensive knowledge of the reinsurance industry, skilled handling of arbitrations and other disputes and a developing focus on direct insurance matters.” Sources say “It is an excellent firm; very diligent, creative and has intellectual depth.”

  • Charles Scibetta is praised for being “well prepared, good at oral arguments and a talented lawyer.“
  • Peter Chaffetz is “is a real talent and great in court” and is “well regarded for his experience handling an array of large-scale disputes in the insurance sphere.”
  • Steven Schwartz is described by clients as “ a trusted adviser; he gives consistently good advice and produces an excellent work product.”
  • Cecilia Moss was listed as a “Recognised Practitioner.”

To view the firm’s entire profile, please visit the Chambers USA website.  Since 1999, Chambers & Partners has been researching the global legal profession, identifying the leading lawyers and law firms. Chambers USA 2019 rankings are determined through interviews with thousands of lawyers and their clients worldwide. The results are audited independently and are based on a range of professional qualities most valued by clients.

SDNY Rules in Favor of Chaffetz Lindsey Client IBM

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April 2019 –Chaffetz Lindsey’s client, International Business Machines Corporation, recently won judgment on the pleadings terminating a software licensing dispute with defendants Robert Simon and MGV Holdings Inc.  Manhattan federal Judge J. Paul Oetken issued the ruling.

The dispute related to software the defendants had developed many years ago for retail point-of-sales systems IBM sold at the time.  Notwithstanding the parties’ prior settlement of a dispute over the calculation of royalties, defendants alleged that IBM had misallocated revenue between royalty-bearing software licenses and non-royalty-bearing hardware and technical services.  They further claimed that this conduct supported rescission of the previous settlement.  Defendants claimed they were entitled to more than $16 million dollars in allegedly underpaid royalties.

Judge Oetken agreed with Chaffetz Lindsey’s arguments that defendants had no basis to rescind the prior settlement agreement and that the release in that agreement barred the present claims.

The Chaffetz Lindsey team included Peter Chaffetz, Drew Poplinger, David Byowitz and Luke Muhammed (paralegal).  The full order and judgment can be found here.

Renowned Trial Lawyer Sanford Litvack Joins Chaffetz Lindsey

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February 2019 – Sanford (Sandy) Litvack, a renowned trial lawyer and former general counsel and vice-chairman of the Walt Disney Company, has become a partner of Chaffetz Lindsey, a leading trial and arbitration boutique in New York.

Sandy Litvack_Headshot_2.2019“Sandy is a giant of the business trial bar who has also served with distinction both in government and in senior management at Disney.  Our clients and our team will immediately benefit from his skill, experience and judgment,” said partner Peter Chaffetz.  “We are honored that Sandy has chosen to continue his career with us.”

“Chaffetz Lindsey is precisely the kind of firm that I wanted to use when I was general counsel — a high quality litigation boutique that can handle any type of commercial litigation,” said Litvack. “I believe companies are looking for firms that are large enough to handle bigger corporate matters while being small enough to be able to do it effectively and efficiently.  Chaffetz Lindsey is precisely that kind of firm, and I am excited to be joining it.”

A 1959 graduate of Georgetown University, Litvack served as an Assistant Attorney General for Antitrust under President Jimmy Carter.  As a private practice trial lawyer he has won a broad variety of corporate cases before juries and judges, including antitrust, contract, copyright and trademark disputes.  He is a Fellow of the prestigious American College of Trial Lawyers.

In addition to his courtroom experience, Litvack also spent a decade at Disney, starting as general counsel in 1991 and rising to become chief of corporate operations and vice chairman of the board of directors.  While there, he spearheaded the acquisition of ABC and ESPN and oversaw the restructuring of Euro Disney. He has served as a director of both Disney and Hewlett Packard.  That experience has made him an invaluable strategic advisor to other boards and senior management.

Litvack was formerly senior counsel in the Litigation Practice at Hogan Lovells in New York.

Second Circuit Affirms Dismissal for Chaffetz Lindsey Client Zurich

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December 2018 – The United States Court of Appeals for The Second Circuit ruled in favor of Chaffetz Lindsey’s client, Zurich American Insurance Company, affirming the dismissal of an Amended Complaint filed by Plaintiffs Keller Foundations, LLC, Keller Group PLC, and Hayward Baker, Inc.

