Once again, Ivan Serchuk, Partner and Chairman of the Firm's Banking and Finance Law Department has been selected for inclusion in the 2012 edition of the New York area's Best Lawyers.

Rebecca Hollis, an associate of the Firm's Litigation Department, has been nominated to serve as Secretary to the New York State Bar Association's Commercial and Federal Litigation Section for the coming year. In that position she will also be on the Executive Committee of the Section.

Press Release – Continuing Legal Education Program

Rebecca Hollis, an Associate in the Litigation Department of Todtman, Nachamie, Spizz & Johns, P.C., has been invited to serve as faculty for the Continuing Legal Education program, entitled "What Young Lawyers Should Know About Practicing in the Commercial Division," to take place at the Association of the Bar of the City of New York on November 30, 2011, at 9:00 a.m. The program, which seeks to prepare young litigators for practicing in the New York State Commercial Division, the part of the New York State Supreme Court which was established specifically to handle complex commercial cases, will cover the nuances of litigating in front of the Commercial Division, including advice, tips, and anecdotes, in reference to successful Commercial Division practice. Faculty on the panel will also include the New York State Unified Court System's Statewide Special Counsel for the Commercial Division, as well as the Law Clerk to Hon. Jeffrey Oing of the Commercial Division, New York County.

Janice Grubin, a partner, has been apointed to the position of Interim Vice-Chair of the Judiciary Committee for LeGal.  One of the United States' first bar associations of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) legal community, LeGal remains one of the largest and most active organizations of its kind in the country. Serving the New York metropolitan area, LeGaL is dedicated to promoting the expertise and advancement of LGBT legal professionals while serving the larger community.  LeGal's Judiciary Committee oversees screening panels that evaluate candidates for judicial office and provide ratings, recruits and selects designees to serve on judicial screening panels of other organizations, promotes the interests of members of the LGBT community interested in serving within the judiciary, holds events and programs focused on the judiciary, liaises with the judicial community and promotes the advancement of judges dedicated to equality and full representation of the LGBT legal community.

Todtman, Nachamie, Spizz & Johns, P.C. Obtains $1.2 Million Contempt Judgment Against Major New Jersey Bank and Its Chief Executive Officer

The efforts of Todtman, Nachamie, Spizz & Johns (“TNSJ”) to obtain satisfaction of a $15 Million judgment held by their clients, which efforts have been marked by numerous victories including an order imposing successor liability and an order holding Amboy National Bank (“Amboy”) and its CEO and President, George E. Scharpf (“Scharpf”) in contempt for intentionally obstructing and frustrating a court-ordered sale of the successor’s assets, have now culminated in a June 2011 order awarding judgment against Amboy and Scharpf in the amount of $777,400 plus reimbursement of TNSJ’s attorneys fees and disbursements of over $419,500.

The litigious history of this case is substantial and many reported opinions of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York (the “Federal Court”) recount the tenacity of the plaintiffs, Gasser Chair Company, Inc. and George Gasser (“Plaintiffs”), and their counsel, TNSJ, in seeking to satisfy the $15 Million judgment.

In 2008, after a 3-day hearing, the Federal Court issued a Contempt Order, concluding that Scharpf knowingly and intentionally obstructed and frustrated the effectuation of a court-ordered auction sale, and that Scharpf and Amboy (as Scharpf’s principal) are jointly and severally liable for the consequences of Scharpf’s actions.   On June 3, 2011, the Federal Court issued an Order awarding the Plaintiffs judgment against Amboy and Scharpf, jointly and severally, in the amount of over $1.2 Million.  The Federal Court, having become well acquainted with TNSJ’s legal work in this case, also paid compliments to two of TNSJ’s attorneys, Alex Spizz and Jill Makower, in its Order.  A copy of the June 2011 Order, which provides a detailed history of the litigation, is available upon request.

The Firm's Litigation Department was successful in obtaining an Order from the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York vacating a prior attachment of an ETF transfer which attachment was granted pursuant to Rule B of the Supplementary Rules of Admiralty where the parties had previously agreed that funds could be held in an escrow account as security for the Plaintiff if it were successful in a foreign attachment. The Plaintiff was successful in the foreign attachment, however, our Firm argued that the Court had no jurisdiction and that the fact that subsequent to the attachment the parties consented to the funds being held in escrow did not change the fact that there was no original jurisdiction. The Court held that the Escrow Agreement was unenforceable and directed the return of $1,300,000.00.

