Litigation

Representative Litigation Matters

The following are representative litigation matters in which Messrs. Kennedy or Johnson have served successfully as lead or co-lead counsel over the years:

• Defending a former outside director of a prominent New York hotel against charges of breach of fiduciary duties and alleged RICO violations and negotiating, several months after their appearance in the matter, a global settlement of claims and counterclaims involving multiple parties located in diverse jurisdictions throughout the world.
  
• Obtaining summary dismissal, following a brief evidentiary hearing, of a petition to enjoin the then ongoing construction of the AOL Time Warner center based on clams of alleged SEQRA environmental law violations.
  
• Negotiating a favorable monetary settlement, following extensive discovery, in favor of the landlord of a Park Avenue office tower who alleged that the sale of a tenant’s business constituted the unauthorized transfer of a valuable leasehold interest in the building.
  
• In arbitration, defeating tens of millions of dollars in claims by a commercial tenant for alleged breach of commercial lease provisions relating to the calculation of operating expense escalations and alleged overcharges in rent.
  
• Defeating Tricon Global Restaurants’ attempt to enjoin Minor International Pcl from operating a competing pizza business for 18 months in Thailand, in alleged breach of a franchise agreement.
  
• In two separate actions, obtaining emergency injunctive relief for a large tobacco products company and a maker of consumer products against the importation and sale of unauthorized “gray goods.”
  
• Securing a judgment, following a two-week long trial, that a Fortune 100 semiconductor manufacturer had not unlawfully pirated a competitor’s former employees to gain access to proprietary methods for implementing a digital modem technology.
  
• Defeating efforts to preliminarily enjoin the U.S. introduction of a flexible toothbrush by a Fortune 200 consumer products company on grounds of alleged patent infringement, and securing summary judgment dismissing the complaint in its entirety.
  
• Obtaining a jury verdict on behalf of Japanese-based camera manufacturer, rejecting the plaintiff’s claim that the manufacturer had used the plaintiff’s proprietary auto-focus technology to develop a breakthrough autofocus camera.
  
• Negotiating a substantial monetary settlement resulting in payments to their client, a real estate developer, who had been charged with fraud in relation to the development of a failed, upscale shopping center.
  
• In arbitration, obtaining an expansive injunction enforcing a franchisee’s territorial exclusivity rights against Gianni Versace S.p.A.