Plaintiffs in the case were two construction companies and their parent who alleged Zurich breached its duties to them under an insurance policy by paying a claim to another insured under that policy.  While they argued that settling this claim might affect their coverage under the Policy, plaintiffs were actually unhappy with this claim payment because Zurich had billed and recovered a share of that claim from its reinsurer, which happened to be a wholly owned “captive” of the plaintiffs.  By reason of their intercompany arrangements with their captive, plaintiffs themselves had to fund that reinsurance payment.

The Second Circuit agreed with Chaffetz Lindsey’s argument that that plaintiffs failed to show: (i) how Zurich’s claim payment breached any obligation to plaintiffs under the contract; and (ii) that any damages arose from Zurich’s actions under the policy, rather than actions by the reinsurer under the separate Reinsurance Agreement.  The Second Circuit also affirmed dismissal of Plaintifffs’ claims for breach of the duty of good faith and declaratory judgement.

Cia Moss argued, and the Chaffetz Lindsey team included Peter Chaffetz, Karen Baswell (associate) and Oslen Grant (paralegal).  The full summary order and judgment can be found here.

Chaffetz Lindsey Promotes Erin Valentine and Gretta Walters to Counsel

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December 2018 – Chaffetz Lindsey is pleased to announce that Erin Valentine and Gretta Walters have been promoted from Associate to Counsel effective January 1, 2019.  Erin has also been named as the Head of Client Development, a new role at the firm where she will be responsible for developing client and intermediary relationships and creating new business opportunities.

Erin Valentine_Headshot_12.2018 Counsel AnnouncementErin has been an Associate at Chaffetz Lindsey since May 2010 and has handled a variety of international arbitration, complex commercial litigation, and insurance coverage disputes during her tenure. She has represented individual and corporate clients as well as foreign sovereigns in U.S. courts and before arbitral tribunals.  Prior to joining Chaffetz Lindsey, Erin was an associate with the International Justice Network. Admitted to practice in New York, Erin earned her J.D. from the University of Pennsylvania Law School, where she was a James Wilson Scholar, Senior Editor of the University of Pennsylvania Journal of International Law, and a recipient of the Blank Rome Alvin Ackerman Prize, Foreign Public Interest Scholarship and Pro Bono Service Recognition Award. She received her B.A. at the University of California, Irvine.

Peter Chaffetz, a founding partner of the firm, said, “Erin has been a great citizen of the firm who has made herself indispensable to a succession of our most important cases.  Based on the following she has built among our clients, we thought it a great opportunity for her and for the firm to formalize her new client-development responsibilities as part of her practice.”

Gretta Walters_Headshot_12.2018 Counsel AnnouncementGretta joined Chaffetz Lindsey as an Associate in June 2014. She has represented a diverse range of domestic and international clients in commercial and investment disputes in arbitration and state and federal courts. Prior to joining Chaffetz Lindsey, Gretta was an Associate at Mayer Brown, Legal Counsel at the Arbitration Institute of the Stockholm Chamber of Commerce, and a Visiting Lecturer at Stockholm University.  Gretta is Secretary of the International Commercial Disputes Committee of the New York City Bar and on the Global Advisory Board of the AAA/ICDR young practitioners group. She is an adjunct professor at New York University Law School, where she also co-coaches the Foreign Direct Investment and Vis International Commercial Arbitration moot court teams.  Gretta regularly speaks at international arbitration-related conferences and co-authored the recently published Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards and Judgments in New York (Kluwer 2018).  She earned her J.D., magna cum laude, from American University’s Washington College of Law in 2010, where she was the Articles Editor for the American University Law Review. She received her LL.M. in International Commercial Arbitration Law at Stockholm University in 2012 and graduated with a B.A., cum laude, from University of Maryland in 2005.

According to James Hosking, also a founding partner, “Gretta has become an integral part of the firm’s expanding international arbitration team.  She’s a brilliant lawyer who has played a leading role in some of our most complex cases.  We look forward to her continued success at the firm and as one of the growing number of top women arbitration lawyers in New York.”

About Chaffetz Lindsey

Chaffetz Lindsey is a leading international arbitration and litigation boutique committed to providing business-minded solutions for our clients.  From its New York base, the firm helps American and overseas clients resolve complex disputes before US courts and in front of arbitral tribunals around the world.

Global Arbitration Review reported on the counsel promotion. The article can be found by clicking here.

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