During the year, the Firm's Litigation Department and Bankruptcy Department have continued to use pre-answer motions including motions for sanctions where appropriate, under Federal Rule 11, successfully in preference actions and in commercial litigation and foreclosures resulting, in most cases, in voluntary dismissals or a Court order of dismissal. In one instance the Firm obtained a dismissal with prejudice of a $10.5 million preference action in less than 3 months.

The Firm's Bankruptcy Department represented 2 New York religious non-profit organizations in their Chapter 11 proceedings where real property was sold and a bankruptcy exit obtained within 8 months of the filings, which involved navigating the sale process and obtaining approval by a State Court (after consultation with the Attorney General of the State of New York) while addressing community concerns about a historic tree located on the property.

In a signal victory the Firm's Trusts and Estates Practice obtained an Order in the Surrogate's Court removing an active Co-Executor of a Will, who was also a 50 percent beneficiary of the Estate and was the Managing Agent of the Estate's real estate, resulting in the Estate's ability to promptly sell the real estate.

Once again, Alex Spizz and Paul R. Karan have been named as Super Lawyers. And Ivan Serchuk and Paul R. Karan are again listed in Best Lawyers in the New York Metropolitan Area.

Harvey Sladkus is named as a member of the Character and Fitness Committee of the Appellate Division, First Department.

Two Partners Named to Super Lawyers

Todtman, Nachamie, Spizz & Johns are pleased to announce that, once again, Alex Spizz, Co-Chairman of the Firm's Corporate Restructuring, Bankruptcy and Creditors' Rights Group and Paul R. Karan, Chairman of the Firm's Trusts & Estates Group, have been named Super Lawyers.

Ivan Serchuk listed in Best Lawyers In the New York Metropolitan Area

Once again, Ivan Serchuk, Chairman of the Firm’s Banking and Financial Institution Group has been listed in the Best Lawyers In the New York Metropolitan Area which appeared in New York Magazine and The New York Law Journal. Mr. Serchuk has been listed in Best Lawyers in America for almost a quarter of a century.

Two Partners Named to Super Lawyers

Todtman Nachamie is proud to have two honorees named as Super Lawyers again this year. Alex Spizz, Co-Chairman of the Corporate Restructuring, Bankruptcy and Creditors Rights Group and Paul Karan, Chair of the Trust & Estates Group.

Perry Cohen, a Partner in the Firm’s Real Estate Practice Group, recently acted as counsel to a long-term client in connection with the closing of the conversion of a $35,200,000.00 Bond Mortgage Loan from New York City Housing Development Corporation from the construction phase to the permanent phase for a 166-unit apartment building located in Brooklyn, New York.

Perry Cohen has also recently acted as counsel to a developer in connection with its acquisition of a remaining parcel located in the Borough of Manhattan to create an assemblage whereby the client then simultaneously borrowed from the New York City Housing Development Corporation, The City of New York acting through its Department of Housing Preservation and Development and the Community Preservation Corporation the aggregate amount of $18,320,000.00 in construction/mortgage loans to construct and develop the assembled parcels for the development of a rental apartment building with a small commercial component.

The Firm obtained a $1,505,353.00 verdict for its client in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York. The central issue was whether a passing barge struck the client’s property causing significant damage, namely the collapse of the property’s bulkhead several days later. The Firm presented testimony of witnesses at the scene who felt the impact of the barge striking the bulkhead and expert testimony to verify that the collision caused the damage to the bulkhead, which led to its collapse. The Firm’s proffered testimony successfully overcame defense counsel’s arguments that no collision actually occurred and that the bulkhead was in poor condition in any case. The defendant has appealed to the Second Circuit.

The Firm’s Litigation Department successfully defeated a motion for summary judgment and are permitted to go to trial on 10(b)(5) and related securities fraud claims on behalf of three of the Firm’s clients in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York. We are very proud of the result given the increased difficulty in getting these types of claims to trial in the face of the heightened legal standards set by both judges and the legislature.